by Dallas Adams
“Okay…” She spoke like a pouting 4-year old, turning to give Kat a nice, big hug. Kat ran her hand through her hair, glancing at Eric. It wasn’t the normal glare or frown; it was a look of sympathy. He gave her a thankful smile as Kat lead Christen out the door. It left Eric and Joey alone for their battle inside.
Roxie wanted to interfere. She hated how he assumed that she wouldn’t understand. If anyone could understand troubling situations, it was her. This empathy was especially strong because of her past history that Eric accepted. He did it for her, and it hurt that he thought she could not do the same for him. It shouldn't surprise her, she knew. There was another deep feeling that she felt bad for having. It was pity; pity for the man who, for the first time she had ever seen, was breaking apart right in front of her eyes. The only part that stopped her from bursting into the open was the fear of him getting mad at her. She pressed herself against the door, still looking out at Eric.
Eric stood there and calmly walked to a mirror. Roxie covered her mouth in shock. Joey appeared, looking at Eric with hatred.
“What is your problem!?” Joey demanded, the lights flickering as he did so.
“I don’t have a problem. You’re the one that needs to fix your problem. You need to leave now.” Eric avoided eye contact, staring at the floor with a melancholic tone.
“WHAT!?” Joey yelled. A crack appeared on the mirror from the top to the bottom of it. More cracks slowly grew from the one that was straight down the middle, The growing cracks made a sound like ice crushing underneath someone’s feet. Eric still didn’t look up.
“You need to leave my mind. I can’t take this anymore.” Eric shielded his eyes as the mirror came crashing down onto the floor. A wild wind blew open the doors and windows. The wind continued and swirled around the room sending things flying around. The broken glass of the mirror and potion bottle, paperwork, books and anything small enough to be moved around was in flight.
Roxie’s door was slammed shut. She was thrown back. She stumbled on her heels and landed back on the bed. She took a sharp breath at her lucky fall. Her body trembled down to the bone from a sudden fear for Eric’s safety. With that thought, she bolted up and tried to open the door. The pressure of the other room made it nearly impossible for it to open from the inside. Roxie started slamming her fists against the door and called out to Eric. “Eric! Open the door! Please!”
Eric couldn’t hear Roxie as he avoided mirror shards and the books. The raging wind was too loud. That just made Roxie more determined. She looked around the room, thinking creatively. She eyed the night-stand next to the bed. She ran to the windows to hopefully balance out the pressures before she cleared off the table. Once it was bare, she grabbed it and slammed it into the door. The first time her efforts did nothing, but she kept on trying.
“GET RID OF ME!? WE HAD A DEAL!” he exclaimed. “YOU CAN NEVER GET RID OF ME! NOT UNLESS I COME BACK TO LIFE BECAUSE I AM NOT LEAVING CHRISTEN!” He screamed. Eric was sliding back from the strength of the wind that was pushing him away from where the mirror had originally had been. The broken glass pieces cut him and caused him to bleed with shallow wounds. Eric's eyes widened at the sight of the glass all coming together in a spear. “I DON’T NEED YOUR BODY THEN! I’LL JUST FIND SOMEONE ELSE!” Eric's eyes shut tightly, ready for the impact that he knew would kill him if it hit.
It never did, though. The smash rang through the house from Roxie slamming the table through the door. The sudden escape way for the wind sent her flying to the back of the room. She yelped as she slammed into the wall, crashing to the ground. She curled up from the wind that was knocked out of her. She could barely breathe as the thick air went pouring out of the room, and then out of the windows.
“NO!” Joey growled as Eric stood up straight. Eric glanced around confused and in a small daze. He didn’t know what had just happened, but he was safe in that moment. He felt a sudden anger toward Roxie, but then realized that Joey's eyes were glowering in the direction of Roxie’s room. “HOW DARE YOU!” Joey's eyes became poker-red with rage which he was trying to burn into Eric.
“Roxie!” Eric ran into the next room. Roxie lie on her back taking slow, deep breaths. Eric got to her side and knelt next to her with a very concerned expression. “Roxie, are you alright?” He pushed away any sort of anger or hate that Joey was trying to force upon him. He let his concern easily control Joey’s desire into a simple nonexistent fire. Roxie opened one eye before shaking her head.
“My body hurts. I think I just need to lay here for a while,” she told Eric with a sweet smile. “I’m okay though,” she added with a wince. “I just hurt at this moment. Eric smiled back slightly before looking up at Joey who had walked into the room. He shook his head. It was becoming apparent Joey could not see what he was doing was wrong. All he wanted to do was hold Roxie, put her head in his lap and just let her rest until she felt better.
Joey watched Eric worry about Roxie. He remembered how he used to do the same thing for Christen. He came to a sudden realization and his eyes widened in shock. This was what Eric was saying. Eric really seemed to be in love with this girl. He also felt aghast he had tried to destroy Eric. If it wasn’t for this woman who was so clueless, he would have killed Eric with no remorse or care. His brother's words echoed in his head. Was he starting to become an uncontrollable angry spirit?
“Eric I…” Joey started but stopped. There was nothing that would make what happened okay. What bothered him the most was that all his living life, he lived to be happy and to love. What could have changed him to become this cruel? “I’m sorry,” he murmured.
Eric looked back down at Roxie. Sorry? Eric slowly shook his head. He had been trying his best for Joey. He couldn’t take this anymore.
“Just go.” Eric's voice was low and smooth as he caressed Roxie’s cheek. “There is nothing more I can help you with,” he told him, staying rather composed. Joey didn’t get mad this time, but just gave a soft and sad smile.
“I can’t just go, but I will leave you and her alone for now,” he told Eric and faded away. It was just Eric and Roxie now with the sound of the waves rolling outside.
“Eric...” Roxie spoke up, after what felt like hours. “What just happened?” She looked at him, moving her hands up to hold his face. “The truth and all of it,” she spoke tenderly. Eric placed a hand to one of hers, staring down into her eyes.
“Roxie…” he faltered before losing all of his composure. In one giant rush, his head was on her chest, sobbing his eyes out. “I can’t do this anymore Roxie! I should have told you sooner.” He cried harder. Roxie laid there completely and utterly bewildered. She felt a bit happy that he was finally sharing his emotions with her, but then again, not like this. She stared at him with a sympathetic look. It wasn’t him sharing with her, but rather a broken Eric pouring his soul out, as if bleeding out from a cut.
“What should you have told me?” she asked gently, running a hand through his hair. Eric looked up at her with red and tired eyes. He stood up pulling her with him. Roxie blinked as he took her by the hand outside. They passed over the things that were forced out of the house and stood on the beach. Roxie stayed poised slightly behind Eric.
“Roxie,” he said, letting go of her hand and turning to face her. “I love you.” Roxie looked at him carefully. Her head started to spin with questions. Where did that come from? Was he avoiding her question? She started to panic a little on the inside. Was he about to end it with her, or something? “I said all we needed was time. It was me who needed the time. You knew exactly how you felt, and I made it seem like I didn’t feel the same way. In truth, I didn't know how I really felt. But Roxie... this has finally shown me.” He motioned to the wreckage about them.
She looked about at the wasteland of destruction. "Um...how romantic?" she grimaced.
Eric looked at her with a tired smirk and carried on. "I made a promise to Joey that I would take care of Christen if something bad were to happen to him. After he left
this world, though, something happened to him all right. He decided I wasn't holding up my end of the bargain, or something. I don't know. Seems to me what he really was doing was trying to just be with Christen again. As far as I can tell, Joey got access to some otherworldly means to come back. I don't understand the ins and outs of what happened, but it happened.
I scoured my ancient texts trying to piece it together, but there is so much to go through. Joey got sucked into my body and has managed to stay here. I don’t know where his thoughts or emotions begin, and where mine end anymore. He’s been here for about a month now. There was a weird elixir left to me when this all first happened. It seemed to control Joey. But that's gone now, too. Meanwhile, every day, Joey is getting stronger and more unpredictable." Eric took a deep breath, reaching the end of his explanation. "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner." Roxie took a moment to absorb what she had been told.
“So that really was Joey then? And he is using your body as a host?” Roxie ran up to Eric and hugged him tightly. “You’re right. You should have told me sooner, but I’m glad you are at least telling me this. You need to involve me more in this stuff; I don’t mind being your shield.”
Eric's legs finally gave out from exhaustion. It was now his time to be in the sand. He looked up at Roxie. “You understand then? I was so selfish not to tell you. I can't even fathom how cruelly treated Christen must feel.” Roxie only nodded her head since that was the best reply she could think of. She wanted to go back to him telling her how much he loved her. “I thought I could have done this by myself but I was wrong,” he added. “I should have had you help or talked it over with you. That was stupid on my part and now… and now…” he curled over his knees holding his head. “I TRIED SO HARD!” he suddenly screamed. Roxie's eyes widened at the sound. She saw him breaking in front of her. She looked around the beach. It nearly ripped her heart apart to see all these pieces of Eric scattering like everything else that was strewn carelessly about. “Roxie… I need to set things right… I need to set them free. I want to bring peace so I won’t be failing Christen and Joey anymore. To make this all stop!” He clutched onto his hair tightly and shook his head side to side.
“Set them free?” she asked softly. She couldn’t take seeing Eric like this. Not seeing him as solid as steel was killing her. “What do you mean by that, honey?” she feared what he was going to say to her. She had a feeling she knew exactly what he meant in this delicate state. What she feared proved correct.
“Kill Christen.” He looked at the ground with a pathetic look of resignation. Roxie watched Eric stare at the sand with nearly dead eyes. The triple threat of killing one of his good friends, failing to help Joey in his current state, and dishonoring the oath he originally swore to was not going to work. It was all overwhelming. Roxie knew from the bottom of her heart, that Eric would not be able to do such a thing. He would not be able to simply point a gun at Christen, or even injure her in any sense of the word. He was too close. Roxie, on the other hand, was not.
Chapter 10
The morning came with the sounds of birds who were chirping loudly. Christen grumbled from the chaotic sound, and the booming which pounded inside of her head. She knew she should have stopped about five drinks sooner than she did last night. Now she didn’t remember a thing that had happened. She knew she would regret it. She hoped Kat wasn't going to give her a lecture. She got up, placing the heel of her hand on her forehead. She looked around and saw she was in someone else’s room. She sighed in relief, realizing she was in Kat’s bed.
“Morning sunshine. I told you that wouldn’t be a good idea. Do you remember anything that happened last night?” Kat asked her friend curiously. She sipped on her coffee, watching her friend. Christen gave her a remorseful look. “I’ll take that as a no?” she questioned. She nodded in return.
“Did I do anything stupid?” Christen asked her, with the hope that she didn’t.
“Well that depends on your definition of stupid.” Kat chuckled. “To me, yes you did something extremely dumb,” she added with a shake of her head.
“What did I do?” Christen asked. She winced a little as she waited for Kat's report. They sat there for a minute or two before Christen sighed loudly. “Well!?”
“You thought it would be a good idea to go over to Eric’s and get ‘Joey’ to come out. You wanted to be with him. Basically, you and Eric got into a huge fight. He didn’t look very happy afterwards, either. I told you that you needed to just leave him alone, but no, you didn’t listen to me. You declared that you had to do this. You went there, and I had to drag you out. Then, on the way back, you passed out. Now you are here. Exciting huh?” Kat sighed. Exciting? It was more like a pain in her ass. Kat tried to hide her annoyance. Christen looked like an abandoned puppy. Her attitude had changed to match it. Kat missed the laidback and happy-go-lucky Christen who was her best friend, not the pathetic and sad woman she was now.
“I did that? Oh no… was it really that bad? Was Eric mad at me?” She rapidly asked questions with her lips in a tight frown. She felt awful. She just thought that he was showing signs of Joey, but that didn’t mean he was Joey. It was just… the common traits were out there for the whole world to see. It was exciting to think that Joey was still alive. She knew it had been causing her to get delusional about it, but she guarded the glimmer of hope that still existed in her heart of hearts that maybe...
“You did, and yes, it was really bad. I heard the yelling when I pulled up in my car. It sounded pretty heated. Yes, I will take it that he was furious with you. So now that we are all caught up, what’s your plan?” Kat asked. Yes, Christen needed to start coming up with a plan. Kat wanted a plan for Christen to forget Joey, and a plan to help figure out what they were going to do with the whole Eric situation.
“My plan?” Christen questioned her. She really didn’t have a plan or any clue to what Kat meant. What was it that she needed to plan for? It didn’t make any sense to her at all.
“Well, first off, how are you going to make this up to Eric? I have no idea what you said to him but from the looks of it, you must have said some mean stuff. He was at his wits end when I looked at him. I felt kind of, don’t tell anyone I’m saying this, but bad for him.” Kat rubbed her head. She never thought she’d ever hear herself say that she felt bad for the likes of Eric, but nowadays, nothing was surprising her anymore.
“Well I guess I’ll call him. Maybe we can hang out, and I’ll apologize.” Christen grinned at Kat, who sighed at her rather simple plan. That’s all this artist could come up with? She shielded her eyes, not commenting on how uncreative it seemed.
“Well that could work, if he feels like talking to you. Now if he doesn’t want to, then you might want to have a backup plan. The other thing you need is to figure out is how you are going to get over Joey,” Kat continued. Christen’s facial expression said it all, and made Kat quite sad. It was a look of surprise and indignation.
“Get over Joey?” she questioned Kat with a small leer in her direction. Getting over Joey was exactly like forgetting about him Christen had decided. She vowed to herself she would never do so. “My heart will always belong to him Kat. How can you ask me to do such a thing like forget about him?” She snorted at the thought. She would never let go of his memory; and therefore, never let him go. She was starting to grow sick of having to repeat herself but no one ever understood her thinking and explanations.
“Christen…” Kat started, but stopped. She wasn’t going to listen to her. She had made up her mind on never letting Joey go, no matter how painful it was. “Fine, do as you wish Christen, but know you are being very hard-headed. I hope that you know how much misery and heartbreak you are about to put yourself through,” Kat warned her. “You are playing a dangerous game with fire. As the saying goes, those who play with fire will get burned. Your heart will harden in time. And then what will happen to your art?” she muttered, taking another drink from her coffee.
“Joey is my art,�
� Christen growled before they both sat motionless in the tension. Kat thought Christen was a fool. Christen thought Kat couldn’t comprehend. It was awkward as they both just sat there thinking of how each other was so wrong. Kat wondered again, what the hell was going through Christen’s mind. Deep down, it killed her to see her childhood friend's sanity unraveling. What happened to the days when they were carefree and nothing came between them? She wished she could answer the question.
Christen knew Kat was trying her best to help and meant the best for her. Sometimes she wished she could just take Kat’s advice. She was much stronger than Christen in every sense of the word. Christen wished she could be strong like her. She always looked up to Kat and followed her as a role model. Perhaps Kat was right. But something inside Christen just could not follow her lead this time.
Eventually, Kat got sick of the quiet staring. “Okay, let us agree to disagree. This is getting a bit ridiculous. I really would rather not argue with you more than I need to.” Before Kat could say any more, Christen’s phone ran in her bag. Christen hurried off the bed and stumbled to the chair close to Kat where her bag laid. She unzipped it and caught the phone call just in time.
“Hello?” Christen answered. Kat mouthed a ‘who is it’ but Christen put a finger to her lips, signing that she would tell her after the phone call.
“Hello Christen,” a woman’s voice responded over the phone. Christen was a bit taken aback. The voice sounded so familiar, yet she couldn’t place a finger on who the lady speaking was.