He regards me seriously for a moment, but makes no move towards Logan. Confused, I stare at him , trying to figure out what he’s up to. I watch as his eyes dart to David behind him and then back at me. Instinctively, I know what he wants to do. I mouth, ‘no’ to him, but he pays me no mind.
Faster than I’ve ever seen any human move, Brett spins around and hits David square in the chest with his fist. The punch is so forceful that it throws David back against the wall, causing the gun to drop. Brett turns to me and yells, “Run!” before he once again goes after David, who’s quickly heaving himself up from the place where he landed.
David is so preoccupied with finding his dropped gun, Brett is able to approach him undeterred and throw him across the room. As I watch, still amazed at Brett’s strength, I notice that at some point, Dr. Evans left the library. Figures, I think. He may be smart, but that doesn’t hide his cowardice.
I waste no time. I grab Dejana and ask, “Can you walk?”
“Yes,” Dejana responds in a frightened whisper, now sensing the danger that she’s in. “But what about Logan?”
Good question. I rack my brain, trying to figure out how I can help Logan, but as the fight grows louder behind me, I realize that he isn’t in as much danger as we are right now. The best way to help Logan is to get as far away from him as possible.
“Come on,” I tell Dejana as I grab her hand and lead her out of the library, through the hall, and out the front door. Together we run, hoping to make it to the tree line. It’s clear Dejana is scared and confused, but I don’t want to waste any time filling her in. Getting her to safety takes priority. We dodge topiaries and fountains as we run along the immaculate lawn. Luckily, it isn’t long before we make it into the safety of the trees.
“We came here in Brett’s car and we parked just outside this tree line. But since we were both captured, I have no idea where it is anymore. So you need to keep running until you find a road and get help. You have to get as far away from here as possible.
“But what about you?” she asks, clearly frightened of my answer.
“I have to lead him away from you and Logan. It’s the only way to keep you both safe.”
Dejana’s eyes glisten with unshed tears as she realizes what that means. “You don’t think you’re coming back, do you?”
“No,” I say softly. “But I’ll damn well do my best to cause some hell before I go.”
Accepting the inevitable, Dejana nods her head, grabs me, and pulls me into a huge hug. A week ago, I would have shied away from it, yet today, I hold on to her for dear life, fearing it will be our last. Squeezing me tightly, Dejana whispers, “until five minutes past forever then, my person.”
Before I lose my courage, I pull back from Dejana, squeeze her hands, and whisper, “Goodbye,” before I take off running back towards the house. I don’t dare look back for fear that I’ll lose what little bravery I have left to face my fate.
Chapter Twenty-Six
~ Ascension ~
I run past the glass house, trying my best to see inside, but failing as clouds obstruct the moonlight. I make no attempt to hide; I want David to see me. I run around to the back of the house, trying to make it to the dock or the lighthouse where I can hopefully find some weapon.
Suddenly, from somewhere in the house, a loud crash pierces the night. I turn instinctively, needing to know what happened. I see Brett lying on the grass, shards of glass surrounding him. He’s not moving, and it’s too dark for me to tell if he’s breathing or not. Despite all the lies and betrayals, I still can’t help the surge of grief that wells up at the sight of his body lying lifeless on the grass. If he’s out here, then David must have gotten the best of him. I can’t waste any more time grieving those I’m forced to leave behind. As I turn again to make my way to the lighthouse, David’s roar fills my ears.
“I’m coming for you, Aimee! You can run, but you can’t hide.”
I bear down and push harder, desperate to make it to the lighthouse before David reaches me. I don’t dare look back for fear that it will slow me down even more. I can hear feet stomping behind me, trying to catch up. Finally, I make it to the lighthouse door and rip it open. I push through the threshold and throw it closed behind me. My heart drops in my stomach when I see there’s no lock attached to the door.
An automated light suddenly illuminates the small circular room that serves as the bottom of the lighthouse. I search the cramped space for any weapon I can use, finally finding a long spear behind the spiral staircase. I grab it and start to climb the staircase, hoping that up top I can find a good place for an ambush. A surprise attack is my only chance against David, who’s much stronger and faster than I am. Halfway up the stairs, I hear the door below crash open.
“Dammit, Aimee! When I catch up to you, I’ll rip you to pieces and enjoy every minute of it!”
I don’t bother responding or looking back at David as I continue to climb the stairs. Exhausted and running on pure adrenaline, I finally make it to the trap door at the very top. I push it open and feel the lake air cool the sweat dripping off my face. I let the trap door fall shut, knowing it won’t be any help, but it still makes me feel better.
I look around the top of the lighthouse, trying to find the best place to hide. The big light in the middle is spinning and I cover my eyes to avoid looking straight into it. The pulsating brightness is overwhelming. The circular rail that goes the complete length of the lighthouse doesn’t give me much in the way of hiding spots. After running the full circle of the railings at the top, I’m slow to realize that I’m out of options. This is where I’ll have my last stand.
I position myself to the left of the trap door, hoping to get one good shot in when David opens it. I can hear his heavy feet as they climb the old rickety stairs. I grip the spear even tighter in preparation as I take deep breaths, hoping it brings me strength. Entirely too soon, the trapdoor opens and David’s head emerges followed by his hand with the gun. Luckily, he first looks to the right to find me. It’s the perfect chance, so with a death grip on the spear, I swing it down as hard as I can and make contact with this head. The wood of the handle breaks on impact; the spear portion flies out into the darkness that covers the lake, never to be seen again. I hold what’s left in my hand, reluctant to let the remaining half of my weapon go. I step back to see what effect my strike had on David. I’m hoping to find blood, hear screams of agony, but there are none. The hit was true, but it had no effect on David, except maybe to piss him off even more. As if that were possible.
I crouch away in fear as David emerges from the trap door, unhurt and mad as hell. He regards me with disgust as he lifts his gun and points it straight at my heart.
“You are the one that’s supposed to be my equal?” he asks, exasperated. “You can’t even use a spear correctly. Did it ever occur to you to use the side that has the actual metal blade on it?”
Well, actually, it hadn’t, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I stand there with my heart beating fast as I stare down the barrel of the gun. Even though death is imminent, I don’t think of myself or lament the things I never got to do. All I can think of is Logan. Sweet, caring, loving Logan. The only boy who ever tried to see past my curse. The boy that saved me from darkness and showed me what love truly is.
I picture his face before me, his sexy smile, and it gives me courage. I ignore the gun and look David straight in the eyes. “You’re right. You’ll never be my equal. Because you have no idea how to love.”
David laughs. “Love? Who cares about love? I’m about to be the most powerful man in the world. You can take your love and shove it.”
I say nothing back to him. I’m content in the knowledge that my sacrifice saves the ones I love. I simply close my eyes and wait for death to come. But as fate would have it, death doesn’t want me tonight.
Without warning, David lets out a blood-curdling scream, drops his gun, and grabs his head. He starts to beat his fists against his skull in an effort to
eradicate something that’s bothering him from within. I look on in shock as David becomes engulfed with the same insanity he forced on others.
“Get out of my head, dammit!” he yells at the top of his lungs as the insanity takes hold of him. He flings himself towards the Plexiglas that protects the light in a wasted effort to run away from the demons in his mind. He beats his head against the glass until blood begins pouring out of the cuts in his forehead, making him look even more menacing. He begins to chant, ‘death, death, death’ repeatedly.
I stand there immobile, unsure of what to do. He deserves every bit of insanity that’s enveloping him right now. Though I don’t know where it’s coming from, I’m glad it’s happening. He deserves the same hell he put my friends through.
Abruptly, he stops beating his head against the wall and looks straight at me. “It’s all your fault!” he spits as he breaks away from the glass and lunges at me.
Caught unaware, all I can think of to protect myself is to get this madman as far away from me as possible. I grab the railing behind me and pull myself up as far as I can to create leverage. Just as David reaches me, I kick out my legs as hard as I can, aiming straight for his chest. If David were in his right mind, he may have expected this, but in his confused mental state, I catch him off-guard. I push as hard as I can against his chest with my feet. He loses his balance, stumbles back, and falls head first over the rails, plummeting down to the rocks on the ridge below.
I run over to see what happened to David and I catch a glimpse of Brett briefly illuminated by the lighthouse. He’s standing on the ridge just below looking up at the lighthouse. His face is contorted with rage. Within seconds, his image is lost as the light spins around again. By the time the light comes back full circle, Brett’s gone. I look down at the rocks just in time to see David’s body crumple and break as it collides with the sharp stones.
The minute David’s body hits the rocks my head explodes with pain. Every color imaginable flashes before my eyes like a strobe light. My brain feels like it's coming out my ears. My eyes are closed, but I see the entire spectrum of every color, natural or created, flash brighter and brighter as they pulse through my brain. My screams of agony slash the night as wave after wave of color escapes my skull and radiates off me in all different directions before fading into the darkness. Pulse after pulse escapes as my brain pushes them out one by one from parts I didn’t even know existed within my mind. I have no idea what the colors mean, or where they’re going, but I am in too much pain to care. All I can do is cradle my head in my hands as I scream, while the colors pulse and disappear around me.
Just when I think I can't take anymore, the pain stops. My head is instantly better. It doesn’t throb or have any residual pain as a result of what I just experienced. Not even a remnant of soreness to remind me of the excruciating pain that was.
I open my eyes and everything around me has a white glow. Something in my brain has changed. I don’t see in color anymore, only black-and-white. What the hell just happened to me? How could I have lost my sight? I wasn’t color blind before. Maybe something broke my head? Behind me, I hear Dejana call my name. Damn girl can’t follow directions to save her life. She’s as stubborn as I am I guess.
I make my way through the trap door and back down the stairs. I should feel tired after everything that happened, but I feel rejuvenated, albeit a bit depressed about my sudden colorblindness. I make my way to the bottom of the stairs where Dejana is waiting for me by the door. The instant I see her, my heart drops. She’s okay, but she’s black and white as well. No color of her clothes or anything else on her skin or jewelry remains. Great. Another crappy thing I have to deal with on top of my curse. But then I shake myself mentally and remember that it’s not all bad. Dejana and Logan are safe and I made it out alive. Not too shabby for a Goth cursed girl from Georgia.
As she stands there looking at me, something strange happens. Strands of color start emanating from her brain. The whole spectrum: red, blue, yellow, and so many more that I can’t even name. I almost laugh at the picture it makes, seeing all these strands of color waving like medusa’s hair on top of Dejana’s head. As I watch, the colors eventually fade into the white light that now constantly illuminates the scene. As I move closer to Dejana, I see there are words within the waves of color. Nearer still, I can make out complete sentences. As I read the sentences that emanate periodically from Dejana’s head, I realize these words represent thoughts. And I see them all in vibrant color.
As I stand there staring incoherently at Dejana, (at least from her point of view) I know she thinks the fight may have addled my brain. I know because I read that thought just a second ago. It was yellow. It’s then I realize something significant. Each color must represent a thought. Yellow is obviously concern. But I need to get Dejana to think more things before I can figure the rest out. Amazed, I begin forming questions to ask her.
“Um, Dejana, how are you feeling?” Before she even utters a word, the entire sentence she’s about to say flows out of her head swiftly, clear as day and in the color yellow.
“How am I feeling? What about you, girl? Are you okay, because you’re acting very strange?”
“I’m better than okay, I think. But confused as well. Why did you come back for me even when I told you not to?”
Dejana crosses her arms in front of her and practically glows brown. I’m guessing that brown must be the color of defiance. “I’m not going to sit around while my best friend and her boyfriend are in danger. I found the truck you mentioned and brought it back to help. Since I have no idea where we are, I couldn’t very well call 911 now could I?”
I smile at her, every bit overjoyed at her defiant nature. It’s saved my life more than once. “No, you’re right. Thank you for coming back to save me. I’ll forever be in your debt. I’m so glad you’re my person.”
Dejana glows pink as her thoughts escape her. I read about her gratitude before she utters a syllable. “And I’m glad you’re mine. So how about we go and see how Logan is now?”
Logan! How could I have forgotten him? I guess with all that happened just now, I’ve been a little bit distracted. Without another word, I run past Dejana and make a beeline for the house. I pass by the broken window pieces where Brett once lay, but there’s still no sign of him.
I jump through the broken window and land on the hardwood floors of the library. Funny, I’m not even breathing hard from that run. And that jump was awfully easy considering it’s one story up. I don’t have time to ponder it as I run towards Logan, still unconscious on the bed in the middle of the library. I look around for signs of Dr. Evans, but am grateful when I find none.
I make my way to Logan just as Dejana yells, through her panting, from the backyard, “I can’t make it to the window. I’m going around front.”
I hear her words, but they don’t register as I look at Logan, still in pain as he harbors those awful memories. I’m unsure what to do and I can’t ask Brett to help since he disappeared just after David fell. Mentally, I try and prepare myself to go into his subconscious again and extract those memories like I did with Mary, but doubt plagues me. I had help then, which has since abandoned me. Have I learned enough to be successful? I remove my gloves in preparation. I lean down so I’m face to face with Logan. So close that I can feel his shallow breath upon my face.
“It’s five minutes past forever, my love. Time to come home,” I whisper before I lean down and kiss his temple.
The minute my lips touch his forehead, a bright white light erupts between us. Again, my mind is bombarded with every color imaginable, representing every thought contained in Logan’s mind. They swirl before me, a beautiful mosaic of thoughts. I see my name within shades of red—I guess that color represents love. I see so much brown and pink that my heart fills with joy at witnessing such decency prevail over the evil that lurks within the darkness. Speaking of evil, I spot black strands just beneath all the color. Mentally, I dig down through the colors as th
ey swirl around me, caressing my very soul as they pass. I make my way to the black at the bottom of his consciousness and watch as they begin to quiver. It’s like they know what’s coming. Instinctively, I know what to do. I reach out with my mind and imagine myself devouring each black strand. Like a vacuum, each is sucked into my consciousness and thrown into the white light where it’s chopped into pieces and devoured, never to be thought again.
Once all black strands are eradicated, I mentally pull myself back as I slowly leave Logan’s consciousness. His thoughts swirl around me, caressing my consciousness as if to say thanks for eradicating the evil that lurked beneath. In response, I send out waves of blue, representing happiness and warmth. As I move, I’m careful not to disturb any other thoughts. Once I pull out of his consciousness, the white light begins to fade and I’m able to remove my lips from Logan’s head. I’m not tired, weak, or otherwise exhausted from the journey. I’m in awe.
I watch happily as Logan’s eyes flutter open. He looks as confused as Dejana was when she first woke up, but his first words aren’t what I expected. Yet even so, I know what he’s going to say before he says it. The red glow around him and the words in bold are very hard to miss.
“I love you,” he says in the most profound declaration of love I’ve ever read or heard.
“I know,” I say back with all the love I feel in my changed heart.
As I lean down to kiss him and our lips meet, I see swirls of color float above us, creating a beautifully opaque tornado. But this time the tornado isn’t after the ones I love. It’s here to protect them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
~ The End of the Beginning ~
The hot night air is muggy as Brett makes his way through the thick fog to one of the side doors that accesses the school. He knocks four times, short and in succession as the code set forth by the principal, dictates. He waits for one minute before he hears the latch give way and the door is pushed open. He enters through the crack and quietly closes the door behind him. He turns and enters the office, two doors down on the right. It is the biggest office in the building and fit for such an important man as the principal of such a big high school.
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