Crazy Files

by Yvi Valentin

  “We can’t risk it. Jen and Liz can handle it.” Frank seemed annoyed by every word out of my mouth. I couldn’t explain it, but there was something I didn’t trust about him.

  “You should relax,” Brian suggested. “After the day you’ve had, you must be exhausted.”

  “I am,” I said weakly.

  “Then try to get some sleep,” Frank recommended.

  I laid my head back and tried to relax, but I was so worried about Andy that I wasn’t able to fall asleep. It felt good to be off my feet, but I wasn’t sure how long it would last so I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy as much of it as I could. It was really hard to do. The image of Andy unconscious in the car was all I could see. It completely consumed my brain.

  “Did you hear that Aims?” Brian asked. I heard him but at the same time I was lost in my own thoughts. “Hey! Aimee! Snap out of it!”

  Frank punched my arm to pull me out of my head. “Ouch,” I shouted while rubbing my arm. “You didn’t have to punch me so hard.”

  “Sorry, it’s a habit,” Frank said.

  “Liz and Jen got to Andy,” Brian explained. He paused for what seemed like an eternity. Sometimes I wondered if he got a kick out of torturing me.

  “Is he alright?” I asked half agitated.

  “He’s alive, but still unconscious.” I could tell Brian didn’t want to say it because of my fragility.

  Part of me was relieved, but at the same time I was freaking out. I hoped he would be fine in the end. “Are we still going to the house Andy was taking me to when we crashed?”

  “Yeah,” Frank replied. “We need to get closer to Evan.”

  “Alright.” I was in no mood to argue over strategy. All I wanted was to be with Andy and maybe relax for a decent amount of time.

  It wasn’t long before we finally arrived on the farm we would call our home for a while. I was almost positive it was right next to the farm where Evan had taken me so long ago. My first priority was to take care of Andy in any way I could. I had no medical training but I didn’t care, I was going to do whatever necessary to get my Andy back.

  I entered the farmhouse and the first thing I saw was Andy lying unconscious on the couch. I rushed to his side and put my ear over his heart for the familiar comforting sound of his heartbeat. I sat there for a while remembering the numerous times I had done the exact same thing, the only difference being that he was awake and would play with my hair. I was glad to feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath. At least I knew he was alive. I tried not to think about the possible damage the crash may have caused but my efforts failed. I didn’t have the energy to hide my emotions as I let the tears stream down my cheeks and onto Andy’s shirt.

  “We have to get him to a hospital,” I said through my sobs.

  “We can’t do that. You’d be vulnerable there and someone would get to you for sure,” Frank pointed out.

  “He could have brain damage! Something could be seriously wrong with him and we have no clue about it! He needs a doctor!” I was furious that no one wanted to help Andy because of me. It shouldn’t have been about me, but about saving Andy’s life.

  “There is something we could try, well you could try Aimee,” Brian said.

  “What is it? I’ll do whatever it takes.” I was desperate to get Andy back. It wasn’t good enough to have him physically next to me, he needed to be conscious.

  “You can try to heal him,” Jen suggested as she walked through the door.

  “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? But do you think it’ll work fully while he’s in this condition?” I was mad at myself for not thinking of it.

  “It couldn’t hurt to try,” Jen answered. “But do you know what you’re doing?”

  “Yeah, I’ve done it before,” I said casually.

  Brian’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t know you could do that. I was just taking a shot in the dark.”

  “It was a while ago.” I was hesitant and afraid. I didn’t want to fail or worse, hurt Andy even more.

  “If anyone can do this you can kiddo,” Brian said. He flashed me a sympathetic look. I didn’t want sympathy, I wanted Andy back.

  “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.” I focused all of my energy on healing Andy. I felt my hands tingling and knew it was working. The energy was so strong that I thought I was going to pass out. I put my hands on Andy’s chest and felt the energy flow from my hands into his body. The seconds it took for him to wake up felt like hours to me. I was so excited to see that it worked, but at the same time I felt incredibly weak. I must have given Andy great reflexes because he managed to push himself up and catch me before I hit the ground. I kept going in and out of consciousness.

  “Poor thing,” Andy said as he carried me up a flight of stairs.

  “Yeah,” Brian added. “She’s been running all day and when we got here all she wanted to do was get you back. She must have used all the energy she had left to heal you.”

  “She healed me?” I could hear the shock in Andy’s voice. He probably wasn’t expecting it from me given how weak I was before we crashed into the ditch.

  “It was Jen’s idea. We were surprised it worked.”

  I felt Andy’s lips touch mine. I would have opened my eyes or said something to let him know I could hear him, but I didn’t have the energy for it. “What an amazing girl I have on my hands.” I felt a weak smile spread across my face. I was surprised I was able to do that much considering how hard it was for me to do everything else. “I think she’s awake. She’s probably just too weak to do anything.” I felt Andy lay me down on what I assumed was a bed. He sat next to me and played with my hair. It was good to know he was alright but I wished I had the energy to enjoy the reunion.

  “She probably just needs some sleep,” Brian said.

  “Probably but knowing Aimee, she’s not going to be able to fall asleep.” I tried to laugh at the fact that Andy knew me so well but it ended up looking more like a muscle spasm. “Are you alright?”

  I tried to answer but I didn’t even have the energy to telepathically tell him anything. I must have been on empty if I couldn’t do something as simple as open my eyes. I decided to try to pull energy from the earth to see if it would help. It was hard at first but got easier as I took in more energy. I only wanted enough to be able to open my eyes and talk. It wouldn’t feel right to use so much of the earth’s energy for myself, plus I really didn’t want to do anything. It took a while but eventually I was able to open my eyes.

  “I’m just running on no energy,” I said weakly. It was good to see Andy looking back at me after I nearly lost him.

  “Alright sweetheart, just get some rest.” Andy stood up and I managed to grab his wrist to keep him from leaving. “Do you want me to lay with you?”

  “Yeah, will you?” Each word I spoke hurt and each movement I made hurt even more. Andy moved me over a little so he could lie down, I put my head on his chest and he played with my hair again. It was important for me to enjoy these moments and I knew Andy felt the same. We stayed in silence for a while.

  Andy broke the silence. “It’s great to just relax for a while isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, I really needed this.” I was slowly getting stronger not only in my voice but my entire body too. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”

  “Add a beautiful view for us to look at and it would be perfect.”

  “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

  “I like to think I know you well,” he laughed.

  “Yeah, I wonder why,” I teased. Andy tousled my hair in response. We both knew I was still too weak to handle one of his usual shoves. “We’re going to have to get back to work soon aren’t we?”

  “Yeah,” he sighed. “Right now let’s focus on getting you back to full health.” He paused for a moment. “So I heard that you were able to heal me again.”

  “I almost forgot about it until Jen made the suggestion. I knew I had to try, I needed you back.”

  “
Well I’m glad it wasn’t just a fluke the first time.”

  “Me too.”

  “You know what this means don’t you?” Andy asked after a moment of silence.

  “What?”

  “It means we’ll be better when it comes to battles. You’ll be able to heal people so they can go back to fighting faster.”

  “Can we please not talk about this stupid war?”

  “Of course.”

  We sat in silence for a little longer when we heard yelling from downstairs. We looked at each other in confusion, wondering what was going on. Andy walked over to the window to see what was happening.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as I tried to sit up.

  “We have to get out of here!” Brian yelled as he barged through the door.

  “Are you kidding me!?” I was angry. I wanted more time to relax and fully recharge.

  “Wish I was Aims, I’m sorry, but we really need to go right now.” I could tell Brian felt sorry for me.

  “They just broke in; we need to get out now!” Frank shouted as he, Jen and Liz ran into the room.

  I needed to take in more energy as quick as possible, so I paused for a moment to do so before the running began again. I sprang out of the bed feeling like I had just awoken from a long sleep. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs as I headed towards the window to make my escape.

  “Where are we even going to go?” I asked as Andy helped me out the window.

  “Just climb onto the roof, we’ll figure it out when we’re all up there,” Brian quietly said.

  I climbed up to the roof easier than I thought I could. It wasn’t long before Andy and everyone else had joined me. I looked in every direction and didn’t see many places to run. There were a few barns and stables around, but there was too much distance to go unnoticed. Andy and I looked at each other as the same thought crossed our minds.

  “Guys we could…” I started.

  “Fly there,” Andy finished my sentence.

  “Glad to see you two finishing each other’s sentences again,” Brian teased.

  “Oh shut up, you’re just jealous,” I laughed.

  “Are you kidding me right now!?” Frank was always such a buzz kill.

  “Sorry,” Brian, Andy and I said in unison.

  “Flying is our best option right now,” Liz suggested.

  “We really need to get off this roof before they get to us,” Jen pointed out.

  I looked over and saw a man climbing out the window. “They’re coming, lets meet at the barn!” I tried to be as quiet as possible so the men wouldn’t hear where we were going. In a matter of seconds, we all flew off of the roof and into an open window of the barn.

  “What are we going to do now?” Jen asked, panic in her voice. “It’s only a matter of time before they make their way over here”.

  “I think we should follow them once they leave,” I suggested.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of nowhere! How would we follow them without being seen?” Frank clenched his jaw as I started to feel his aggravation towards me.

  “If you didn’t want to do this you should have said no from the beginning,” Andy said.

  “I did at first but then I got here and all we’ve been doing is running away from everyone who poses a threat. We haven’t gotten any new information about what Evan is planning next and Aimee still doesn’t believe any of this is real!”

  “Stay out of my head!” I yelled. My heart jumped into my throat as I realized none of my thoughts were safe.

  “Oh please! It’s obvious you’ve lost touch with reality. I don’t need to be poking around in your head to know that!” I was stunned by Frank’s words. Was I really that easy to read?

  “Frank, stop it!” Andy yelled. “She’s our only hope of winning this war and you’re pushing her away!”

  “Our only hope!? Why does she get put on a pedestal? What’s so special about her?” There was no calming Frank down. Nothing any of us could have said was going to make things better.

  “You guys are being too loud,” Jen hissed. “They’re coming!”

  “Good, let them come!” Frank shouted.

  “You’re being really immature.” I didn’t want to admit that what he said was true, but I knew it and I had a feeling Andy did too.

  The barn door broke open and in came six men. All of us, except Frank, prepared ourselves to fight. All six men rushed towards me. I had a feeling that was going to happen. I just stood there, wondering if I would be taken to Evan if they got a hold of me. Andy must have known what I was thinking because he rushed in front of me and started fighting the man closest to him. Everyone else followed his lead. Frank was still hanging back watching the fight break out. I snapped out of it and started fighting too. It was mostly hand to hand combat in the beginning which I was struggling with. It wasn’t easy keeping up with a man twice my size. I decided to take a different approach.

  I had no intentions of killing him. We needed to get information and this was the perfect opportunity. Plus it would allow me to work on my ability to control people. I made the man stop what he was doing and freeze where he stood while I looked around the barn for something to tie him up with. I didn’t think I was going to need it, but I wanted it just in case. I saw Frank looking at me in disbelief, like he had never seen what I had just done ever before. It was like he didn’t know about what I could do.

  “How did you do that?” he asked me.

  “I can control anything I want,” I said casually. “You didn’t know that?”

  “I had no idea,” he whispered as I noticed a look of fear flash across his face. “So that’s why you’re an important part in winning the war.”

  “Yeah, now help me find a rope or something to tie this guy down with.”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  We both searched the barn for anything that could be used to restrain the mystery man. I kept looking over to make sure he was still standing exactly where I left him and to my surprise, he was there each time I checked. After searching for a while, Frank found some rope and I left to grab a chair from the house. By the time I got back with the chair, all of the fighting was over. Five men were dead and the man I controlled was still exactly where I left him. I put the chair behind him and sat him down. Frank took the rope and tied the man to the chair.

  “I told everyone about your plan.” I was surprised Frank had warmed up to me in such a short amount of time. I was sure it mostly had to do with the fact that he was scared of what I might do if he got on my bad side.

  “Has he moved or said anything?” I asked.

  “Nope, nothing,” Frank replied.

  “Good.” I turned to look at the man sitting in the chair and thought about what to ask him first. “You guys might want to brace yourselves. I’m going to stop controlling him.”

  “Why are you going to do that? Just force him to tell you what you want to know,” Brian said.

  “Because it takes a lot of energy to keep my control on him and I want to see what we can find out without my having to force him.”

  “We should trust her.” I was surprised Frank was on my side after what transpired earlier.

  The man got out of his daze caused by the control I had on him moments before and asked, “What’s going on? How did I get tied to this chair?”

  “You mean you don’t remember attacking me?” I gasped, pretending to be shocked.

  “I remember coming here to take you back to Evan. I know I started to fight you but then it all went dark.”

  “Yeah, that’ because I controlled you.” I felt arrogant which I knew wasn’t the best thing but I couldn’t help being proud of myself.

  “Where are the guys I came here with?” he asked.

  “They’re dead,” Andy answered pleasantly with a twinkle in his eye.

  “Then why am I still alive?” asked the unknown man.

  “Because we need information and you’re going to give it to us whether or
not you want to.” I hoped I wasn’t going to have to control him because it took a lot out of me, plus I felt bad about taking control of a person’s actions.

  “What do you need to know?” the man sighed. He must have known what was going to happen because defeat read all over his face.

  “What were you sent here to do?” I asked.

  “Evan told us to come here and take you to him. He said if you weren’t here, we had to look around for any clues as to where you might be and if we had to, we were supposed to wait until you showed up.”

  “Do you know what he wants to do with her?” Andy asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve heard him talk to Lucifer a lot. He keeps saying that time is running out. I think he’s desperate.”

  “Time is running out for what?” I asked. I was partially excited to have a lead, but it wasn’t much information to go on. We were going to have to do some serious spying if we were going to find out what exactly was being planned.

  “I don’t know. I’m just telling you what I heard, but I do know they’re worried about running out of time.”

  “What should we do next?” I asked Andy quietly. Just because I was able to control the man, didn’t mean I was going to trust him enough to hear our plans.

  “I hate to say this, but I think we’re going to have to try getting closer to Evan. Aimee, we’re going to have to run with your original plan,” Andy said. I could tell he was really struggling with the decision.

  “Alright,” I started, “so how do I get to him?”

  “Simple,” Liz began, “we have this guy take you there.”

  “You can force him to take you and tell Evan that he was able to capture you, but everyone else wasn’t as lucky,” Jen chimed in.

  “Good thinking,” I said. “But what about you guys?”

  “You don’t think we’d throw you into the lion’s den without watching out for you do you?” Brian asked. I could tell he was as nervous as everyone else despite his cheerful tone of voice.

  “I know you wouldn’t. So what do we have to do before I go?” I asked. I knew it was my idea, but the thought of it actually happening was terrifying.

  “We need to get you an earwig and maybe have a hidden camera in place somewhere,” Andy started.