A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (31 page)

Finally, taking a deep breath and letting it out, he says, “I didn’t hurt you did I?” He touches my arm and I flinch, prepared to feel it again, but I don’t.

“No you didn’t hurt me, but you are scaring the hell out of me and really pissing me off. What was that?” I ask as I try to calm myself down.

“I’m not really sure…” He says while looking at his hand.

“What is this scar from then?” I ask while pointing at the obvious scar on my right arm, just above my elbow. “This was
not
there before.”

“That has always been there. That is what earned you the nickname
.
” He says while still looking at his hand that electrocuted my insides. “Not even the healers could avoid a scar from forming.”

I sit down on the floor and put my head in my hands. “Cohen.”

Cohen comes and sits down beside me and says, “Yeah?”

“What happened to me? All I can remember is my life that everyone claims to have been a dream.” I look to my left hand ring finger. Once, a beautiful ring resided there claiming me as Luke’s. Tears start to fall down my cheeks at the thought of him.

“You sure you want to know? It is pretty bad. You almost died.”

I nod. “Yes, please tell me.”

“You and I were on our way to take food to Mr. Neely. He was sick and in the process of healing. Your mom made his favorite meal and sent us to take it to him. She thought we needed to take it since we caused so much trouble for him all those years. She thought it would be a good time for us to tell him sorry, and my parents agreed.” A smile finds its way to his face as he continues, “We were always playing pranks on Mr. Neely; trouble makers you and I were… Anyway, on our way there a couple of Versipellis from Terre found their way to our world and started picking on us. I kept telling you to ignore them, but you wouldn’t listen. I found out that day you have a very large vocabulary of profane words.” He stops and starts laughing as he remembers. “They were much older than us. You were nineteen at the time. I tried to get you to stop, but you wouldn’t. When you found out that they were the ones who killed your dad you lost it. I still think they were just joking about being the ones who killed your dad, but you took it seriously. You started fighting them, but they were stronger. It was obvious they came to Gaia to start trouble. They didn’t care if you died. As soon as I realized you and I couldn’t stop them, I took off running to get help. I tried to fight them off of you but couldn’t. When I came back with help they were gone. You were unconscious and bleeding heavily from your head and mouth. You were immediately taken to the healers who pronounced you dead several times. When you started breathing on your own without help they declared you in a coma.” He takes a deep breath, lets it out, and smiles at me. “And now you are awake… You just don’t remember anything.”

“Why is everyone calling it an
accident
? It sounds like it was pretty intentional.” I say.

Shrugging his shoulders, he says, “Not really sure. I guess it sounds better than saying Versipellis almost killed you. Less dramatic…”

I run my hand over my head at the thought of being hurt badly enough to almost cause me to die. I place my hand over my heart to confirm its beating, and I feel the soft steady thuds. I trace the scar on my arm with my index finger and then look at Cohen who obviously cares for me. I look at my ring finger again and sigh. Maybe I was
just
dreaming. Maybe Luke and everyone else I believed to be real are all pretend. I shake my head in disbelief and tuck my hair behind my ears.

Cohen stands up and walks to the door. He turns to me and says, “I think you should get some rest. I will come by and check on you later,” he pauses, a thoughtful expression splayed across his face. He looks me in the eyes, searching for some sort of consent and continues, “
If
that is okay with you?” I nod my head and give him a small smile. Even if I don’t remember him, I am glad he is my friend.

HOLLY

AFTER A MUCH
needed shower, I feel physically refreshed but not mentally. I clean up the room and gather up all of my dirty laundry. I try to find a pair of shoes to wear but notice there are none.
Guess I’ll go barefoot… Soooo not complaining.
I pull my hair back in a pony-tail and head out the door.

The hallway is long and dark. The only source of light is coming from wall lamps and a few candles on tall pedestals. The dark concrete floor is cold on my bare feet—sending chills all over my body. I glance at the large pictures on the walls as I walk by. I stop when I see a picture of me and a woman that I happen to favor,
a lot
. The picture is low enough for me to touch, making it hard to resist reaching up and running my fingers over it. We are sitting in a vast field on a breezy summer day. I am smiling with my fulgent green eyes staring at the woman. She is smiling and looking at me also. We are both in white flowing dresses that fall just below our knees. Our dark hair floats weightlessly in the wind.

Aside from the obvious wonder and mystery this picture presents with my life that I remember none of, I take a moment to appreciate all of the different colors. The vibrant blue sky is dotted with fluffy white clouds. The green grass is tall but at a comfortable length, and the sun casts golden rays on our skin and other areas of the picture. I am so lost in the photo, not paying attention to my surroundings, that I am startled when I hear a woman’s voice.

“That was taken right before you were hurt.” I turn around and lo-and-behold, it is the woman from the photo. “I didn’t know how to handle what happened to you that day. I swore if you ever got better I would never let you out of the house again.”

While attempting a smile, I say, “I am assuming you are Tess, my mother?” There is no denying I look like her. I have the same pronounced cheekbones, the same translucent green eyes, the same lustrous black hair… I close my eyes to try to remember even the slightest memory of her, but there is nothing.

A tear slides down her cheek, and she quickly wipes it away. “Yes. I am your mother. Oh dear, I wish I had more words to say. I have had what I would say to you planned out for quite some time—if you ever woke up, that is. Now, I am at a loss for words.” She laughs while looking away from me and back to the photo.

“Cohen said I was nineteen when it happened. How long has it been? How old am I now?” I ask while looking away from the picture to look at Tess…
my mother.

“Three months. You are twenty years old now. Your birthday was yesterday.” When she says the word “yesterday” I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach.
Yesterday,
I was with Luke.
Yesterday,
Brody and many others died. I feel anger building inside of me but quickly calm myself down.
It was just a dream, Holly.
Just. A. Dream.

Looking at the dirty clothes in my arms, she asks, “Would you like me to take those clothes? I have other laundry that needs to be brought to Helen.”

“Helen?” I ask with raised eyebrows.

“Oh my, I am sorry. It is going to take some time to become accustomed to you not remembering any of us. She is the nanny. Your father and I hired her when you and your brother were born. You and Harim are twins. I couldn’t handle twins alone, especially since your older sister, Stella, was such a handful.” Laughing and shaking her head she continues, “We really don’t need her anymore, but she has become a part of the family—especially after your father passed away.” Her happy expression quickly turns to sorrow at the mention of my
“father”.

“Harim is my twin?” I ask while handing her my dirty clothes.

“Yes. You two have always been very close. I am unsure if he would have survived life without you. Anyway, I am sure that Helen would
love
to cook you something to eat. You must be starving.”

“That sounds great. But, can I ask you something first?”

She answers with a warm, motherly smile. “Anything.”

“Cohen said that Versipellis from Terre are the ones who almost killed me… How did they get here?”

“Yes. That is true. There was a time when we could move freely to and from worlds. In ancient times a bad war broke out and a treaty was put into motion that forbid traveling between worlds. Our kind stays in Gaia; Versipellis stay in Terre, and Mortals stay on Earth. A group of rebellious Versipellis broke the treaty the day they came here and hurt you.”

My heart skips a beat when I realize Terre is real. “So Terre is real?!” I ask, growing impatient as I wait for her to answer.

“It
is.
But we are in the process of declaring war with them.”

“What?! Why?” I ask growing more nervous at the thought that Luke could possibly be real and in Terre right now, wondering where I am.

“Because they almost killed you! Our world is not a world that believes in war, but what they did to you… Well
that
was unacceptable. War is inevitable after what happened.” Anger has filled her eyes, and I can tell she is fighting back tears.

Before I realize I am speaking, words come spilling out of my mouth. “What is the name of the person in rule there?” My heart starts beating fast as I wait for her response.

She raises her eyebrows, and says, “His name is King Avenir Day. Why are you concerned with the evil people of Terre?” Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. I feel lightheaded and stumble as I reach out to the wall for support.
It was just a dream.

LUKE

I TURN OVER
to wrap Holly in my arms and realize she isn’t there.
Hmmm, must be in the shower.
I sit up and stretch and feel like I’ve been run over. I look around and notice that Jett is sleeping in the over-sized chair in the corner of the room.
What is he doing here?
I use my magic and successfully smack him in the face, hard, with a pillow.

Jett jumps out of the chair and looks at me like I’m a ghost. “You’re awake.”

“No duh. Where is Holly? And…What are you doing in our room?”

Jett sits back down in the chair and runs his hands over his face. His expression is full of anguish, and a feeling of dread begins slowly creeping its way up. “How do I tell you this?”

“How do you tell me what?” My pulse has quickened as I realize this is not going to be something I want to hear. Conversations that start with ‘
how do I tell you this’,
are almost never followed by something positive.

“You have been in and out of sleep for a while. The doctor has had to keep knocking you out, because you were trying to kill everyone and destroy everything. Luke… Holly is dead.” He gets up and starts to walk over to me, but I put my hand up to stop him from taking another step.

Laughing and shaking my head I say, “No, she is not. She was here last night, after the fight. We fell asleep together.” I am going to kill him. This is not something you joke about.

He comes and sits on the edge of the bed. In a sympathetic voice he says, “I am
not
lying. Luke, she died in her sleep. We thought you were dead also, but you were still breathing. You have been in a coma for three months.”
He has to be lying.
I let my magic build and send him flying off the bed and forcefully against the wall.