Afterlife (4 page)

Attack

I
loved working in the shop and dealing with customers. Even the difficult ones brought with them a sense of satisfaction. Oscar had taught me how to do the books and Martha had taught me how to cook
ravioli
and how to mix together a wonderful
crème brule
.

My days spent with the Williams family, was both wonderful and surreal. Little did I know that my peaceful existence would soon change.

It was a Monday morning, the weather was colder than usual and I opened the shop a little bit earlier, round about 7 am. As I opened the door I could feel a rush of cold air blow over my cheeks. No doubt today would be a quiet day. The community hated bad weather and it was always bad for business.

I settled behind the counter with a book called Vanity Fair. It was written by some guy William Thackeray. He seemed ancient to me but Martha had given it to me as a gift and honestly since I read the opening scene, I could hardly put the book down. Every page was enticing me. Becky Sharpe reminded me a bit of myself, beside the fact that she attended a pretty nice school and had loads of people who believed in her.

 A sound alerted me and I looked up from by book and spotted a 1920 Ace driving up the driveway. Probably just another guest of Pablo the guy who ran the next door Deli I thought. I settled back in with my book and turned the page.

“You know what they say about bookworms” a strong male voice said leaning over the counter.

I jumped up instinctively. My hands buckled and the book fell out of my hands and onto the floor. I immediately tried to pick it up by bending down to the floor. The strange guy, who was obviously driving the ridiciouless Ace outside, joined me in my effort to try and pick up the book. I caught myself looking up at him and staring at him, there was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t place his face. His eyes were glimmering like gold and I could see small green pieces inside of his inner eye. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. I remembered how I had read about eye mutations while I was attending MissMadisonSchool. That was once when she had to pretend for the state department that the servant kids go to school with rich kids.

He probably had some sort of problem with his eyes, I thought. I tried to stop myself from staring.

“I, uhm, I’m sorry if I startled you,” he said flipping his brown hair away from his eyes and his hands strategically tucked into his jean pockets.

 I could feel him gazing at me.  His gaze made me uncomfortable and I tried to look away to avoid his eyes. “What was wrong with me?” I thought, he was just another customer. I tried to compose myself and swallowed hard.

He lifted his shoulders and took out a hand to greet me “Hey, I’m Daniel,” he said seriously.

I was about to take his hand when Oscar walked in. He gave me a stern fatherly look and I realized that he had probably been standing observing the situation for a while.

“Fleur, Martha needs you in the back - now.”

 I felt the need to protest and say that we have customers and that I have a duty as a helper to help, but the look in Oscar’s eyes was something I simply couldn’t compete with.  

I nodded and gave Daniel a final apologetic look before I walked off to help Martha in the kitchen. I could hear Oscar say something to Daniel in the lines of “What are you doing here?”

Something wasn’t right; I sensed an underlying tension between Daniel and Oscar. I tried to ask Martha about it but she brushed me off, sending me to watch her
soufflés
rise. Whatever the problem was between them, I felt compelled to find out.

That night at dinner, Oscar and Martha were quieter than usual and they hardly touched their food. I pushed my food around with my fork.  After the day’s events the last thing I felt like was food or company. I made an excuse to go to bed and they simply nodded a silent good night.

I sat on the rocking chair in my bedroom that overlooked the woods and wondered why everyone was so visibly stressed out.  The full moon was bright and I could trace the shadows on my arm. I curled up on my warm bed and closed my eyes and then my dreams began. The dreams were always the same, always questionable but it never provided any answers.  That night I dreamt that I was on a boat somewhere out in the Pacific. I could feel my head hurting with a gash on my head and then I saw him dragging my body from the boat. I saw his eyes, big golden eyes, staring back at me with green specks.

I woke up with the sun streaming into my room and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something just wasn’t right .  My dream of the previous night was gnawing at me, could it be that the guy in my dreams was in fact the guy that I had met yesterday, or were my dreams just playing a nasty trick on me? I felt like I was becoming increasingly complacent and agitated with my surroundings, the constant dreaming and the unpleasant weather.

Martha and Oscar weren’t a part of the problem.  My mind was constantly trying to process information about Louisa’s whereabouts. I had no idea where my sister was and my need to find her became increasingly urgent.

It was a quiet day at the store and no one bothered to buy anything when it was raining, which it did a lot lately.  Oscar and Martha had left me a note saying that they had gone into town to visit Martha’s sick sister and left me to attened to the shop.  The last thing I felt like was customers. The weather was terrible and the last thing anyone wanted to do today was visit the candy shop.  I couldn’t sit and wait anymore. I felt trapped by the lightning and the smell of candy and a feeling of urgency crept up inside of me. I grabbed my coat and an umbrella and locked the door behind me. Breathing in the smell of soaked plants and wood felt like freedom.

I retraced the path down to the woods like I had a few weeks before and before I knew it, I found myself lost. I could hear myself swearing, “Oh crap, this is great!” Picking my pockets for the compass that Oscar had given me, I realized that I had left it in my other jacket. I looked around and found a log to sit on and looked at the tropical forest around me. “Where did I go wrong? I must’ve missed a bend.”  I could see dark clouds formulating above me, it was going to rain again. My thoughts trailed back to my surroundings “Why did I end up coming here in the first place?”
 

                                                                                                      ***

Nearby Daniel had been watching me. This was his quiet spot when he needed to think - to get away from everyone and everything. He looked down at me wondering why on earth I would do such a stupid idiotic thing as to get lost in a dangerous place like this. He leaped over onto another tree trying not to make a scene. He watched me going deeper and deeper into the woods, near the Orders gathering place. He had to stop me, but didn’t know how.  Daniel kept an eye on me following my every move. I really had no idea how dangerous the woods were and besides that, I was breaking the rules without even knowing it. I wasn’t safe and he knew it…
 

                                                                                                       ***
 

I felt danger lurking and chills ran down my spine. I could sense someone was staring at me almost exactly the same way as before. “Whose there?” I yelled, a bird echoed in the background. I walked on trying to find my way back, but every turn was a dead end. The danger was tangible, but I just couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. It was going to rain again. I could smell it as the atmosphere changed. Above me thunder struck and I ran towards shelter near a well hung tree. I placed my book bag above my head as the rain started pouring down. I ran towards the other side hoping that this time the path would lead me back to the opening.  It didn’t. I tripped and fell and landed on the ground with a thump. The wound on my leg started bleeding and the blood soaked my dress. I sight of it made me feel felt sick and nauseous.  I wanted to faint.  I hated the sight and smell of blood. Around me something was closing in.

I could hear someone approaching me with fast placid footsteps. I tried to sit as still as I could, wondering if it could be the animals that Martha had mentioned. Her words echoed into my mind, “The forest has animals Fleur and you better stay clear if you want to stay alive.” I had no idea what kind of animals these ones were, but I was scared. After a while the world became silent and I was wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me again. I lifted my head up and looked into a pair of dark black eyes.

He was six foot tall and daringly handsome.  His black hair hung in his eyes like a cloak.  He looked Asian but somehow his coloring was much too light.  There was something different about him something luminescing.  He stared at me and smiled like he had just picked out a shiny new toy. I was thankful there was another human being to help and protect me from the animals that Martha had been so adamant about.

“I thought there were animals around me. Could you please help me?” I pleaded. He just looked at me with his eyes changing color I could swear!  They were now the same color as the Daniel guy, who had been to the shop earlier that week. Or was my mind playing tricks on me?

“Hmm, you’re not from around here, are you?” he said laughing snidely.  I watched him getting closer and instinctively backed away and walked to the otherside. There was something dark about his entire demeanor.

“Nope. Not from here as you can see. I’m a bit lost and there is probably people looking for me.” I lied.  He wasn’t there to help, that was becoming very clear, but what did he want from me? I tried earnestly to calm the situation down. “Really look I’m not here to seek trouble. I..I … got lost and I need to find my way back. Please don’t hurt me.”  I pleaded, surprising myself.

I could see him moving towards me.  It felt like a game of hide and seek.  I hid behind a tree and then ran onto the next one. I tried to get away, but he was too fast and then he jumped me, but I managed to slip out of his grip. I could hear his laugh echo throughout the forest. I prayed “Oh God please help me. Let someone hear, please let someone help me.” I moved away and then came face to face with this creature.  I gasped in shock and try to back away as fast as I could. He followed my body’s movement with intense curiosity and moved in unison towards me and then in a swift movement his body was on top of mine. I tried to fight him off but he was extremely strong and I had now power against such strength.  He grabbed my arm and pulled it to the back of my head and I could feel my hands sink into the mud. He moved his head up to mine and smelled the small of my neck.

“You know what you smell like to me?” I begged him to stop.

He touched my body again and I tried to scream but no sound came out, I was in too much shock.  He grabbed my arm and yanked it to the side. Pain flooded my mind.

“You know what you smell like to me” he said again.

 I suddenly found me voice and shouted out “Leave me alone! Stop it!”

He ignored my protests and leisurely replied.

 “Like a donor.  Didn’t your mummy every tell you not to walk into strangers backyards?” He said breathing deeply.

 I shivered and swallowed hard as he glared at me with more hatred than I had ever seen in anyones eyes. He ripped my dress in one strong movement and licked the sore on my leg.

“What kind of freak are you?” I cried out in disgust. He seemed to enjoy every moment of the sick mind game he was playing.

A movement on my right attracted my attention. Daniel stood watching me, his eyes sent a warning to stay still. His finger gesturing for me to be quiet. I tried not look at him and focused my eyes on the crazy guy who has released his firm grip on me. I could not stay put and immediately crawled back again, but he had me and it felt as if there was no way out. In one sudden movement without warning, Daniel jumped off the tree and faced my enemy.

My head was spinning. I felt relief flood my whole being.  I really had no idea what to make of everything . What kind of a human being jumps from such a tall tree without hurting himself?

“Zach!  Stop it!” Daniel demanded my attacker. He left me at once and jumped to his feet. I crawled away from him as fast as I could.

My attacker gave Daniel a look that I couldn’t really place and then snarled at Daniel. I took the whole scene in with intense concentration. Zach gave a frustrated growl and stepped towards Daniel, but suddenly turned around with a last regretful glance at me and took off at lightning speed. I had never seen anything move as fast before. Within seconds he was gone. This was way too much for me and I suddenly felt very faint.  Daniel swiftly, but gently caught me with his arm around my waist and picked me up like a child.

I could feel his cold hard body pressing into my soft curves.  I had never been this close to a guy before and it awakened new feelings in me. Most of all I felt safe.  He walked briskly and I did not think to protest once for him to put me down. I was in a trance and felt completely mesmerized.  In the distance I caught a glance of the store as we approached the opening in the woods. I was so close, but yet so far from it.