Unhinged (23 page)

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 they 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.

A rectangular, mahogany desk faces two
expensive soft leather chairs, while an ornate glass table sits
perfectly comfortable in the center. The desk is immaculate, every
paper stacked neatly, and the computer sitting on top of the glossy
surface is the latest version of a Mac.