The Rape of Proserpine

The Rape of Proserpine Chapter Twelve

The Rape of Proserpine

Twelve

Still shirtless, and shivering not from the cold air, but from the anxiety burning up inside my body, I strode outside the confines of my bathroom and straight towards my closet to examine the pockets of my jeans. River watched me fret and mutter under my breath as I pawed at the notes tucked inside my every jeans pockets; all containing the same message. I cursed over and over again, thinking that the one carefully placed the notes in my bedroom while I was gone. I looked around my room, examining all my stuff, my eyes narrowed for something out of place.

“Darrel, what’s wrong?” River asked, stepping to my side, a curious look emblazoned on his features. “What are those?” He motioned at the crumpled papers in my hands with his chin. I stifled a groan when his hot palm made contact to my bare shoulder. “Darrel,” he almost begged, squeezing my shoulder.

“I need to be somewhere,” I gushed, as if I was out of oxygen. “Shit!”

Before River could say anything more, or worse, stop me, I bolted back to the bathroom and quickly threw the shirt I left lying on the cold, tiled floor on my body and put on some shoes, not bothering to wear socks anymore. My nerves were frazzled, my palms sweating profusely, and my shoelaces kept on slipping through my trembling fingers, but I had no choice. Time was of the essence. I could not even begin to imagine where and what was Narcissa going through right now.

I had to rescue her. At all costs.

“Darrel, wait!” I heard River call as I made a run for the door, barely giving him any attention. “You can’t just run off someplace!” he grabbed my arm and dragged me in the center of the room. I resisted in vain. He cupped my face with both hands and forced me to look him in the eyes. “Tell me what’s going on, please, Darrel. I’m worried about you.” I shook my head and mumbled a no, prying his hands off of my cheeks.  “Stop! Darrel, listen to me, look me in the eyes.” My irises started focusing in his, and I found myself gently being pushed to sit on my bed. River kneeled in front of me on the floor, our faces inches apart. “Tell me what you can tell me,” he whispered.

I clenched my jaw tightly, and he felt the muscles tensing and began to slowly run his thumbs over my cheeks in lazy circles. “I can’t,” I reasoned, pleading to be released to do what I had to do.

The message had been clear to me; Adam and Eve, the serpent, the Garden of Eden. It all made perfect sense. Maybe it might look bizarre to anyone but not me. I knew exactly what he wanted to convey. My neck muscles quivered. I balled my fists hard, furious at myself.

“I won’t let you get away unless you tell me what it is you’re planning to do,” River stated firmly, stripping me to have a say regarding the matter.

“You don’t understand! I-”

“Then make me understand!” His voice held a threatening ring to it; I was rendered mute. “You’re scaring me, Darrel.” His dark, agitated eyes captured me, summoning a tinge of weakness from inside my depths.

My eyes wandered to the windows. Outside, the sky was a big orange painting of country life; a life away from the noise and dust of the city and its towering skyscrapers; a life that was once so serene and quiet before tragedy struck in its bosom. It felt so far away now, my normal, happy life. Like a dream, or a vague memory from another lifetime. I wish I could go back and did things differently. If I did, maybe none of these disappearances and notes and bad things would have happened. I wished, but that was all I could ever do, and it pained me.

“River,” I croaked while I shifted uncomfortably on my bed. “I …”

Suddenly, he shook his head and snapped at me. “Don’t.” Silence hung in the air for a while as both of us dipped in the lecherous waters of uncertainty. “Don’t do it.” Something dawned on him. His hands slipped from my cheeks to my arms, wrapping his solid and rough fingers around them, almost cutting my circulation. “This isn’t your battle anymore, Darrel. Let go of the past. Please, let me help you.”

But it was my battle all along. If I wouldn’t give myself, he might do something terrible to Narcissa and it would kill me. He might possibly repeat snatching unsuspecting people to get to me. River, he might take you away from me too, just like what he did to Marel.

My throat dried up at the thoughts storming in my mind. I couldn’t bear thinking what the one was capable of doing more, nor would I like to find out. He did enough to make me scream at night for the rest of my life, anything in excess would make me insane.

“Narcissa,” I began, bug got cut off my River’s unexpected movement and behavior. He stood up, paced a few times, and punched the door, making me flinch from the awful sounds of his breaking bones. “River.” A red splotch tainted the white door, creating a shiver to sizzle in my spine. Blood.

“Give me your keys.”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“I said give me your damn keys.”

My eyes automatically landed at the keys sitting on the nightstand. River followed my gaze and before I could react, he sprang in motion and pounced at it. “River!” I followed his swift movements going purposefully outside. But I wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t reasonable enough to make him halt. When I burst out the front door, he was already backing up my car. “River, where are you going?!” I ran after the car.

“I’ll fix your problem. Damn that bastard Kenon,” he shouted, and was off in a second, disappearing from my sight when he rounded a corner and into the darkening woods.

“River,” I murmured, “no.”

X X X X

I waited in the porch for a very long span of time, the night closing in on me like a blanket of mist. The anger, nervousness, frustration, and fear never once subsided as the seconds ticked by. I looked longingly into the woods, sighing. I tried calling River but to no avail. I always ended up to his voice mail. My parents, on the other hand, were at the Sinclairs, keeping each other company and surely trading stories of what ifs and if onlys.

I groaned for the thousandth time, running my fingers through my hair. With nothing to do, I brought the note out of my pocket and reread the writing, although it was already engraved in my memory.

Man did not succeed in driving the snake out of the Garden of Eden, but he drove himself out.

I raised my eyes from the paper and into the clear night sky, seeing no stars twinkling down on me. “Marel,” I whispered, “I’m not strong enough for this. I need you right now.”

“Stop joking, Darrel. We both know you can do this.” I could almost hear and feel Marel say to me, like he always did whenever I doubted myself. It was set in my very bones. The vibration of his voice flowing through me in the electric air. I hugged myself and inhaled deeply, a stray breeze blowing at my face.

“I’m scared.”

“I know. I’ll be with you every step of the way, always keep that in your heart.”

It started with a smile, then a chuckle, and it turned into a full blown laugh. I opened my eyes and stuffed the wrinkled note back in my pocket, somehow feeling light. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” I waited for a reply, the crickets’ songs suddenly filling up the silence. Marel was gone, leaving me to make the final decision.

As the grasses crunched under my footsteps, my resolve got stronger and stronger. A silent drizzle fell down to welcome me into the trail towards the woods, leading to the clearing where the biggest pine tree in Appleton resided.

I felt no worry, no fear. It was like finding the last page of a well loved novel. As if everything that happened was all a dream and I was on the verge of waking up. Without looking back, I broke into a run. In seconds, I was gone. Gone into the arms of the enemy, not realizing that Marel did the same thing almost a year ago. That Marel sacrificed himself for the greater good.

Marel Connelly, my brother, drove himself out of the Garden of Eden for the salvation of me. And I, Darrel Connelly, was about to do exactly what he did for the salvation of a little girl. All for the greater good.

Or was it?