The Darkness Within Her

Chapter 6: Is It a Nightmare?

I wished that when I rolled over as I woke up, my face crunched a letter from my lover that had sweet nothings on it. Instead when I rolled over, my face crunched a sticky note from my father stating, “There’s a stack of letters by your house keys, please mail.”

            With a sigh, I got up and dressed, not bothering to put on makeup or really check my appearance. My night of being “beautiful” had been up at midnight. As I walked down the stairs, my left arm banged against the wall and agony shot through my body. I cried out and recoiled, immediately rolling up my sleeve to see that the quarter-sized black spot where the injection had been and saw to my horror that it was now the size of a Gatorade bottle cap.

            I licked my lips and rolled down my sleeve with a shaking hand. I pushed the matter to the back of my mind and walked over to the table to grab the house keys and the stack of letters that needed to be mailed. I exited the house, locking the store. It was warm with the sun glaring down on the world with its rays. There was a blue P.O. box at the end of the street that everyone went to.

            Half way down, I paused and looked over my shoulder at my house after I realized that I had forgotten my phone. That was one of the rules of me running the mail, always take my phone. I hesitated, worrying the inside of my cheek before shaking my head. It was only a few feet, who cared?

            I had only taken a few more steps when a black van screeched to a halt next to me. I jumped sideways, my heart thumping as though it had just become a wild rabbit. I spun around to run but smacked – and bounced off – a muscular chest. Staggering backwards I saw it was Timotheus I had run into. Before I could even think of doing anything else, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me. I was pinned against another muscular chest, helpless as Timotheus walked towards me.

            Timotheus paused in front of me, cocking his head, “it’s a tragedy that someone so beautiful has to be in the middle of such an ugly situation.”

            I couldn’t even comprehend what he meant before he poked – poked – my forehead and the entire world went dark.

I blinked drowsily, knowing almost instantly that I was in a whole lot of trouble. My wrists throbbed where the metal of a pair of cuffs wrested against the bone. There was a black bag over my head that completely blinded me. I was on my side with my knees drawn up near my chest. The surface I was lying on vibrated with movement so I had to be in the black van that had screeched to a stop next to me.

            Abruptly and violently, the van came to a halt and I rolled into the doors in the back. A second later, said doors opened and rough hands caught me before I fell out. The hands helped me stand before yanking the bag off my head. I blinked the tears out of my eyes from the sun.

            When I could see again, of course it was Timotheus who I saw first. I recoiled backwards right into the body of someone else. I spun around to see the woman with red fire around her. I cried out and stumbled away from her into the van. The backs of my knees collided painfully with the bumper and they almost gave out but I managed to keep my balance.

            “Calm down Jaye,” Timotheus said quietly.

            “Calm down? Calm down?” I laughed in spite of myself, “How in the hell am I supposed to calm down? You kidnapped me!”

            “True, but you are important and we need you in our hands for now, Timotheus said.

            “That just makes me feel a whole lot better. Who are you?” I fought against the quivering that threatened to intertwine in my tone. I wanted to appear stronger than I really was. After all, a strong will was all I had since I was more than a little lacking when it came to physical strength.

            “I told you when we danced last night that my name is Timotheus,” he said, crossing his arms and having the gall to look slightly offended.

            “What you didn’t tell me was that you were going to kidnap me,” I pointed out.

            Timotheus inclined his head, “Very true.”

            “So why did you do it?” I insisted. “Why did you abduct me?”

            “You will find out in time,” Timotheus nodded at the woman, “Heather.”

            With that, Timotheus turned on his heel and walked towards a building with the company name HOPE INSURANCE on the door. The woman called Heather grabbed me roughly, shoving me forward to follow. The AC beat down on the top of my head as I entered the building. I shivered violently before focusing on what was going on in front of me.

            I came to an abrupt halt.

            “Ow,” Heather yelped when she ran into me, sending me stumbling forward a few steps, “What the hell?”

            There were at least thirty people inside and every single one of them was covered in fire that was a different color than the person next to them. It was like being surrounded by a living-breathing rainbow. It was both terrifying and thrilling. Without even thinking about it, I looked at Timotheus who was watching me with a calculating look that instantly changed when he met my eyes. His own eyes softened as I looked around in wonder.

            My jaw literally dropped when a thick, muscular man that was incredibly tall – with hair rippling over his shoulders – walked by. He was handsome – and intimidating – and he seemed to know it. He caught my eye and winked, causing Heather to burst into laughter when I squeaked.

            “Say hello to Captain Dante Russo,” Heather shook her head and shoved me forward to once again follow Timotheus, who was walking away.

            Out of the corner of my eye I saw her hand on my bare arm, and that hand was covered in red fire. I jerked away, my heart beat spiking as fear twisted and clawed at my insides. Sweat covered my skin and pain filled my chest with each beat. I struggled to breath. I was hallucinating. Or having an intense nightmare. I began to scream and thrash. Heather swore and shouted at Timotheus, “She’s freaking out!”

            “Damn it,” Timotheus turned and took several long strikes towards me. He looked positively feral, “I can’t have you injured.”

            Before I could even think about what he was saying, his hand caressed my cheek gently before he poked my temple. Instantly, darkness bore down on me like a wet blanket and I was drowning in it. I tried to fight against it but I was too weak and my chest hurt too badly. A choked sob escaped my throat as I finally let the blanket consume me.

A/N: Hi guys, sorry for the long wait between updates. I am going through some serious personal issues at the moment and am taking some time away from the Internet to try and concentrate on myself. Thank you so much for reading. Please vote, comment, and share! Thank you so much.

The song is Help I’m Alive by Metric

This chapter is dedicated to Samantha Nicole for since she allowed me to mention the handsome Captain Dante.