Beauty From Ashes

Chapter 29: Unity Part 1

I close my eyes and inhale softly.
"But you were wanting to, right?"

She quickly turns to me and meekly nods. "I thought about it. I just....had no idea how. But little things like that....and, the encountered I had, they always scared me out of it...."

"Hmm." I nod my head. "Sounds about right to me."

"What do you mean....?"

"I used to have nightmares that were....similar to that. Where something would happen and, before I could wake up, I would be taken to Hell, or I'd watch people I know descending into Hell.."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I kept having them for at least, the first few months after I became a Christian. At first, I used to think the same thing. Was this supposed to be a vision, or something? Am I supposed to warn them because they ARE going to Hell? I didn't know what to do,, because....I was so disturbed amd scared by these dreams. But then I realized, of course I feel this way, because the devils trying to make me paranoid. Trying to distract me through fear."

She hears this and nods her head with a curious face.

"Yeah.... I didn't have a lot of, bad stuff happen to me before the Conquerors came in, but I had enough things happen to where, I thought i had a good idea as to what I was afraid of. And even when my parents told me....what little they actually knew about Hell, it spooked me, but it didn't leave me as scared as it probably should've." Then she begins to tremble. "But....I just wasn't ready, to feel as purely terrified as I was down there....Even waking up in the mornings during my recovery, I thought I was actually gonna die, because I kept remembering it."

I then sigh. "So, I finally got to hear more about your family. Only took, 4 years to gain that kind of trust?"

Cheyenne smirks and shakes her head. "In some ways, there really isnt that much to say about them. Dad was a stern, strict preacher, mom had anxiety and conclusion problems, and Kevin was my little brother who had a slight temper problem. A BIG slight temper problem."

I chuckle. "Like I said, no one family is gonna be perfect."

Cheyenne looks to the floor. "No. But, they were all I had for a long time. And....they always had my back. My mom had such terrible stage frightening but she knew I wanted to do a special karaoke night with her and she overcame it to help me sing. And my dad, I was doing a charity bike race for 6th grade class, and he was following the race on his own. And when I caught a flat tire halfway through, he lent me his own even though it was so much bigger than mine." Then she chuckles. "And after he fixed the tire, he met me at the very end, riding my small pink bike trying to balance on it."

We both share a quick laugh. Then her voice begins to break. "And my brother? I always looked out for him. He kept breaking his legs on bike rides when he was little, so I always made sure to bring him back home on piggybacks. He pulled jokes on our grandparents before they passed, even inviting grandpa for a game of coffee salesman where he actually filled up the toy cup with water....straight out of the toilet, and I took the credit to save his beehind from mom and dad. He always had a knack for getting in trouble, even more after he gained a particular friend, but I always stood up for him and I was always viewed as the most responsible one."

"Cheyenne-?"

"And....the first breakup I ever had, my first boyfriend, some guy named Owen, had cheated on me with one of the gymnast girls. Kevin overheard him say that, I just wasn't pretty or good enough for him, and he just walked right up to him, only being half of William's height, and after telling him off, he swept his leg so he could grab onto his collar, and left his face with the blackest eye you would've ever seen on a man. I was too speechless to say anything, but Kevin threw him out the door saying, you're the one who isn't good enough for my big sister. The best doesn't deserve the worst like you...." She sniffles softly. "After that he just gave me a hug and invited me up to watch cartoons with him....just to get me smiling and cheered back up...."