Visions

I tried to push his hand away from my forehead, but he put up an effortless fight. I looked at his eyes and saw that they had turned a deep, dark blue. I gasped and suddenly I was on the ground surrounded by grass.

I jerked myself up into a sitting position and looked around in front of me. It was bright outside with birds singing, a butterfly fluttered away from me. Sunlight hit my skin, making me feel warm as a small breeze blew a few strands from my face. I was in a meadow of soft, green grass that seemed to go on forever, making small a small hill in the distance. Trees lined the meadow’s edge, their limbs reaching for the light, blue sky. There wasn’t a sound being made that wasn’t from Mother Nature, herself.

My eyes were wide and I almost started to hyperventilate. My headache was gone and I looked down at my leg. It wasn’t bandaged anymore, but I still wore the same clothes which confused me even more.

“Alex?” I yelled out. My heart rate increased as I turned around and saw Alex sitting on the ground only a few feet from me. He wore a black jacket that cut off at his waist and made a coat tail behind his back. His white pants clung to his legs and met the tops of his black boots in the middle of his calves. He had a blue vest and white button up shirt under his coat with white cuffs at the end of the sleeves. A bulky scarf was tied around his neck and was shoved under his button up shirt. Alex’s hair was a little longer, but with the same hair color that I had just seen seconds before and pulled back into a small ponytail. My eyes widened a little at the sight of him.

What made me gasp was that he seemed to be literally glowing. I looked harder and could almost see a white haze around him.

“Alex?” I asked. My hands started shaking as I stared at him. Alex ignored me. He looked up and squinted his eyes in the distance, as if trying to see something. I turned and looked to see what it was and saw a woman walking up the hill not far from us. I immediately recognized her, but there was something more than the recognition. It was as if a veil had been lifted. I knew who she was, but I didn’t. My pulse shot up at the sight of her.

There she is, I heard Alex say in an excited voice, but not out loud. It was like his body was telling me what he felt without saying it out loud. Energy seemed to be crackling around him. I looked over at Alex as he stood up and smiled with his eyes gleaming at her sight. There was something more than the “best friend” title that he claimed to have with her and I didn’t need his thoughts to tell me it. I opened my mouth and looked back at her.

This is his memory of her, I realized.

“Alexander!” A woman’s voice yelled out, waving her hand, and I looked at the woman.

She had a white dress on with sleeves that clung onto the tops of her shoulders and a white ribbon that tied around her upper waist. The dress rippled with the wind as she walked toward us, her brown hair was tied up in a loose bun. She had a tan colored hat in her hand that was large in the front accompanied with a ribbon that was tied around the top of it and hung down to tie under her chin. She was beaming as she was walking closer to us and suddenly Alex started running to her. She followed suit and I did as well.

“Katherine,” Alex said and it felt familiar. He picked her up and swung her around in his arms. He set her down and kissed her on the cheek. Katherine blushed and looked away, still smiling. Alex smiled and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips. A pang of jealousy hit my heart, but I ignored it as I could almost feel his lips on mine.

It felt so strange. It was more than de je vous. It was as if this proved my questions that I didn’t know I had. Alex and I stared in awe at Katherine, except I stared at her with more or less curiosity.

“Alexander, I-” Katherine started, but Alex cut her off.

“My dear, please call me Alex. It seems like such a mouthful to be calling me such a large name,” Alex stated and I looked at him.

“Alex,” Katherine said while smiling. “My father and mother do not know where I am, I do not have long.”

“Run away with me, Katherine,” Alex said, pleadingly. I looked at him.

“She can’t.”

“I can’t.”

I looked at her quickly with my mouth open. I hadn’t even thought about the sentence, but I had known the answer. Alex said something, but I ignored it.

“Alex!” I yelled into the sky. “Get me out of here!” I said in a threatening voice and started walking from the scene. Only a few feet behind the couple, suddenly I couldn’t move. There wasn’t a visible border and there was still ground and a clear view of the grass ahead of me, but I couldn’t physically move. I tried again by backing up and walking forward, but I still couldn’t move.

Angrily, I walked back to the couple and stepped in front of Alex. He smiled at me, blinded of my existence, and I began to fume.

“Alex, I know you can hear me! Stop it!” I yelled. I then felt the coldness cross over my forehead as if Alex removed his hand that I didn’t realize was there. I watched as Alex’s face morphed into the dusty living room’s ceiling.

I stared at the diamond tiles lined with water stains, while lying awkwardly on the couch. The blanket was twisted with my body from trying to fight him before the vision came to me. I withdrew a breath while feeling exhausted, and turned my head to look at Alex who was still sitting in the dining room chair. Alex breathed normally with his elbows resting on his knees, his stare almost looking through me. His eyes slowly turned from the deep blue to the crystal blue that they originally were.

“What are you,” I muttered, fighting the urge to shut my eyes. His pupils focused on me and he looked sad.

“In love,” Alex replied and my heart leapt, making me feel jittery. I started to close my eyes, but opened them again. Everything seemed fuzzy, but I saw a white light hugging Alex’s form. I blinked and the light that seemed to be shining behind him dimmed down.

“With Katherine?” I asked in more of a statement than a question, my heart starting to worry with his reply.

“Katherine is only a name,” Alex replied. My heart jumped again and I shut my eyes. “I’m sorry that I made you see it,” Alex stated, looking away. I opened my eyes again, gravity trying to push them back down.

“Alex,” I said and he slid his eyes to me. I swallowed hard before I asked. “How can I be in love with someone that I only just met and know nothing about?”

“Madison,” Alex said without answering my question. “There are a lot of questions you may have right now, but you really need to rest. You’re free to go to an upstairs bedroom. The sheets are clean and the doors lock, I promise. The house isn’t much to look at, but I’m typically never here.” He stood up, pushing the chair back and looked at me with a worry on his face. I wrapped the blanket around me, unsure of what to say or do. I was more scared to trust him than I was scared of what he was.

“I’m scared to trust you,” I mumbled and saw the hurt flash in his eyes only to be replaced with a worried expression. My conscious fought to become more aware than drowsy.

“I know,” Alex replied. After a moment, he ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll get some fresh clothes for you. I don’t have any girl’s clothes, but I’m sure I’ll find something.” With that, Alex walked out of the living room and up the stairs. My heart fluttered and I looked off in the distance wondering about escaping.

The more I thought, the more it seemed like a bad idea. There wasn’t a family that was waiting for me to come home; waiting for any news of their missing limb on the family tree. No one was waiting for me. Life had made it that way and I couldn’t take it back. My mind wandered to Alex who had protected me and, somehow, healed me.

I heard Alex come down the stairs and I snapped out of my thoughts. He came down the final steps of the staircase with a white tee-shirt and what looked like blue shorts. Alex came to stand in front of me and gently handed them out to me. I took them and smiled a little at him. Alex smiled in return and looked out of the window.

“I’m not as scared of you as I should be and that scares me,” I said, looking at the clothes. I felt Alex look at me, but I didn’t look at him. “I don’t really understand what’s happened to me recently. The past two weeks have seemed like a big blur…”

Alex came and squatted in front of me and I looked at him. His eyes were furrowed as if he was trying to understand.

“I will answer your questions,” Alex said. “I know the answers to them, but you have to believe me first. You need to be fully awake, though, to do so.” I swallowed while I stared at him. He looked down at the floor and then back up at me, sighing.

 “I’ll go into the kitchen and fix you some water or something, so you can put on the clothes,” Alex said, looking down at the floor as he stood up. He walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. I heard him moving around so I quickly pulled the camisole off and replaced it with the clean tee-shirt and shorts that turned out to be boxers. The tee-shirt draped over me like a blanket, but the shorts stayed on nicely.

When I got comfortable on the couch, Alex came back into the living room with a glass of water. He placed it in my hand and looked at me. I took a few sips and placed the glass on the floor next to the couch. Alex reached his hand out and touched my hand.

“I have to go somewhere, but I’ll be back in a few minutes. You won’t know I’m gone,” Alex said. I opened my mouth, but he shushed me by placing his hand on top of mine that was resting on the blanket. I didn’t take my eyes off of his. I felt the drowsiness start to creep in and I began to worry.

“I don’t want to sleep anymore,” I complained. “Where are you going?”

“Sleep heals the body,” Alex stated. He looked at the floor and began to stand up. Alex looked down at me. “I’ll be back, I promise.”

 

 

 

Tick…Tick…Tick…Tick

 

I touched my arm where it had started to hurt on and off for the past month and lifted my hand at the touch of water. The clear liquid sparkled off of my fingertips. I looked up and saw the ceiling leaking again. I sighed with frustration. Everything was falling apart around me.

Down the hall I heard the soft snores of the baby who was peacefully asleep.

“Mama!” A little voice called from downstairs.

I looked at the stairs from the bedroom doorway.

“Yes?” I answered in a sing-song/sarcastic way. He had been yelling “mama” since he could speak.

“There’s a man coming down the driveway!” I frowned and walked to the bedroom window. The drapes were pulled back from the window revealing the rain outside that was supposed to be the night sky.

Sure enough, a man was walking down the gravel road. I furrowed my eyebrows to see who it was, but couldn’t make out any details through the rain. My heart thumped a little with anticipation.

There were two people it could be and one of them wasn’t supposed to be back for another two days.

My heart thumped harder.

I half ran down the stairs, my boot heels clacking against the polished wood. I locked the front door and grabbed up the small boy who stared at me with blue eyes.

“What is it, mama?”

 

 

I opened my eyes to see the dark room. It was freezing and I wrapped the blanket around my arms while I looked over the room. I saw two pairs of eyes staring at me from the wall and saw a picture frame around it. Katherine looked at me with an almost sympathizing look.

Rain pattered on the top of what sounded like a tin roof.

“Alex?” I asked, sitting up from the couch. I felt refreshed, but nervous. Pulling back the covers, I stood up from the couch. My leg still didn’t hurt, but I could feel that the wound was still there. It was as if there wasn’t such a thing as pain, but you could still get wounds. I placed my hand to the wound and looked at the window.

I thought I had seen something move on the porch, but everything seemed still as I looked harder. My heart raced as I turned and looked around me.

The air seemed alive. I knew something was in the house. I backed up and put my back against the wall next to the fireplace. My eyes grew wide as I listened hard for any movement. I didn’t dare open my mouth or make a sound. Something outside caught my eye and I quickly moved my eyes to the window.

Outside, a man limped toward the house while holding his arm. My breathing quickened with each step that the man took. I gripped the end of the white shirt to calm myself, but it wasn’t working. I ran from the wall and to the stairs. I was to the steps and touching the railing when I heard a groan and a thud. I stopped and looked at the front door, cold air running up my nostrils and burning the inside of my nose with each draw of air.

I looked at the stairs while holding the railing. My knuckles were white against the darkness for holding onto the railing so hard. I looked back at the door and thought hard. I let go of the railing and walked into the kitchen. I looked for an iron frying pan or a weapon, but saw a half-opened door on my left. I frowned as I reached and opened it. I widened my eyes when I saw its contents.

Guns lined the shelves of what looked like it used to be a pantry. I swallowed hard and looked around the closet. Bullets had a shelf of their own. I shivered and quickly picked a gun. Years before, I had taught myself how to shoot a gun, but I had never used one like the one I held. It was heavy, with a body like a rifle except more modernized.

I clutched the gun and walked to the door, looking to see if the gun was loaded. Bullets that were two inches long and sharply pointed were loaded into the gun, ready for action. I checked the safety on the gun and saw it was on. I figured keeping it on would be best and walked to the door.

I aimed the gun when I opened the door. Looking around the porch, I stepped lightly onto the wood with my bare foot. Nothing was there except the cold, damp air. Rain poured down hard from the sky. I looked at the ground ahead of me and saw a lump on the ground. My breath caught as I ran to him.

“Alex?” I asked frantically, laying the gun down next to him. His face was down in the ground with puddles forming on his back. He wore a thick jacket that went down a little past the top of his jeans and he didn’t wear any shoes, like usual. I grunted as I pushed him over to his back. His arm was limply across his chest and his eyes were closed.

“Alex!” I yelled at him. I shook him and he didn’t stir. I looked him up and down and saw a small circle was raggedly cut out of his jacket sleeve and was oozing out a reddish, black liquid. His pants leg was identical to the open wound on his arm, except it was a bit bigger. I opened my mouth to say something, but Alex groaned. I took in a breath and watched his eyes slowly open, squinting against the rain. Rain drops started to drip off of my nose and drench my hair and clean clothes.

His blue eyes looked at me for a brief second and then closed to blink back the downfall. He swallowed and ended up choking at the attempt. My breath caught as I touched his cheek. He looked at me and frowned.

“Come on,” Alex choked, putting his hand on the ground to prop himself up. He looked at the gun and looked at me.

“I see you found my guns,” Alex stated and I felt embarrassed. He smiled and tried to stand up, making sure to grab the gun.

“Alex, stop,” I protested, trying to help him. Alex shook his head and continued to stand up. I grabbed onto his arm and put it around my shoulder, taking the gun from his hand. He stood up and I helped him limp into the house.

On the porch, Alex stopped and took a deep breath, standing up to his full length and closing his eyes. I had to look up at him as he towered over me. We walked through the entrance and I walked him to the couch, grabbing up the blanket to let him sit down. I stood over him as I took his jacket off of his shoulders. I eased the thick material away from the wound. He wore a tee-shirt with a strange logo that I had never seen, though the top of the sleeve was dipped in blood. I frowned and looked at him.

“Where did you go, Alex?” I asked, putting the jacket on the floor with a thud.

“There’s a first aid kit underneath the kitchen sink,” Alex replied, looking at the damage on his arm. The blood mixed with the water from the rain and began to heavily run down his arm. I sucked in a breath of air and walked out of the room. I walked into the kitchen and squatted down, opening the cabinet doors. A small white box with a red “x” on the top was the only thing underneath the cabinet. Sucking in air with frustration, I stood up, grabbing a hold of the white box and walked into the living room.

“You might need a bigger…” I started, but stopped. Alex leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, looking at me. His arm was completely healed without any blood stains on his tee-shirt. The hole in his jeans that had had blood pouring out of it was now clean and revealing unharmed skin underneath. It was as if he came home unscathed.

I opened my mouth and frowned. “Stop it!” I yelled at him.

“I can’t,” Alex replied. He smiled and then looked at his hands. “It just happens, actually.”

“What do you mean,” I asked.

“My body heals itself,” Alex replied.

“How,” I asked.

“It’s what I am.”

“And what’s that?”

“An abomination to God,” Alex said, but pressed on as he stood up, ruffling his hair. “Once of purity and now damned to fire.” Alex started laughing and then looked at me. His smile faded at my confusion. “I don’t think of it that way, though.” I furrowed my eyebrows at him. “Madison, I’ve been looking for you for twenty-one years.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. How can you be looking for me for twenty years when I’m nineteen?” I asked, almost rolling my eyes.

“You’ve been gone for twenty-one years,” Alex replied. I stared at him and started backing up toward the door. This was no place to stay. “Madison, I’m an angel.”

Reviews

[Alex Thomas]

Very intriguing turn of events. This story is progressing nicely. The descriptions are very vivid. At one point, I think you mean "white" when you wrote something else.