Time was lost, my surroundings unfamiliar, but the voice… The words echoed, I couldn’t understand what was going on. The faint sight in front of me, what was happening? The warm arms I felt around me. This was safe. I had nothing to fear.
“Charlie… Charlie… Charlie! Please look at me!” The voice was panicked. I smiled as I saw his face, now able to focus.
“You came,” I said, my voice croaking as I said the words.
“Of course I did. Please look at me. What happened?”
“I need…to…get…out…of…here,” I sobbed.
He carried me in his arms and I held on tight.
“Take me somewhere, anywhere but here, anywhere but home. Take away this pain, please. Make it go away. Please, I don’t want to go back there… I can’t go back to that awful place,” I screamed.
“Sshh. I’ll take you away from here. Make you forget for a moment that whatever has made you like this, will be banished,” he whispered calmly in my ear.
The numbing started, and I knew the protocol. This was the second step of the coping mechanism. Third would be ignorance, and fourth would be the bitterness shown in the light of day. The sweet revenge accompanied by hurtful words that one day would be said, followed by regret.
Her words from long ago kept replaying like a broken record and somehow I had let history repeat itself. I let the Dark Angel strip me bare of everything I had fought so hard to rebuild. My heart was absolutely broken beyond repair.
He is the most beautiful man you will ever see. His soul will capture you, but don’t be fooled, Mi Corazon. He will use all his powers to draw you in when there is nothing left to do but take the one thing you’ve been holding onto.
When I was eighteen I wasn’t wise or mature enough to know that love was the most powerful thing in the universe, and so I allowed myself to accept it in all its glory. I learned the hard way that it was also the path to the darkest place that existed. Now at twenty-five I believed I had it all figured out. Yes, love was the most powerful thing, I accepted that, but this time I was armed and I was convinced that I knew which path was the road to happiness, my happily ever after.
This was no longer the fairy tale my momma read to me, this was the sequel. The story of the Dark Angel who rode back into my sunset disguised as Prince Charming, only this time my armor was shattered, my will to fight obliterated. The phoenix bird that brought back that stolen soul of mine laid helpless before me, clipped of its wings, unable to soar, trapped in a cage of my mistakes. The mistake of letting myself love him again, love the man who broke my heart…twice.
Being laid on a warm bed was that last I remember about that day, October 12th of 2005. The day when the darkness fell upon me and without any light, I was unable to see, my mind demented by the shadows that lurked, and like a little frightened girl I prayed that someone would find me, hold my hand, pull me out of this dark abyss and lead me back into the light.
SNEAK PEEK
From “Into the Light: Book 2 of The Dark Angel Series”
The restaurant was busy. Waiters scurried about carrying exotic dishes, the aroma enticing me. It made me realize how much I missed food. I had barely eaten in the past week. What’s fucking new, I thought. Mr. Daniels & Mr. Beam had become my buds lately. I made my way to the concierge as Kate followed.
“Reservation under Edwards.”
We followed the head waiter to where our table was located. The noise was a little overbearing, just your typical Saturday clientele. I pulled my blackberry out checking my messages as I followed him through the crowd, lifting my head for a moment as the image caught my eye and halted me on the spot. Kate was also checking her blackberry, running straight into the back of me.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I was checking my messa…” Her voice trailed off.
She sat there, her body leaning into him. Her face looked slightly different, perhaps tired. There was no smile, no spark in her eyes, no glow to her skin. She looked gaunt. Her light had gone out. Like I was frozen on the spot I stared, my name being called but it sounded so distant. The bastard leaned in further, gently reaching for her hand and entwining his fingers with hers. He cupped her chin, and she smiled slightly which prompted him to lean in further to steal what was mine. I don’t know how I moved, but I was standing there in front of them and Charlotte was shocked, the look of shock quickly turned into anger. The closer I was the more I could see the dark circles around her eyes, the way her cheekbones looked more prominent. If this had been hell for her then why was she here with him?
“Charlie?” Kate gasped before I could get a word in.
“Kate?” Charlotte responded, equally in shock.
What the fuck was going on and how on Earth did they know each other? The Louboutins flashed before me. It was her. It was her last night in Kate’s suite. It was her that Kate always talked about, her friend in New York with the fucked-up love life.
“I don’t even deserve an explanation? You fucking run to him the second things get a little tough with us?” I yelled.
“Are you kidding me, Lex? A little tough, is that what you think this has been?” She laughed while gesticulating with her hands.
“Well I wouldn’t know, you won’t fucking talk to me!” I clenched my fists as her laughter slapped me in my ears. Did she honestly think this was one big fucking joke? My body stiffened, unable to compose myself. I was barely holding on. The fury and rage was consuming me. I was a time bomb ready to go off at any moment.
“I’m busy here, Lex, as you can probably see. Perhaps we’ll discuss this another time.” Her voice was calm as she spoke the words, her eyes directly on mine not flinching for one moment.
“Okay Edwards, she told you to leave.” Julian stood up. Oh, so he finally found his balls. Yeah, soon you’ll be fucking choking on them for trying to steal my girl.
The room felt stifling hot, my blood was pumping, there was nothing left to do but the obvious. I swung my arm punching him right in the face as he stood there before me trying to take my world away from me. If he didn’t exist she would have come back to me, that murderous thought flashing before me. The rage was overpowering as I went to sw