He didn’t give them a chance to answer, just threw the car in drive and sped out of the lot.
We drove in the opposite direction from my home, but I didn’t question him. That dark menacing cloud followed behind us once again, and the wind howled and screeched against the windows.
Thorn kept a tight hold of my hand and that’s the only thing that kept me calm. The more he drove the more afraid I became.
I had the feeling that I was moving towards something that was going to change my whole life. But he’d promised that nothing would hurt me, and I so wanted to believe him.
“Thorn...”
“I know love I will tell you everything, just let me get you home to safety.”
“So I am in danger.”
“You’re in no danger as long as I’m here. Be still love and let me tell you what I must in my own time and my own way.
I had thought to give you more time but I see now that that was a mistake.”
“More time for what?” He looked over at me then, and the sadness on his face almost made me cry out.
We turned down a narrow street lined with trees on both sides. The air here was dark and thick, even at this time of the afternoon.
Again I felt that clawing feeling, as if something was puling at me with icy fingers. My breath grew short and I clutched at my throat.
“Easy lyubov, breathe for me.” He slowed the car but did not stop, his attention divided between the road and me.
“Why do I feel so sick all of a sudden?” there was a ringing in my ear and I felt as though I would faint any minute.
There were flashes of color flitting in and out of my mind’s eye, as he turned down the long driveway to the house that I had seen so long ago, in a dream.
I sat still in amazement as he walked around to help me out. “What is this place?” I looked around at everything that seemed so familiar somehow, but I knew the memory wasn’t real, how could it be?
I started walking across the grass, but not towards the house. My feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they carried me across the lawn, past the gigantic house and to the gardens beyond.
His voice was right behind me calling me back but I couldn’t turn back, I was being drawn...there, the little house in the woods.
My feet moved faster as I made my way towards the structure that seemed to call out to me. It felt like I was walking through quicksand, each step growing heavier, and there was a veil over my eyes.
I was running now as Thorn yelled for me to wait. How had I gotten away from him? The question was fleeting, as was every thought I had in that moment.
I was aware that I wasn’t quite myself, that something or someone else was leading me. There was a shrill laugh on the wind as my hand reached out for the doorknob.
A series of scenes played through my head as my hand connected and my knees grew weak.
The little girl, she seemed so familiar. And the boy, I knew who he was although he looked so different now; it was what was inside him that I recognized.
I fell forward through the door even as his voice yelled out to me, and then it happened.
Darkness, and in the midst of the darkness, as I felt myself falling, a tortured scream from somewhere nearby.
His face was the last thing I saw before the darkness overtook me. But even with all that was happening and had happened up until now, it’s the words I uttered that made the least sense to me.
“You left me.”
The look of torture that came over his face sent chills through me, as I gave in to the dark tentacles that pulled at me.
Chapter 18
THORN
I lifted her in my arms and ran to the house, calling for my mother. My fear was so strong I could almost taste it.
Realistically I knew she was okay, I could feel her heart beating against me, and hear her breathing in and out. But any kind of hurt to her was torturous for me. How could things have gone so wrong? I thought I had time.
There was so much I wanted to tell her, so much to share, but now I was afraid it was too late.
This is the very thing I wanted to avoid. If I could’ve spared her ever knowing I would have, but barring that, I would’ve chosen a better way for her to recall.
Her words pierced me to my very soul, because she was right, it didn’t matter the circumstances, I had left her, broken a promise.
“I’m so sorry malysh.” My mother met me at the bottom of the stairs, her face frightened, no doubt because of my unusual shouting.