"This isn't what I trained you for! You know that! So why are you walking away from all of this for something different? Life on the other side isn't going to be any better, they are just going to kill you the moment you step out of line and shove you right back out of here!"
Much more than a secret
The next morning I woke with energy and ready to take whatever the world throws at me. Jess came into my room and say down on my bed. "Hello Elena, slept well I can see you look refreshed. Now I trust you have questions about the markings I found?" I nodded. "Ok first of all they were the workings of a man named Michael Austin." She handed me a photo which had three male men in it and Jess pointed at Michael. He was the tallest of the three he also was the only one to have no hair and wore robes which suggested he was a priest of some religion. "Michael is not a religious man but instead is a strong believer in sacrifices. The robes you see him wearing are covered in blood. He is heartless and has no conscience he will do anything for money. He was the man who stabbed those markings into your father. The man on the right is Dr. Peter Irving; he chooses the weapons to use on a "patient" as he likes to call them and also the poison to make them survive long enough until they get back home. Finally the man on the left is Dan Pearsing; he is one of the Red Royals highest killers, assassins if you will. Obviously he chooses the targets that he believes are causing trouble with their plans."
"Yeah I know I have seen his handy work remember?" She looked from me to the quilt covers which lay on my bed. See what she had just brought up was the night my mother was taken from me and the scars they left behind on me. A circle with a triangle will forever remain on my forearm which no one has any idea what it means.
"Forgive me that was insensitive of me." She sounded so hurt by what she what just said to me.
"Relax Jess, its fine. Wait! You said poison? Did this Dr. Peter inject it into my dad? Is dad going to be OK?" Just as Jess was about to speak we were interrupted by Ted.
"Jess! There you are! We need you. Quickly it is Mr. Douglas." Ted paused for a moment to acknowledge that I was in the room. "Something is happening we think the poison has spread." Jess and I looked at each other scared and ran out of the room straight away to the hospital ward where my father lay. On arrival the first thing I saw was my dad. Jess had started rushing around asking for items which I had no idea where they were or what they were.
"I can't do this please just let me step back" Jess looked at me and nodded. I closed my eyes and only listened to the sound of the beeping life support. Beep. Beep. Beep. Then that dreaded noise where it is just a single tone which does not stop. Flat line. I opened my eyes and heard Jess.
"No! No! We're not letting you go yet Mr. Douglas. Starting CPR!" I looked at the rushing people barging past each other trying to save my father. "CLEAR!" Bang. "Nothing! Oh come on we can't lose you! CLEAR!" Bang. Jess looked at me and I knew it was over. He was gone. Time slowed down everything went black. Surrounded by darkness.
One week had past and I was still in deep denial. My father couldn't be dead I mean he was the strongest man I knew. He had survived gunshot wounds, stab wounds, you know name it he had survived it. So why was this so bad that it killed him, why? I was not on cloud nine, more like cloud minus nine-hundred. I couldn't live with the fact that my own father had such an untimely death. We know what we're getting in for when we enter this place, we all know what risks we make, but when it happens to someone so close...well you just don't want to believe it do you? I was staring at my wall with a single tear running down my cheek. Then Ted entered the room.
"Elena? Hey it's going to be OK. Your father he was strong, he inspired us all, and we will stand together in his honour. Fighting for him!" By this time he had already walked over to me and put his arm round my shoulders. Normally I would have moved it but I was in need of a hug and he was there for me, as he always is. Maybe I should be with him, I mean you want to be with a guy who is always there for you right? Then again he just isn't like me; we find it hard to talk in general because we have nothing in common. Plus there is something about him I do not trust. But still, I hugged him it made him happy and it made me feel like I was not alone. "Hey, shhh it's going to be fine trust me." Jess walked in and seen me in Ted's arms, crying. "They are ready for us Elena, are you ready?" I took a deep breath, nodded and stood up in my black dress and picked up my black hat while at the same time grabbing some tissues. I walked towards the door where Ted was standing. I began to feel very nervous about what was about to happen so I took Ted's arm in order to know I was not going to fall straight to the ground. At least this way I knew someone would catch me, the last thing my dad would want is me hurting my head. I wiped away the tears which had already fallen from my blood shot eyes and headed for the graveyard nearby.
Everyone, in black. They sky, in black. Those monsters hearts, black. Everything I know or saw at the moment was in black and the only thing which was clear to me was the tombstone which had written on it, "Dave Douglas, beloved father and devoted to everything in life. 1964-2010". I was not paying attention to anything which was happening at the funeral, instead I was thinking about all the great memories I have of my father. This depressed me even more because that's all they are now Memories. This of course brought on more tears which did not help my vision one bit, but at least a reassuring arm is always around my shoulders. "Earth to earth. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. You'll be missed Dave!" These are the only words I heard throughout the funeral, and then, I saw my father's body slowly decent into the ground.
"That's it he is really gone from this world. Forever!" I managed to say. Ted must have been the only one listening to my words of depression.
"What? No he is not, he will live on through us and you of all people should know that. He may be gone physically but spiritually he is always here with you. Memories are deep down inside"
"Then why does it not feel like that? All it does is hurt."
"It will for a while, but slowly and in time that wound will heal, then you can take on the world yet again" I began to feel a sudden rage deep down and was nearly shouting at poor Ted.
"I want them to pay for what they have done to you, them, my family and me! Of course I know it hurts now, I'm the one feeling that pain and suffering, and do not forget Ted I have already been through this. I will not let any of my family or friends die for nothing! They should not of got this far! You actually think it will heal over time? HA! That painful scream everyone heard when my mother died? That was the pain I felt then and now. I have just learned to live with it! But now this! This is not how it should end. It should end with the "Royals" out of the business and no longer in power! How did they get there in the first place? Lies. Well let us be better than them. We will win this!" With that I stormed away to my room, tears streaming down my face. As I walking, I did feel bad for shouting at Ted but I needed to blow off some steam, the anger which had built up inside of me. Besides I'm sure he will understand, he always does.