CHAPTER 8
It was too early in the morning when the telephone rang but he was not asleep. He had been sitting in a chair alone in the dark just thinking and sometimes crying.
Yesterday had been a hard blow to him. He had gone to the hospital for his daily visit to the asylum…
God, he hated that word
and see his young boy only to find the room empty and a bunch of cops hanging around. Criminologists were there as well, or CSI's as they liked to be called these days dusting the room thoroughly for any clues as to where Jeff was.
When he saw the bed empty his mind froze and for a while he thought he would faint. His old heart couldn't take much more. It was then that a cop approached him and helped him sit down to a waiting area. They had made sure he was ok before starting their questions.
Gilbert Hardy was an old but hard man who had raised two fine sons all by himself. He loved them both more than his own life and there was nothing he wouldn't do for them… even give his own life. He figured that both his sons, Jeff and Matt had taken this character feature from him… In Jeff maybe it was a little stronger. His young son was always the dreamer, the visionary, the creative one, the extremist. Even at a very young age Jeff's reactions to anything would be extreme, either too high or too low, too happy or too sad.
And now where was his son?
"Mr. Gilbert Hardy?" the cop asked him politely and Gilbert just shook his head.
"What happened? Where is my boy?" he asked trying to keep back the tears.
"Mr. Hardy your son has been taken, we don't know by whom. As far as we know someone kidnapped him late last night, sometime after midnight. They entered from the back, incapacitating the night guard and took your son"
"Why?"
"Why don't know. We were hoping you could tell us something. Except from you, who else had been around lately?"
Gilbert took some time to think.
"I don't know… lately I was the only one to visit him. My son Matt hasn't been visiting for a while now, it has taken a toll on him seeing his brother like that… so he stopped."
"Anyone else… anyone could be helpful"
"His friends and colleagues haven't been around much. With their line of work, I am not surprised and I don't blame them…"
"I understand that the 'other' case concerning your son Jeff hasn't been closed yet"
By 'other' Gilbert knew that the cop meant the reason behind Jeff winding up in a vegetated delusional state a while ago.
"The police interviewed his friends but none knew what had happened. They told me they went to sleep in their separate rooms and the next morning Jeff was like this and no one knew why… what had happened…"
Gilbert's voice broke upon remembering the first time he had seen his beautiful son in the hospital.
"There were four of his friends with him that day"
"Do you remember their names?"
"Yes… Mark Callaway, his brother Glen Jacobs… um… John Cena and Dave Batista…"
"Has any of them come to visit him?"
"They all came the first day, all except Batista… but my son Matt didn't want them around. He blamed them for a reason. He thought they were responsible. He refused to tell me anything about it. He thought he was protecting me… tell me where is my son? Is he alive?"
"Please sir, calm down. Forensics didn't find anything that suggests your son was injured."
"Jeff is seriously sick… he has fits… he sees terrible things, delusions, nightmares and he has to take medication because if he doesn't he hurts himself… please you have to find him…please find my boy…"
And it was then that Gilbert broke down in tears and endless sobbing. The nurses in the asylum had to give him a mild sedative to calm him down.
It was the next morning and he was sitting near the bedroom window looking outside. It was still snowing. Jeff liked the snow… he loved it. The police had promised to call if they found out anything. Gilbert had called Matt late at night from his room and told him what had happened. Matt had gotten angry at the news and promised his father that he would take the first flight available.
But now he was alone. He was old and it was difficult to restrain his tears. So many questions where filling his mind. He was holding a t shirt that Jeff had painted for his father a couple of years ago. It was the only thing he had from him. Funny thing… it smelled like Jeff.
The phone rang once… twice… it started him out of his thoughts. He walked to the phone sitting by his bed.
"Hello" he said his voice sounding a little broken to him.
There was a long pause but he could hear someone breathing on the other end.
"Hello?" he asked again.
"D… dad?" came a raspy tired voice… a familiar voice… one he was longing to hear.
"Jeff?" Gilbert muttered and sat down on the floor, his body not able to withstand the shock. "Is that you my boy?"
"Dad… yes it's me"
Gilbert felt his breath stop to his throat and uncontrollable sobs came in waves.
"Oh Jeff… where… are you? Are you alright?"
Jeff Hardy was not alright.
****
He had woken up in the early hours of the morning but there was no way he could know that. His mind had started to function in terribly high speeds sometime during his sleep and his eyes had flown open. He was scared at first that he couldn't see. He was still not used to being blind and waking up to pitch black darkness was more horrifying than he ever thought it would be. He thrashed around on his bed screaming.
He had forgotten for a while where he was. He thought his rescue from the asylum was just a dream. He was convinced that Dave and Mark were just a hallucination, a figment of his imagination, of his sick mind.
He had woken up screaming in a bed thinking he was still in the hospital… hopeless, scared and alone. Dave and Mark had come to his side in a second trying to calm him down.
"Calm down… Jeff… stop it" Dave had ordered his friend grabbing his thrashing arms that had managed to land a few rogue punches to his face.
"Stop" Mark's baritone voice had made him halt. His eyes, although blind, looked so scared and frantic. "You are here with us… they can't hurt you anymore… you are safe"
Jeff had immediately relaxed and allowed his body to fall into Dave's embrace. Dave had held him tightly telling him, whispering him, assuring him he was alright.
A few moments had passed and the sun was almost out. Mark had pulled the curtains and allowed the first rays to warm him. It had been a long night and none of them had managed to get the sleep they needed.
"I have to call my father" Jeff had spoken from Dave's arms.
And there he was now, calling his father. Mark stood near the window. Dave had wanted to leave Jeff alone make his call but he wouldn't let him leave. He had asked him to stay.
And he did that. He was next to him now that Jeff was hearing his father on the other end of the line.
He was there now that he was crying, tears of blood rolling down his face. Dave looked at the dead man silently asking why his tears were bloody. Mark didn't know and simply shook his head.
This was getting weirder by the moment and Mark didn't know what to do.
"Dad… yes it's me"
"Oh Jeff… where… are you? Are you alright?"
"Yes… I'm alright… I'm sorry… so sorry" he said and started to sob, desperately trying to keep his tears back. He could hear that his father wasn't so strong as to control his emotions. However through his tears he managed to speak.
"Where are you? Who took you?"
"I am safe dad… that's all I can tell you… I am sorry for leaving you like that… I really am… but this is something I have to do…"
"What do you have to do… please my son… come back…"
"I can't go back there dad…"
"You don't have to go there. Just come back and we'll go home… back to Cameron… please… that's all I want."
Jeff put the phone on his lap sobs making his frail body convulse. Dave still held him, his own tears falling as well. This was killing the young Hardy.
"I can't go home dad. If I don't do this, then we are all going…"
He wanted to say that they were all going to die but Mark quick on the uptake stopped him by placing a hand on his mouth. No one could know what they were going to do. They were in enough danger as it is.
"Jeff?"
"I'm here… listen dad I have to go"
"No, please Jeff… please come back…"
"I love you dad… I really am going to miss you"
"I love you too my son"
"Please tell Matt I love him."
"No please Jeff… please…"
But Jeff hung up the phone and let himself wallow in tears. He buried his face in Dave's chest and held onto him tightly.
"It's ok Jeff" Dave said softly. "You are going to be with your family again…"
Jeff cried staining Dave's t shirt with bloody tears.
"No… I won't" he replied.
"How do you know that?" Mark asked coming near them.
"Something inside tells me that this is the last time I have spoken to my father. I don't know what it is… I simply know"
Mark looked again at Dave at met his speechless gaze.
"I am sorry Jeff… so sorry" Mark finally said and squeezed the young man's knee. "I never meant for none of this to happen"
"This isn't your fault Mark. There is one good thing that has come out of this… I have found you" he said and turned at Dave. "All of it, all the pain, the suffering, the nightmares… the sacrifice, my eyes… all of it was worth it just to find you. I just wish I hadn't caused so much pain to my family"
"What do we do now?" Dave asked wipping Jeff's tears away.
Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He walked to the window again and looked outside. The sun was up. It was morning. They were closed. And they would remain closed. As long as Lucifer's Angel was out there, they would remain closed.
"Mark?" Dave asked again.
He took a chair and sat down. He looked at them thoughtfully.
"There are two things that must be done. First we must make sure that Hell doesn't control Jeff."
"How do we do that?" Jeff asked.
"I understand that evil has made most of its torture to you through dreams. I believe it is through dreams that we can see if it still holds sway to you. If it took a part of your soul before you found your soul mate in Dave"
"I don't understand" Dave said confused.
"Well, before, when we were fighting the horsemen, Hell controlled Jeff even if he didn't realize it at the time. It wasn't until the last moment that it took over and made Jeff betray us. I believe that should you have admitted your love for each other back then, then none of this would have happened. You see, as long as you were alone, you soul Jeff was manipulated by Hell. Now however… now that you have found your soul-mates, your souls have changed. I think your love has purged all evil from inside you Jeff. Your souls have merged into one. But we still have to make sure."
"What is the second thing?" Dave spoke again.
Mark wiped his face with his large palms. They had to know.
"On our drive to the asylum… we met something that mankind hasn't seen for ages:
"What?" Jeff asked, his hands squeezing tighter Dave's.
"It was what we have come to call Lucifer's Angel. There hasn't been one around for millennia and we have almost forgotten about them. We know very little… I know very little about them"
"Can we defeat them?" Dave asked.
"I can't say yet. We have to go to Sonora Dessert."
"Arizona? Why?"
"She is there, isn't she?" Jeff asked as if in a trance. He didn't know where this question had come from. It just left his lips and hit Mark like thunder.
Mark lowered his head and muttered.
"She… she was there… once… before… it's the only place I can find an answer."
Mark looked away to the window half expecting to see this terrible Angel right outside. Dave was speechless. He had never seen Mark like this, clueless and maybe afraid. Jeff sensed the tension in the room and felt so guilty.
"I'm sorry… I don't know where it came from… I shouldn't have said that"
"Don't be sorry… if we going to fight this, then you have to know the whole story. But not now; not here. We have to go to Sonora desert, to the cabin. There I will tell you everything."
Mark got up and walked to the door. He opened it and more sun came to the room.
"I'll be waiting in the car" he said and stepped outside.
Dave looked as he walked away wondering what he would tell them when they got to Sonora. Jeff relaxed in his arms.
"It's a beautiful day isn't it?" he asked
Dave chuckled.
"Yes… how did you know?"
"I can feel it… in you"
The sun had risen in the horizon beyond snowy mountains and white scenery greeted them. The road before them was long and the fight that was before them had uncertain outcome. But they still had some time with each other. They still had some hope in their hearts.
***
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
