Chapter Twenty-Six
14 September 2046
I cannot breath! I'm being suffocated! I needed to get out or I will die! My body shook with the frantic panic flowing through me. I kicked, scratched and punched. A loud bang and then a soft mass fell on my skin. I clawed through the substance, if I continued there would be air.
My hands broke the surface. Cool air. I clawed faster managing to get my entire arm out. Finally my head broke through and I could breathe. Fresh air!
Once my breathing had settled I took note of my surroundings. More than half of my body was under the ground. The soft substance I had been digging through had been soil. Why was I buried?
I climbed out of the ground. I was dressed in a long white silk dress which was now covered in dirt. Something made me look up and I saw a clear star strewn sky. It was beautiful... I loved the stars... I would often look up at them with.. with... who was I?
I also saw the big pale moon. It looked especially beautiful tonight. Fuller than ever.
And then the pain started.
I fell to the ground, under normal circumstances I would clutch the part of my body which ached but it felt as if every single bone in my body was being shattered. I writhed on the ground, my body bending at impossible angles.
I think I screamed, I couldn't be sure.
Then I blacked out.
I woke up in a familiar place. Trees surrounded me. But something was off, some trees had been ripped out of the ground, others were shattered as if they had been through a wood chipper.
I wore nothing except a ripped white cloth that had been stained with mud. I looked up and saw the grey sky. A few brave stars still sprayed the sky here and there.
Brandon
The name suddenly popped into my head out of nowhere. Everything came rushing back. The last time I saw him he looked devastated. What happened?
I don't remember how I got to this ruined meadow but I knew how to get to Brandon from here.
I slowly got up clutching the strips of cloth to my body and stumbled from the meadow. I was surprised at how strong I felt. And warm, even though I must have spent the night sleeping naked on the forest floor I felt great.
My destination wasn't very far. I reached the large house in what felt like fifteen to twenty minutes.
Of course there was no guarantee that he would be here...
Stop that! I chastised myself. I was right at the door already. I reached for the door handle when it was yanked open.
The woman who had opened the door was petite and about a head shorter than me. Her dark eyes were wide in shock as she covered her mouth in astonishment with her tiny hands. Her face was framed by short spiky hair which made her look like a pixie. She couldn't seem to speak and had what sounded like sobs coming from her chest but no tears.
Another name popped into my head at the sight of this woman. "Alice?" I said. My voice was hoarse.
"J-Juliet!" She whispered. My name. Then she shouted my name. As soon as she did a shadow appeared behind her.
She quickly turned to face the shadow but the shadow side stepped her, pushed her behind him and shoved me away while hissing dangerously.
"Jasper!" Alice screamed as I flew away from the door. I recognized this man.
"Who are you?!" Demanded the man but I was too scared to speak. My heart was pounding in my chest.
I had landed a few meters from the door, amazingly on my feet. I saw a light switch on in one of the upstairs windows and a figure opened the curtain and looked right at me. My heart felt as if it had sped up further.
"I asked you a question!" Jasper hissed and I shut my eyes.
"Juliet!" A new voice joined us. My eyes flew open. My heart felt as if it had stuttered to a stop and then slowly restarted again.
"Stay back Brandon!" Jasper snarled. Brandon ignored him and tried to run to me. Jasper yanked him back.
"She's dead Brandon! You saw her die, that's not her!" He shouted. His words sparked another memory of pain. Blood everywhere. Blurred vision. Brandon's anguished face. The face of a beautiful little girl. The smell of a sweet flower.
"Brandon..." His dark eyes went wide when he heard me call his name. Then he quickly ran passed his father to me. He was in front of me in seconds. His eyes were frantic as they traveled over my body, his hands ran over my face as if to make sure it was real.
"How...?" He whispered as he looked over every inch of me. He then rested his hand on my chest over my heart. We stood there for a while as he felt my heart beating strong and healthy.
I stood dead still as he did all this. I didn't know the answer to his questions. I remembered I died, Jasper was right, I remember dying after giving birth to my daughter.
With a jolt I remembered the beautiful little girl. Instinctively my hand went to my abdomen, which was flat and bare. No raised bumps on my skin, it was smooth. I looked up to Brandon.
He looked as if he understood my unanswered question.
"It's her, I don't know how but she came back." Brandon said to his father without taking his eyes off me. He rested his hand on my cheek and lowered his head to mine and kissed my lips. I let out an audible sigh of relief. I was home.
He led me into the house and Alice quickly had me change into a jeans and a shirt. After which she excused herself and pulled Jasper with her and they left the house.
Brandon and I sit alone in the living room. His hand is holding onto mine really tight as if I'd disappear if he let go.
He wasn't speaking, his eyes were closed as he rested his chin on my forehead. I could hear him breathing deeply. Finally I spoke.
"I don't know what happened... I woke up in the ground and I escaped... I remember pain, a lot of p-" "Shh, its okay now. I'm with you, you don't have to remember the pain." He held me tighter.
"How long have I been gone?" I asked. He hesitated. "A month." He whispered. His voice broke a little. He's suffered.
"I'm sorry." I said softly. He was suddenly in my face, his eyes boring into mine. "Don't! Don't say you're sorry, you did not do anything wrong it was my fault!" Tears stung my eyes. "No, please don't blame yourself Brandon." I said. "I.. I can't imagine what you went through... It must have been so hard.. but I promise I won't leave you alone ever again." I said and kissed him.
Even though for me it felt like yesterday since I last saw him, my body knew it had been a long time. I could also feel Brandon losing a bit of control. He held me tighter and it didn't hurt at all.
I then heard a sound from upstairs. A soft sound. A small, sudden gasp. Like a small child waking up from a nightmare. I looked up and Brandon stopped to look at me and then the ceiling like I was. I saw a small smile spread on his face.
"Come on." He pulled me up from the sofa and towards the stairs. His eyes shone with excitement and glee. He led me to the second floor to a yellow door at the end of the hallway. He opened the door softly and went inside ahead of me. Inside I found a nursery.
The walls were painted pastel yellow like the door with a large drawer against one of the walls. There were multiple mobiles on the ceiling all playing a different song but somehow they all melded together into a beautiful melody. A rocking chair big enough for three people stood near the wall sized window which looked out to the front yard.
Brandon walked over to a large crib with yellow draping around it. I remembered a beautiful baby from my memories and my heart suddenly picked up speed. Brandon looked at me standing a little away and pulled my hand so I stood by the crib. He pulled away the draping and I found myself staring into two pairs of dark eyes.
I gasped involuntarily at the two children in the crib. They both looked like they were three months old.
A boy with short blonde hairs and fair skin like mine smiled with a mouth full of gums at me. he had Brandon's eyes as well as his nose. He immediately reached at me clumsily when he saw me.
The other baby was a girl with slightly longer blonde hair. She too had Brandon's eyes and nose like her brother. Her eyes went wide when she saw me and she smiled immediately after.
Brandon took them both out of the crib and handed them to me. They fit perfectly in my arms. I didn't realize until I felt drops on my neck that I was crying. I looked at Brandon and he smiled sadly as he watched me. I couldn't believe I was actually holding my children. After coming to accept that I would never see them grow up I can't believe I am holding them in my arms. How could I tell Brandon I didn't want to be turned? How could I ever have given them up?
I wept then. Brandon took me in his arms and I cried for all the agony I put him through. I swear that never again will I ever leave him alone.
A/N: Yo guys, know its been forever since I last uploaded, in truth I had a bad case of writers block and wrote bits an pieces when I could. Don't be too mad, i planned to upload three chapters today but I realized the third chapter was still incomplete but I'll upload it in the next few days.