Chapter 4
"No…no! Stop it! No!" I screamed, crouched in a dimly lit corner, a dark creature moving slowly towards me. I tried to run, but I was paralyzed with fear, my legs becoming jelly beneath me. I felt my body drop to the floor, if you could call it that. I couldn't even see what I was sitting on. All I knew was that it was hard and cold, and like me, enveloped in endless darkness.
Curling into a ball, I began to cry, holding my knees to my chest and rocking back and forth like a frightened child. 'What do you want?" I screamed as the creature moved closer to me. I couldn't understand what was happening. What did it want from me? I felt tears running down my cheeks, warm and salty.
Through my bleary eyes, I could make out the ominous figure before me as being what appeared to be a man. He had a black leather trench coat dragging along the floor with each step. As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, I saw that I still couldn't make out his features, though I could feel his eyes upon me. The only light came from a small slit in the darkness, as if an object the size of a brick had been removed from this black space.
The figure continued to come closer to me, and I hear myself whimpering, "Please …no.", my voice a shaky whisper, nearly inaudible to anyone but me. It didn't seem to hear me. Instead, he reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out what appeared to be some sort of glowing orb, surrounded by orange flames. He cupped the orb in his hands, and now, just a few feet from me, he took the four steps that brought him to my side. Even with him standing over me, I still could not make out his face, and I pulled my arms over my head, trying to shield myself from him.
He bent down to my level, balancing himself by putting all of his weight on one leg. It was then that I was able to peer into his eyes. They were a brilliant emerald green, and just the sight of them made me stop crying immediately. My eyes were locked with his, and I could not tear my gaze away.
He put his hand on my shoulder, and with a strong, clear voice, he whispered "Voir dans moi yeux Hope. Tu est une child de le diable." His other hand presented me with the glowing orb. I was about to reach out and touch it, when another bright light appeared...and the darkness fell away to nothingness … … … … …
"Hope!" I called out as I jumped from my seat and ran to her bedside, quickly placing a hand on her cheek to keep her head still as I gently tried to shake her awake. "Hope", I cried again desperately. Why wasn't she waking? What had caused her to cry out in the night? She looked pale and limp in my arms, her face sweaty and cool to the touch, almost clammy feeling. I put my ear to her chest, and could heart her heartbeat pounding to the point where I thought it would bang through her chest, and she was breathing in small wheezing gasps.
"Damn it! What's wrong with you child!" I pulled her closer to me and arranged myself so that now I was sitting on the bed with her, and she was lying across my lap, her feet and arms dangling lifelessly above the hardwood floor.
"God", I whispered. "What has happened to her?" Just then, her eyes flew open and she sat up with a jerk, trying to claim oxygen for her lungs, tears brimming over and running down her face. "Papa", she cried, "Papa!" as she buried her head into my chest.
She thinks I'm her father" I thought to myself. "Great. Now what do I do?" I had about ten seconds to figure out whether to quickly spell her and put her back to sleep; assuming that she had had a nightmare, or I could reveal myself to her and find out what she had seen that could have given her such a terrible fright. I panicked. What if I revealed myself to her now, and she didn't believe me? What would happen to the fate of the world if she couldn't understand the importance of faith?
Technically, I could get into a lot of trouble for even revealing myself to her. But how else could I protect her? She was going to require constant attention, and someone had to explain to her who and what she was to the world. I couldn't do that under a cloak of invisibility. If I tried, I'd fail, and doom the fate of the world, as well as that of Hope herself.
I placed my index finger to her head, and decided to calm her as best I could without having her re-enter the realm of dreams. "Me nay oar fez," I whispered, holding the sobbing child to my chest. All of a sudden she stopped crying and looked up at me, her breathing slowed. And she fell asleep, buying me another maybe five hours of time.
- -
When I awoke the next morning, my back was sore from sitting in the chair for so long a time. I looked at the bed and found her just beginning to stir. Quickly racing to her side, I touched my fingers to her head in an effort to calm her before she could be startled by waking up to a stranger. I was nervous about doing it through because there was no way of telling if she had any real brain damage if I kept altering her brain waves like this.
"Hope Williams…" I started, watching the surprised and dazed look that slowly came across her face. The incantation had worked, but she was still not going to react well to this. "Who are you", she screamed, jumping from my arms and running to the other side of the room. "What do you want? Get out of my room!" I winced. Apparently I was right about her temper. Maybe I should have further altered her brain waves.
I held up my hands, as if to signal to her that I had no intention of harming her. "Please calm down Hope", I said quietly, looking her in the eye, my hands still held above my head in a surrender position. "I don't mean you any harm." "How do you know my name/?" She asked, taking a step towards me and eyeing the baseball bat propped next to the bedside table. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said nonchalantly, doing my best to keep cool. Was she buying it?
She grabbed the bat, but kept it at her side, apparently abandoning the idea of knocking me unconscious with it. "Thank God,' I mumbled to myself. Just what I didn't need was to be knocked unconscious by a child with a really big stick. A concussion was not exactly going to help me in my mission, but on the plus side, it was obvious she had no evident brain damage.
"How do you know my name", she asked again, curious but also scared and apprehensive of me. She tightened her grip on the bat, but did not raise it. "Hope, do you believe in angels?" I asked quietly. "Yeah," she said defiantly. "But what does that have to do with you knowing my name. And who the hell are you?" I let a small smile spread on my lips. She had just professed that she believed in angels. The mission wasn't doomed after all! It didn't matter what she said now, she had already helped me win half the battle. Now I had to get her to believe in me, and not just in my kind. It wasn't going to be easy, but we'd made progress. Only problem being, how long would my luck hold up?
"No…no! Stop it! No!" I screamed, crouched in a dimly lit corner, a dark creature moving slowly towards me. I tried to run, but I was paralyzed with fear, my legs becoming jelly beneath me. I felt my body drop to the floor, if you could call it that. I couldn't even see what I was sitting on. All I knew was that it was hard and cold, and like me, enveloped in endless darkness.
Curling into a ball, I began to cry, holding my knees to my chest and rocking back and forth like a frightened child. 'What do you want?" I screamed as the creature moved closer to me. I couldn't understand what was happening. What did it want from me? I felt tears running down my cheeks, warm and salty.
Through my bleary eyes, I could make out the ominous figure before me as being what appeared to be a man. He had a black leather trench coat dragging along the floor with each step. As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, I saw that I still couldn't make out his features, though I could feel his eyes upon me. The only light came from a small slit in the darkness, as if an object the size of a brick had been removed from this black space.
The figure continued to come closer to me, and I hear myself whimpering, "Please …no.", my voice a shaky whisper, nearly inaudible to anyone but me. It didn't seem to hear me. Instead, he reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out what appeared to be some sort of glowing orb, surrounded by orange flames. He cupped the orb in his hands, and now, just a few feet from me, he took the four steps that brought him to my side. Even with him standing over me, I still could not make out his face, and I pulled my arms over my head, trying to shield myself from him.
He bent down to my level, balancing himself by putting all of his weight on one leg. It was then that I was able to peer into his eyes. They were a brilliant emerald green, and just the sight of them made me stop crying immediately. My eyes were locked with his, and I could not tear my gaze away.
He put his hand on my shoulder, and with a strong, clear voice, he whispered "Voir dans moi yeux Hope. Tu est une child de le diable." His other hand presented me with the glowing orb. I was about to reach out and touch it, when another bright light appeared...and the darkness fell away to nothingness … … … … …
"Hope!" I called out as I jumped from my seat and ran to her bedside, quickly placing a hand on her cheek to keep her head still as I gently tried to shake her awake. "Hope", I cried again desperately. Why wasn't she waking? What had caused her to cry out in the night? She looked pale and limp in my arms, her face sweaty and cool to the touch, almost clammy feeling. I put my ear to her chest, and could heart her heartbeat pounding to the point where I thought it would bang through her chest, and she was breathing in small wheezing gasps.
"Damn it! What's wrong with you child!" I pulled her closer to me and arranged myself so that now I was sitting on the bed with her, and she was lying across my lap, her feet and arms dangling lifelessly above the hardwood floor.
"God", I whispered. "What has happened to her?" Just then, her eyes flew open and she sat up with a jerk, trying to claim oxygen for her lungs, tears brimming over and running down her face. "Papa", she cried, "Papa!" as she buried her head into my chest.
She thinks I'm her father" I thought to myself. "Great. Now what do I do?" I had about ten seconds to figure out whether to quickly spell her and put her back to sleep; assuming that she had had a nightmare, or I could reveal myself to her and find out what she had seen that could have given her such a terrible fright. I panicked. What if I revealed myself to her now, and she didn't believe me? What would happen to the fate of the world if she couldn't understand the importance of faith?
Technically, I could get into a lot of trouble for even revealing myself to her. But how else could I protect her? She was going to require constant attention, and someone had to explain to her who and what she was to the world. I couldn't do that under a cloak of invisibility. If I tried, I'd fail, and doom the fate of the world, as well as that of Hope herself.
I placed my index finger to her head, and decided to calm her as best I could without having her re-enter the realm of dreams. "Me nay oar fez," I whispered, holding the sobbing child to my chest. All of a sudden she stopped crying and looked up at me, her breathing slowed. And she fell asleep, buying me another maybe five hours of time.
- -
When I awoke the next morning, my back was sore from sitting in the chair for so long a time. I looked at the bed and found her just beginning to stir. Quickly racing to her side, I touched my fingers to her head in an effort to calm her before she could be startled by waking up to a stranger. I was nervous about doing it through because there was no way of telling if she had any real brain damage if I kept altering her brain waves like this.
"Hope Williams…" I started, watching the surprised and dazed look that slowly came across her face. The incantation had worked, but she was still not going to react well to this. "Who are you", she screamed, jumping from my arms and running to the other side of the room. "What do you want? Get out of my room!" I winced. Apparently I was right about her temper. Maybe I should have further altered her brain waves.
I held up my hands, as if to signal to her that I had no intention of harming her. "Please calm down Hope", I said quietly, looking her in the eye, my hands still held above my head in a surrender position. "I don't mean you any harm." "How do you know my name/?" She asked, taking a step towards me and eyeing the baseball bat propped next to the bedside table. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said nonchalantly, doing my best to keep cool. Was she buying it?
She grabbed the bat, but kept it at her side, apparently abandoning the idea of knocking me unconscious with it. "Thank God,' I mumbled to myself. Just what I didn't need was to be knocked unconscious by a child with a really big stick. A concussion was not exactly going to help me in my mission, but on the plus side, it was obvious she had no evident brain damage.
"How do you know my name", she asked again, curious but also scared and apprehensive of me. She tightened her grip on the bat, but did not raise it. "Hope, do you believe in angels?" I asked quietly. "Yeah," she said defiantly. "But what does that have to do with you knowing my name. And who the hell are you?" I let a small smile spread on my lips. She had just professed that she believed in angels. The mission wasn't doomed after all! It didn't matter what she said now, she had already helped me win half the battle. Now I had to get her to believe in me, and not just in my kind. It wasn't going to be easy, but we'd made progress. Only problem being, how long would my luck hold up?