Eternity (Circle of Light) (2 page)

They spoke for several minutes, each of them glancing in my direction from time to time.  As I watched, it seemed the conversation was a good one. I watched as my mother smiled and shook the doctor’s hand. I clearly saw her thanking him as she turned to open the door to my room.

Mom came back in happier than she was when she went out. I could tell she was relieved by their conversation. The doctor had told her I could go home in a few hours as long as I was feeling up to it.  But, if I had any more problems I was to come straight back to the hospital. Honestly, I wanted to leave right then. 

After about an hour or so of nurses coming in to do their final checks on me and removing the I.V., they said I could get dressed.  Mom helped me change out of the hideous hospital gown. She had brought some of my clothes from home. Looking at them, I was thankful she had a decent sense of my style and the fact that she picked out comfortable clothes was a plus. 

I put on the black t-shirt and denim jeans. I had to take my time getting them on because my muscles were weak and stiff from being in bed for such a long time.  I stopped after getting my jeans on to sit down for a second. My head was still swimming and my arms were heavy from all the fluids I had received. 

Mom waited patiently for me to put on my shirt. She tied my shoes for me because I was
too afraid I would topple over if I bent over to do it.  Strangely enough, I felt good when the room wasn’t spinning out of control.

I was ready to go but there were still a few things that needed to be taken care of. The nurses gave my mother a small stack of papers. They were instructions for what I can and can’t do when I get home.  She held out a clipboard to my mother and explained what the papers were she needed her to sign. 

As she signed her name on the papers, the sound of the pen against the paper hurt my ears.  My hearing was a little overly sensitive at the moment, but I didn’t know why.  Maybe I really did hit my head when I fell, I thought to myself.  

When everything was said and done, the nurse told us that I was free to go.  I had never been so happy to leave somewhere in my entire life.  I’m sure it would’ve been a lot worse if I’d actually been awake the whole time.

Weeks passed without any more fainting spells. I didn’t even have so much as a headache. No weird blue lights shot from my skin. To me that was a good thing. I still noticed my hearing wasn’t quite right. I was able to hear things a normal person’s ears wouldn’t normally be able to hear. Things like the neighbor’s dog eating and his tongue slapping at the side of his metal food bowl and I could hear all this while being in my room with the television going.

It was weird, but empowering at the same time and I didn’t want to devote any more time to worrying about it, so I went on about my normal routine as if nothing had happened.

School went on as usual. Final exams were awful this year. Thank goodness, it was my last time to take them.  The realization that I am almost a high school graduate excited me. I only have one exam left-- Biology. I was sure I was going to pass that one with grace. It’s my favorite subject. I hardly made under a 98 on any of the tests or homework assignments. The exam isn’t until Monday and today is Friday, so, there would be plenty of time for me to review the information. It wasn’t like I really needed to study for it and I promised myself a book free weekend.

All of my friends are going out of town with their families and I was somewhat proud to have some time to myself, but I felt guilty for being glad they were going. I would miss them without a doubt. The weekend was positively going to be a long one without them being around.

Finally, the dismissal bell rang.  When I reached the main hallway, it was filled with students trying to get to their lockers. This felt as if it had been the longest week at school in history and it showed on everyone’s face.  Even the teachers looked grateful about the end of the day.

I got to my locker and shoved all my books in. It was a perfect guarantee for me not to tempt myself to study all weekend like I would normally do. I shut my locker hard and said goodbye to my friends, wishing then a good time during the weekend.  Swerving through the sea of students, I steadily made my way out of the building.

Outside the school, all the buses were lined up and students happily loaded. The same rush was going on outside as it was on the inside. I really didn’t want to ride home with all those noisy kids today and I wasn’t in the mood to spend the rest of the afternoon picking spit wads out of my hair. Not to mention, overcrowding was a big problem and the bus drivers never seemed to care what went on during the ride home. The only thing that ever caught their attention was if a fight broke out. They would have to stop the bus and break it up and usually they called the student’s parents to come and get them, leaving the entire bus of students to wait for them on the side of the road.

My house was only a mile from school, so I decided to walk. It was a nice day.  The sun was warm and bright. A light breeze was blowing. I was glad I had chosen to walk. The scenery seemed to be as relaxing as any warm bath could be.  

I walked down the sidewalk away from the school. The busy hustle of kids, hurrying to get home slowly dissipated as I got farther away. I was glad to have a little peace and quiet after a day full of hearing so much noise. The road by the park was as busy as the outside of the school had been. People were beginning their weekend chores. Some were in flower gardens and some were mowing lawns. The smell of the fresh cut grass, the warmth of the sun and the breeze was very welcoming after such a hard week.

I had almost reached the park gate when I heard a voice whisper to me. It was no more than a hint of sound in my ear. I couldn’t quite make out the words, but the voice was familiar in a way that frightened me. I stopped by the gate trying hard to concentrate on the soft voice. Several seconds passed without me hearing it again. I brushed it off and started walking again. I had made it a few steps farther when the voice said, “Danger is near.” 

Immediately, I stopped and turned to see if there might be someone behind me, but I was alone.  Chills ran over my body and I was suddenly more aware of everything. I tried to shake the voice from my head and continued on my way home again.

The beautiful voice was easy to remember. It belonged to the woman in white from my dream. It was silly to be hearing her in my head. I must be completely exhausted from all the studying and the dream was still fresh in my mind. That was the only reasonable explanation I could come up with at the time. It seemed like a good enough reason for me.

My house was another couple of minutes from the park, just down the road and cut across the street and I would be there. I slowed my pace to try to relax the startled feeling I had, but it was no use. I was approaching a part of the park I was never very comfortable with to begin with.

T
he bushes grow very thick by the roadside.  The trees are so tall that they block out the sun on the brightest days.  It was always creepy, but today it had a different feeling. It feels so much darker and more dangerous than normal.  An unseasonably cool wind blew making me shiver. 

“Danger my child, RUN!”  The voice thundered in my head. The sheer power of it compelled me to run without question. I could feel something behind me, almost chasing me but I didn’t slow down to look. I ran harder and faster with each breath I drew in.  I hadn’t even looked to see if there had been any cars coming before I ran across the street. I was too scared to look at anything other than the front door of my house.

Once more, I felt the urge to stop and look at whatever it was that was chasing me and as soon as my pace began to slow I heard her voice again.  

“Don’t stop Princess.  He will kill you if you do.”

I ran faster than I had in my entire life until I reached my front door. If I hadn’t slowed down, I would have plowed right through it.  I quickly pulled my keys from my pocket and shoved it in the lock with more force than necessary. The lock turned and I jumped in the house slamming the door behind me. I locked the deadbolt just to be sure. 

Standing there trying to catch my breath, I pulled the shades back on the window half expecting to see something hideous standing by the door, but thankfully there was nothing there.
Everything looked as it would on any other day. I sighed in relief and went into the kitchen to get a drink. 

The coldness of the water extinguished the fire that was burning in my throat. Dull pain flooded my leg muscles. Sweat dripped from my forehead onto the front of my green silk blouse.
              Frustration set in. Stomping up the stairs, I unbuttoned my blouse. As I entered my room I noticed the -shirt was still lying on my bed from this morning.

I searched my dresser for my favorite pair of denim shorts. After a few minutes, I found them and changed out of my jeans. The denim was old and faded. A small hole had started to form just under the front pocket, but they were great for outside work.

I returned to the bathroom to straighten my ponytail. Looking in the mirror, I noticed there was something on the sleeve of my shirt. It looked almost like a handprint. Long, black lines, shaped almost like fingers wound around the hem on my sleeve. If I didn’t know any better, I would say someone with extremely dirty hands had grabbed my shirt.

A cold empty feeling made my stomach roll. Staring at the shirt, I questioned how the handprint could have gotten there
in the first place. Nothing came to mind.  It was fine when I put it on last night for bed. I don’t think I noticed anything on it this morning when I woke up either. I wasn’t paying too much attention to anything this morning because I had been in such a hurry.

Disgusted, I decided to throw it away. As
took the shirt off and tossed the shirt in the wastebasket, I noticed my hand was glowing again. The closest place that I could think of to go was into the bathroom. Circles of blue electricity surrounded my hands as I turned on the water in the sink. The water froze on contact with my skin. Ice crystals grew covering the faucet and base. Everything down to the floor has been covered with frosty, blue shards. Quickly, I stepped back and looked at the amazing sight in front of me. How could this really be happening? This can’t be real. As I held my hands out in front of me to see if the ghostly flames had disappeared the medicine cabinet iced over leaving a frosty covering on the mirror.

Not knowing what else to do, I turned the faucet off and left the bathroom. The fear that was settling deep inside me had taken over. My emotions sent me reeling
and I fell to the floor of my bedroom in a hopeless, crying fit.

I must have cried myself to sleep. The pressure of what is happening to me had overcome me in a terrible way.

My bedroom wasn’t as bright as it had been before all of this mess started. The sun was beginning to set. Oranges, pinks, and blues filled the darkening sky. A light breeze was blowing the leaves on the tree outside my window. After everything that has happened today, I really don’t feel like going outside anymore. Honestly, I don’t feel like doing anything.  Just sitting here was hard enough. The thought of leaving my room wasn’t very appealing at all to me.

I was afraid to go outside again. What if someone was trying to chase me down?  I would be safe in the house, right? 

Still sulking, I washed my face and straightened my messy hair. I put it back up in a ponytail even though it was wet. My eyes were slightly swollen from all the crying I had done. Mirrors don’t lie. They will always tell you the truth whether you like it or not.

The water was back to normal. There wasn’t a single sign of ice left behind. That made me feel so much better. There were no blue lights coming from my body. Everything seemed to be back to normal. It was just a dream, I told myself for the millionth time.
But it wasn’t a dream at all. It had happened.

My imagination did get a little out of hand sometimes. Mom says it’s the type of books I read. Maybe she’s right. This was only a side effect of lack of sleep and my obsession with supernatural fiction. Oh, who was I trying to fool?  This is exactly like me, just keep on lying to yourself Bailey, I said aloud. It’s what I do best here lately. I thought it was a pretty good method of coping if you ask me. 

I changed into my favorite pajamas and headed to the bookcase that was neatly filled with books from my favorite authors. My hands found the book I have been reading, “Night World.” As I walked toward the platform next to my window, flipping to the page that I had left off, I noticed the time. It was almost seven. The time had passed quickly during my failed attempt to shake off the events of the day. At least I will be able to lose myself in a great book.

My father had designed my bedroom room perfectly. Level with the bottom of my bay window is a heavily cushioned platform the size of a queen bed. Curved steps the length of the platform led down to the floor of my bedroom.  It’s my favorite place. I can sit here and think without being asked a zillion questions. More conveniently, I can sunbathe there as well.

With the book in hand, I grabbed a few small throw pillows and bounded up the steps. I arranged my pillows so I could still be sitting up but lying back as well. Leaning back against the cushions, I looked out the full pane window. Still normal.

I read almost six chapters before I made myself put the book down.  The story was amazing and it was hard to put it down, but my eyes were heavy and I was having a hard time keeping focus on the lines I was reading.