Marked for Vengeance (7 page)

He rinsed the
brush again and dabbed it in the white. Her hair wouldn’t be complete without
its distinguishing streak. With a light hand, the brush followed along the wave
of her hair on the right side to the end of her mane, tainting her perfect
tresses. He stood from the stool and stepped back a few paces to study his
work. His many, careful brush strokes had officially brought his dream to life,
and the image ran chills over his body. It was as if he was there again.

Regardless of
how unsettling the visual was, he felt the same gravitational pull to her
still. Her fierce beauty almost possessed an angelic quality. “My Dark Angel,”
he said in a hushed voice.
That’s what I’ll call this painting.   

 
“Your dark
WHAT?
”
Micah said behind him.

Isaac jumped,
dropping his paintbrush. “Dammit, Micah!” he yelled and wiped the paint that
had spattered along his pant leg.

 Micah threw his
head back, roaring with laughter.

 He spun around
and jabbed him in the arm. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you, funny guy?”

 Micah wiped the
tears from his eyes. “Dad seriously though,
Dark Angel
?”

“Well it fits
though, right?
Look
at her.”

He studied the
painting and shrugged. “I don’t know, dad. Whatever you say.”  

Isaac shook his
head in frustration and waved him away. “Alright, off with you then. We’ll be
leavin’ in a little.”
God he reminds me of myself.

He refocused on
his masterpiece to find that his former creative inspiration had officially
left. Micah had stolen the moment away. It was time to close up the studio
until tomorrow.

While twisting
the caps onto the tubes of paint, he glanced at the skyline. The shadowy figure
wasn’t there. It was too early in the day, but he could practically pinpoint
where they stood.
Next time I see it, I’m goin’ up there,
he resolved
.
He strolled to the window and looked over the horizon.
I bet it has it a
nice view.

As he daydreamed
about who this person was, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back
and forth on his heels. Was it a homeless man? A teenager? Maybe someone who
needed to break from reality, the rooftop their retreat from the world.

A wailing police
cruiser went by on the street below, snapping Isaac back to reality. “I’m goin’
to get in the shower. Be ready to go in half an hour,” he yelled, turning
toward the door.

“10-4, dad!”

*
* *

As Alyx
perfected her make-up with the finishing-touches, she recalled Cindra’s
assumption about what might happen tonight. She couldn’t fault her friend for
her idealistic optimism toward nuptials, as any young hopeful would be, but
Alyx had lived long enough to know that it wasn’t something to be taken
lightly. With marriage came huge responsibilities, and besides, she simply
wasn’t ready to get married yet. If he did, in fact, ask her tonight, she would
let him down gently despite the hurt it would cause. She didn’t relish the
thought, and if it were right to accept a proposal to spare his feelings, she
would. As much as she loved Benjamin, she always believed that he loved her
more.

 It was ironic
that she felt a sense of responsibility not to lead him on with a commitment of
forever, considering that sleeping with him and carrying on in a relationship
was just as damaging. She justified all of this with the hope that her love
would continue to grow and that she would eventually reach that destination of
sealing the deal permanently, which also meant, coming to a point where she
could let go of her ‘painter man’. But for now, as she sorted through her
emotions, she rested on the hope that he wasn’t ready for marriage either.

She swiped the
wand of her mascara through her lashes for the third and final time and screwed
the lid on tight.
Maybe he won’t ask.

While lifting
the short train of her one-shouldered, ivory satin dress – the spoil of her
conquest while at the outlets yesterday with Cindra – she scampered to her room
to find a pair of shoes to match. Benjamin had texted that he would arrive in five
minutes, and punctuality was important to him.

She scanned her
closet floor, and a pair of silver, strappy high heels caught her eye.
These
will do.
She slipped them on and glided toward her dresser mirror to make
sure nothing had been overlooked. The low, polished chignon she had duplicated
from a hair magazine worked well with her elegant look, as well as displayed
the diamond earrings Benjamin gave to her last Christmas.
Perfect.

The chiming of
the doorbell announced Benjamin’s timely arrival, so she swung her shawl around
her shoulders, grabbed her sequin clutch, and hurried gracefully to meet him so
as not to disturb her creation. When she opened the door, the imagery stole her
breath away. The tired, scruffy man that greeted her at the door that morning had
morphed into a dapper gentleman with a black tuxedo and glossy wingtip shoes. His
blonde hair shined from the gel he used to slick it to the side.

Her painted lips
parted to gush over his appearance, but as soon as Benjamin caught a glimpse of
the sexy way the dress clung to her slim body, he grinned proudly from ear to
ear. “Wow, babe! I’ll be fighting them off tonight.”

Alyx blushed and
kissed his cheek softly. “Thanks, love.”

*
* *

On their way to the
mystery dinner, Benjamin remained his normal, debonair self – much to Alyx’s
relief. She concluded that if he were planning a proposal, he would be nervous
and distracted and that it was ridiculous to let her fear of a proposal cause
her to be anxious for no reason. He was a level headed man, and marriage after
a year of dating would be something he frowned upon
. I need to relax and
enjoy tonight,
she thought and pulled the visor down to powder her face.

“How was your
week, doll?” he asked to break the silence. Their escapades from earlier didn’t
allow for much chit chat.

“It was good,”
she replied, dabbing the cotton applicator onto her forehead, “Fredrick had me
working like a dog for the first part of the week, but by the end he slacked
off. And Cindra and I went out yesterday for some ‘girl time’.”

“Good. How is
she?”

“She’s great as
always. I wish she would find someone, though. She deserves to have someone as
great as she is.”

Benjamin
chuckled.

“What’s so
funny?” she asked as she swatted his arm.

“Ouch!” he said
playfully and rubbed where she had hit him. “Nothing, she’ll find someone when
she’s ready. You worry about her too much.”

Her chin
dropped. “I do
not!
”

“Alright then,
just don’t hurt me again.”

The farther they
drove from her apartment, they seemingly also did from her issues surrounding her
‘painter man’. Now that Benjamin was in town, and they were enveloped in the
comfortable banter she had come to love, the smaller her other quandaries
became. Almost as if they were literally driving away from them, they shrunk by
the second in the rearview mirror. This relieved her in a way, but also
disturbed her from somewhere deep inside. In the same place she stored her secret
desires for her ‘painter man’.

Benjamin pulled
into the Westin hotel parking lot, and a grin illuminated her face.
The
Sundial restaurant, from our first date
. “You’re so slick.”

“What can I
say?” he crowed.

The valet opened
her door and helped her from the car. She bustled around the back of the
Mercedes, and Benjamin met her at the curb with an extended hand. She loved
nights like tonight, wearing fancy dresses and going out on the town. Being
treated like a princess was easy to get used to.

“Last name
Forbes, reservation for two,” Benjamin told the hostess once they made it inside
and up the seventy-three stories by elevator.

The hostess’
smiling eyes scanned through the list. “Ok, Mr. Forbes, you guys follow
Katrina. Enjoy your dinner.”

“Thank you,” he
said and motioned for Alyx to walk in front of him.

With his hand
placed on the small of her back, they wound through the white, linen web of
tables and dim candlelight when Katrina stopped at an intimate table for two
beside the window. “Here you are, enjoy!” When she turned to leave, she leaned
into Benjamin’s ear. “You’re a very lucky man, she’s stunning.”

“Yes she is,” he
replied and pulled Alyx’s chair from the table.

 “You need to
quit that!” Alyx said, blushing again from his persistent doting.

As soon as he
tucked the chair behind her, the Atlanta skyline arrested her attention. The
clouds had parted after a brief shower that afternoon, and the buildings
glittered as the setting sun reflected off of their windows in pink and blue
hues. The Sundial would rotate them around and give them a
three-hundred-and-sixty degree view of the mesmerizing scenery.

Her elbow
perched atop the table, and she rested her chin in her hand. “You know how to
do it right,” she cooed.

While the
scenery outside enraptured her, Benjamin focused on the scenery across the
table. The champagne color of the evening sunlight glowed against her skin and
set the facets of her jewels ablaze. He reached across the linen and retrieved
her hand so she would she move her peaceful gaze to his. When their eyes met,
she witnessed a man on top of the world. His handsome face beamed with pride.
“Your dimple is going to become permanent, you know,” she teased.

As they grinned
at each other in comfortable silence, their waiter interrupted the moment.
“Good evening. My name is Douglas and I’ll be your waiter tonight,” he said
with his hands clasped behind his back.

They greeted him
with a nod, and he rattled through the specials before promptly leaving so they
could make their decisions.

After they had
placed their menus on the edge of the table, Benjamin flashed a devious smile.
“Would you be interested in accompanying me back to my condo after dinner?”

 “I thought that
was a give-in,” she replied, grasping his hand again.

“True, I just
thought I would be a gentleman and ask.”

“Well consider
the invitation accepted.”

*
* *

Alyx had
forgotten how marvelous their food was. The filet mignon practically melted in
her mouth, the garlic potatoes burst with flavor as she chewed, and the pinot
noir the waiter suggested paired wonderfully, too wonderfully, in fact. She
went through an entire bottle on her own. 

They eased back
in their seats with satisfaction, and Alyx folded her hands over her stomach.
“Can you carry me out of here?”

Benjamin laughed
as he dabbed the corners of his mouth with a cloth napkin. “You would think
that you hadn’t eaten in weeks, by the way you ate.” 

Her eyebrow rose
to a high arch. “Now that you mention it, my afternoon
was
kind of busy.
I skipped lunch.”

“I guess that
would be my fault, wouldn’t it? But I have to say, I’m not incredibly sorry
about that ma’am.”

She leaned into
the table as she grazed her stiletto over the round of his calf. “Neither am I,”
she whispered.

CHAPTER
4:

Amongst
the Clouds

Isaac and Micah
pushed through the double doors of their complex to head for their car when Isaac
noticed a man in his peripherals to the left of the entrance. It was the same
man in a black suit he had run into the day before, and he stood like a statue
with his arms by his side. Isaac nodded toward him as they passed, but the man
did nothing in return to acknowledge his kind gesture. He only stared into the
air in front of him in a daze.
What a prick
.

“Who’s that man with
the hat, dad?” Micah whispered.

“I’m not sure.
He ran into me the other day comin’ off the elevator. He didn’t say excuse me
or anythin’.”

Micah threw the
man a disgusted look. “What a jerk.”

“My thoughts
exactly, he gives me the willies. Don’t go anywhere around our buildin’ at
night by yourself, ok?”

“Ok, geez. He’s
probably just retarded or something.”

Isaac elbowed
him in the arm. “Don’t use that word, son.”

“Sorry. But you
have to admit, there’s something a little
off
about him.”

As their truck
sat idle at the entrance of their building, waiting for an opening in the long
line of cars, Isaac took notice of the cotton candy sunset overhead. He
imagined a giant paint brush had mixed the pink and blue hues together and
swiped them across the sky. “Look, Micah!” he said, craning his neck for a
better view, knowing no painting in the world could accurately capture the true
splendor of nature.

Micah didn’t
respond. He stared out his window at the strangers who meandered down the
sidewalk.

“Micah, what’s
the matter?”

His gaze moved to
Isaac with distant eyes. “Did you say something?”

“Tell me where
your mind is. You ok?”

“I’m fine,” he
replied, unconvincingly. “In my own little world, I guess.”

Isaac hitched an
eyebrow as he refocused on his driving, still looking him over from the corner
of his eye.  “Alright, just makin’ sure.”

He pressed the
gas pedal and waved at the man who kindly let them in front of him, and then
promptly hit the brakes. They now waited
in
the long line of cars. He
drummed on the bottom of the steering wheel with his index fingers and glanced
at Micah again. He had a sneaking suspicion that his son’s explanation didn’t
truly reflect what churned inside his head. He
was
only thirteen years
old, but he typically paid attention to everything that went on around him, so
when he seemed distracted, it raised red flags inside of Isaac’s fatherly mind.
I bet it was that dream
, he thought, worrying that it still haunted his
thoughts.

After a few
traffic lights and a detour because of road construction later, they made it to
the theatre and pulled into a parking space near the back. He set the parking
brake and went to unbuckle his seatbelt when he noticed Micah fidgeting with
the zipper on his jacket pocket. He crossed his arms and watched the clock,
waiting to see if he would eventually realize that they were there. After a
minute, his patience ran out. “Ok, buddy, what’s wrong?”

Micah’s head
snapped up, and he looked around the parking lot. “Sorry,” he said and hung his
head. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“If you don’t
tell me, I’m goin’ to turn the truck around and head home. Just moments ago you
were psyched about goin’ out, and now you’re actin’ all gloomy.”

“Fine,” he
huffed. “I can’t quit thinking about that dream last night.”

I knew it!

“I swear I was
totally awake. Even when I got out of bed and you came up the stairs, at no
point did I feel like I had woken up.”

Isaac knew what he
hinted at and searched for the right thing to say. The last thing he wanted to
do was belittle his feelings, but at the same time, he didn’t want to entertain
his thoughts that it could have been real either. He stroked the back of his
son’s head. “It
is
possible you could have been sleep walkin’, and then
you woke up when I came to your room.”

“I knew you
wouldn’t believe me,” he grumbled, ducking away from his hand, and looked back
out the window.

Isaac’s heart
sank. He didn’t want his son to assume that he was alone in this. All they had
were each other. His hand dropped to his shoulder. “It’s not that I don’t believe
you. I think what you experienced was very real
.
It was just a very
real
dream
.”

“I don’t know,
dad,” he said, his tone rising, “I’ve always been told these were dreams but
the older I get I’m beginning to think that they aren’t. And you not believing
me makes me feel crazy!”

Isaac’s jaw fell
to his lap. Micah rarely raised his voice at his father. He fought to keep a
scowl from forming, and in an attempt to remain calm, exhaled to relieve the
tension in his voice. “So what are you tryin’ to tell me? That these things are
real?”

“Forget it.”

His eyes clamped
shut to harness every ounce of patience he had left. The petulant, ‘nobody gets
me’ pity party Micah was throwing didn’t sit well. “I just want to get your
side of it. What do you think is goin’ on, then? I promise to be open-minded.”

He whipped his
head around with squinted eyes, studying his every move. “You promise?”

“Promise.”

“Fine, I- I’ve
thought maybe ghosts or demons.”

Before Micah
verbalized his fears, he’d already had a strong indication as to what his
thoughts circled around, but his child-like voice admitting it out loud alarmed
him more than he had expected. Because his son kept a close eye on his reaction,
his expression remained as neutral as possible as he tucked his hair behind his
ears. “Ok, then.”

Even though Isaac
was a spiritual man, he never placed much stock in ghosts or demonic spirits.
He believed that once someone dies they pass on and raised Micah to believe the
same.
Where is this comin’ from?

“I know how you
feel about that, so that was hard for me to tell you. And usually they don’t
try to bother me, but this one did.”

Isaac’s heart
sank further. “Micah, I don’t want you to
ever
think that you can’t tell
me somethin’. I may not agree with you, but you can always talk to me.  I will
always
support you.”

A wary smile
formed on his face. “Ok, dad.”

He glanced at
the clock again. “Let’s drop it for now. Our movie starts in a few. We can talk
about it later, but I promise you, I would never let anythin’ hurt you, ok?”

Micah nodded
resignedly. “Ok.”

*
* *

The quiet in the
cab of the car on the ride to Benjamin’s condo seemingly pounded inside her
head. It could have been because their minds had settled into a fog from the
food coma, but there was no denying that Benjamin’s thoughts now wrapped around
something particular. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead as he stared at
the road, and his hands clutched the steering wheel as if it would roll away
from him. He had been so casual and relaxed all evening, and now, all of a
sudden, tension plagued him.

Alyx had too
many glasses of wine to be in a full blown panic, but anxiety swelled inside at
the thought of him possibly proposing. She placed her hand on his leg and gazed
out the window at the passing cars. She still held hope that his mind remained
miles away from nuptials, but it had now begun to shrivel like a deflated balloon
to make room for the growing concern. When she swallowed, a lump formed in her
throat and her eyes welled with tears. The thought of hurting him if she had to
refuse a proposal tonight was too much to bear. She drew in a steadying breath
and let it out slowly.
I need to keep it together.

They pulled into
the underground garage of his condominium and parked close to the elevators. He
lived in a newly built complex in the heart of midtown, which consisted of two
high rise concave-shaped buildings with aqua tinted windows. Benjamin was only
one of a few tenants to purchase their expensive, posh units. The poor economy
didn’t allow for many million dollar condos to be sold.

When they
approached the door of his swanky abode on the eleventh floor, Benjamin motioned
for her to walk in front of him. His keys jingled as he unlocked the door, and
he let it swing wide to make their way in.

She smiled at
him suspiciously and stepped into the foyer, where the delicate smell of
vanilla and lilacs welcomed her along with the glowing flickers of hundreds of tea
light candles. They cascaded down the hallway and into the living room, casting
shadows against the walls as they seemingly danced to the music that streamed
from his speakers. Melodic notes whirled through the air from his favorite
composer, Max Bruch.

She covered her
mouth. “Benjamin…” she breathed.

Hypnotized, she followed
the candles’ path, the momentary enchantment causing her to forget what this
would mean. She stopped when she reached the edge of the living room rug. A
small, teal box with a white ribbon awaited her on his coffee table.
Tiffany’s.

The bottom of
her dress swooshed as she whirled around to face him.

His hands were
shaking, but sure, and he lifted them to take hers from her mouth. The anxiety
from the car swelled to desperation, and the lump returned to her throat, which
had grown to the size of an ostrich egg.

“Alyx,” he said
tenderly. “From the moment I met you, I knew you and I were meant to be
together. I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re beautiful, you’re funny,
compassionate, and many other qualities that I adore.

He let go of her
hands to pick up the teal box, and the ribbon quivered as he placed it into her
sweaty palm. “There is something I want to ask of you.”

Certain that her
unease didn’t show, she remained motionless as she stared at it in half wonder,
half shock.

“Well, open it,
babe.”

As though she
were outside of her body, she watched as a spectator as her fingers pulled the satin
ribbon apart and slid the top of the box off. Within its velvety interior
rested a silver key attached to a heart-shaped keychain.

Wait… a key
chain?
She blinked furiously to make sure her eyes didn’t deceive her.

“In case you
haven’t figured it out yet, I would love for you to share my home with me,” he said,
helping her along.

She hadn’t
thought of this possibility. Not once. She wasn’t even sure how she felt about
it but knew she needed to say
something
. She peered up at his sparkling,
blue eyes that awaited a reaction, but she didn’t know what to say. Her mouth
opened, but she couldn’t find the words. “I, uh-I-”

As she stumbled
over her words, the notes from the music rose to a climax. The symbols crashed
through the speakers and into her eardrums. A tremble rolled through her from
the bottom of her feet, shaking her body, sending her head into violent spin.
She cupped her forehead with her hand, and her knee gave in, her body dipping
to the right.

Fast as
lightening, he grabbed her by the arm and scooted one of his wingback chairs
behind her. Once she rested comfortably in the chair, the physician in him
emerged, and he knelt in front of her, pressing his fingers against her wrist to
check her pulse. Lines of worry etched their way across his forehead as he
deliberated on what to do next.

She sucked in a heavy,
vanilla-scented breath to prevent her anxiety from turning into a full blown
panic attack. “I-I’m fine. I think I forgot to breathe,” she admitted shyly.

Benjamin grinned
with relief and ran his hand over her forearm. “So, it took your breath away?”

“Something like
that,” she replied and forced a swallow.

Her eyes raked
over the glowing candles around the room, the visual truly mesmerizing like a
sea of stars. Her gaze moved back to him, where he earnestly awaited a
response. Even though his proposal that night didn’t involve marriage, it was
still an offer to commit and anything but a “yes” would hurt his pride.
Nonetheless, she couldn’t tell him that.