Saphora: vol.1 Retention (The Athena Universe) (3 page)

“It’s nothing, really. Just this woman’s voice.”

“A woman? A woman was there with you that night? And she let you face that monster all by your-“

“Fran! She wasn’t there.” Saphora groaned, rolling her eyes as she walked down the semi-busy street of the small town outside of her own.

There were flower shops, bakeries, antique shops, pawn shops, a small record store, an even smaller library, and a café shop. But that was just on this strip. There were some more shops along with some more places to eat down the road and on various other streets. Fran was silent for a moment on the phone and was drowned out by the talking of the people that Saphora passed. Talking about the weather, their sons’ baseball games, their friends who were being scandalous, and everything else that Saphora could never seem to take interest in. But then Fran finally spoke up.

“What do you mean she wasn’t there,
honey? You said you heard her.”

“I did. I heard a woman speak
to me. But she wasn’t there. At least … I don’t remember her being there,” she explained, her walking slowing as she entered her subconscious.

Was there a woman there? Saphora wasn’t sure. She didn’t remember a woman being there. She just recalled being instructed to say words, and that’s what she did. But maybe she was there. After all, how could she hear something that wasn’t there? She was
n’t crazy, was she?

“Of course she must have been there, Saphora. Don’t be ridiculous. The nerve of that woman. L
eaving you with that horrid man,” Fran huffed. Saphora knew she had her fist on her hip in frustration, and she laughed.

“Well I’m alright now, aren’t I? But yeah, I guess she was there. She helped me, you know. You shouldn’t be so harsh on her.”

“Helped you? Helped you by doing what?”

“She … I don’t know, she told me how to get away.
”

“Hmph. Well … I guess so. At any rate, I’m glad you remembered something,
honey.”

Saphora scoffed. “Yeah, it’s only been three years.”

“That man has done nothing but help you, Saphora. You mind your manners.”

“Yeah, yeah
,” she grumbled.
That man has nothing but clean out your wallet
, she thought. “So what’s new at the zoo? Find any lost species of sea horses?” Saphora joked, walking past the corner record store and making a right.

“Very funny. No, we haven’t. Bu
t there is something new, apparently. They won’t tell us what it is, though.”

“A surprise at a zoo? That’s never good.”

“That’s what I said. But they’re promising it’s going to be the biggest attraction since the lions.”

“The
lions
. That’s promising a lot.”

“I know. I can’t wait to find out what it is! What are you up to? Are you heading home?” Fran asked. Saphora could hear the rustling of papers mixed with the sound of a fax machine in the background. She knew she was busy at work. She always felt bad, calling Fran when she had work to do. But Fran always insisted, so what could she do but comply? It always seemed to brighten her day, even if she was swamped with work.

“Not yet. I’m going to head to the woods to blow off some steam,” Saphora admitted, even though she knew that Fran wouldn’t approve.

“To do you know what?”

“Yeah. Just a little bit. And then home. I promise.”

“Well … Alright. Celebrate remembering. But then it’s straight home, okay?”

Saphora laughed.

“I should remember things more often.”

“Very funny. Home after, okay?”

“Yes, yes. Home after.”

Chapter 2

She ran to a nearby tree, climbing it. She pulled herself as high as she could to get to the branch that was furthest up, so that she could make a clean jump without being spotted. Seemingly jumping into the air, she rose herself up above what clouds there were. She made sure she was high enough to pass as a bird or an airplane from a glance. With a sigh of relief, she stretched, before taking off to head deeper into the woods. She wanted to think about this voice that she had remembered during the session. It seemed to her that she had always remembered, but had just forgotten to bring it up during the sessions. But hearing herself bring it up today made her think about it. What
was
that voice? And from
whom
did it come from? She wanted to remember if there had actually been a person there, or if she had in fact been hearing voices at the time. Because if she was, then that was an entirely new thing she had to take into consideration. That could put her whole opinion of the truth in jeopardy. After all, hearing voices was not a natural occurrence, right?

Right?

It was quite soothing, watching all the clouds pass her by. It was like running your hand through a dream, as she reached her hand out to touch them. They were a magnificent colour, with the help of the setting sun. She smiled, stretching her arms out and closing her eyes, letting her hair whip behind her and about her face. Although she very much feared falling, she had a mixed emotion about flying. On one hand there was the ‘what if’. But on the other hand, who wouldn’t love being able to run their fingers through a cloud and race with the birds? She took in a deep breath and counted her blessings for being able to experience such a feeling.

But that feeling was soon cut short.

She flinched upon hearing what sounded like a pain-riddled roar erupt in the skies. She wobbled in the air, her limbs flailing and struggling to keep her balance. Her heart skipped a few beats when the realization that she could fall from such a height quickly kicked in. Her eyes grew wide as her limbs continued to flail before she fully regained her stability. She quickly started to lower herself back to the ground when she realized that there was a chance of falling. And then again, the roar struck the sky, making her heart drop, and her balance waver again. And then, almost immediately after the roar, a bolt of pain struck the sides of her temples. A skull-splitting headache. With a clenching scream, she gripped the sides of her head and she fell the rest of the way, hitting three branches and then finally a tree. She hit the tree with a loud thud, her body curling around one of its thick branches. She coughed up some saliva and mumbled in pain, as she gripped the branch for dear life. Her shaking frame held onto the branch as she looked around with her now blurred vision. She could hear her own breathing blaring in her ears, as her heart pumped at about a mile a minute. It happened. It had actually happened. She had fallen. Because of a headache? No, that
scream
. What on
earth
was that scream?

The tre
e was pretty high up, and what she heard next made her heart stop for the third time in that minute. The trunk of the tree began to crack. It was going to snap – fall. She had hit the tree so hard, that it was going to fall. She moved herself into a squatting position on the branch as quickly as she could in her current amount of pain, and grumbled when gravity began to take over, causing the tree to tilt forward. She swore under her breath as the tree slowly began falling and jumped from it, landing in front of its path. She landed with a sliding thud on her feet and turned back to look at the falling tree, gaining in speed. She cringed as another bolt of pain struck and crippled her to the ground. The ear-shattering sound flooded her ears once again and she felt herself tearing up. She didn’t know at this point if it was from the pain of her worsening situation or not. She whimpered and held her hands to her temple, waiting for the pain to stop. When it did she sighed in relief, but immediately remembered her situation and looked up. Her mind raced as she thought of what to do, but coming up blank. She could have moved to the side and out of the way of the trunk, at least sparing herself that. But her mind was far too tattered to concentrate on such a simple action.

Not seeing any options, or enough time to move out of the way,
she covered her head and ducked, waiting for the tree to fall, and prayed that it would somehow miss her by some miracle of millimeters. She cried, her chest heaving as she thought of Fran in what she thought to be her final moments. How she had always told her to be careful, not to go too high. She should have listened.
Why didn’t I listen?
she thought. But what happened only added to her astonishment. She heard the tree fall with a loud crack, and felt the ground shake beneath her as it did. Her eyes were closed tight as she waited for the onslaught of pain. But none came. There wasn’t even a hint of it. After a few moments went by, she dubbed it safe to open her eyes, and take a look at the damage that had been done. The tree had indeed fallen, corrupting the natural layout of the ground around it into a dent. But where she had been standing, the ground was at peace. In fact, a significant area around her was at peace, as if it had never been touched by the tree. Slowly, her hands returned to her sides as she looked up in curiosity. The tree had been bent upwards above her, almost like it had been snapped in half to protect her. She stared at it in shock as she took a few steps back from the destruction, trying to piece it all together in her mind. What had just happened? Had the tree split on its own? Had she done that? And if she had, how in the world… She kept looking, along the entire tree, looking for answers but finding none. She looked down at her hand, eyeing its shaking frame, now with slight horror. She shook her head and looked around to see if anyone had in fact seen what had happened. And indeed, there was one.

A man. With
… red hair.

Her body seemed to freeze, when her
eyes came into contact with his. His black eyes. Bottomless pits …

“Making a mess again, I see
,” the man laughed, shaking his head.

His arms were
crossed as he stepped towards her. Menacingly. She took a step back towards the tree, whose life had suddenly been ended. Something inside her wanted to run. Her body was on edge, her mind was drawing blanks, and she hadn’t the slightest idea why she wanted to cry. The man smiled as he continued to walk forward and she continued to retreat. His head tilted and his eyebrows raised as his arms lowered to his sides.

“I’m starting to think you remember me, Saphora
,” he said in amusement.

And
with the saying of her name, her fists clenched, and she knew why she wanted to run. But it couldn’t be. It wasn’t real. The night wasn’t real. It was a bad dream. The dismay! To see her nightmare before her. She had gone for so long wanting to prove that her memory had in fact happened. That it could be validated. And now that she was standing face to face with the man she had feared the most in her entire life, she wanted it to be everything but real. The man from that night is who he was. And she was in no position to escape him. She took several more steps back until he stopped walking and she nearly tumbled over.
This can’t be happening
, she thought.
I’m seeing things
.

“And it seems like this time you feel like running! Could it be that you remember it all now?” he asked,
continuing to walk once again. She took in a sharp breath, trying to remind her lungs how to breathe. She took a quick glance around, wondering if it would be best to scream for help. But given their location, she doubted anyone would be able to hear her. But a part of her also wanted to talk to the man, and find out who he was, and how he knew her. But for now she stayed quiet, her mind having forgotten how to speak.

“
What’s wrong? Why don’t you speak? You remember me don’t you? Surely you must have many things to tell me,” he said curiously. And without thinking, she shook her head, which sent him into a fit of laughter.

“You mean to tell me you still do not remember? You’re making this too easy now. It’s been years
, you know,” he laughed, coming closer. Her fists clenched again as he burst into laughter. She wanted to get in on what was so funny.

“So tell me who you are. And why you’re showing up again ye
ars later, knowing who I am,” she demanded, actually taking a step forward. This made him stop, and tilt his head back up.

“My name is Tebias
,” he said bluntly. “I am hunting you.”

Her
head tilted back slightly at the harshness of the words. Hunting? She didn’t know what those words meant in that context. Only she did, but didn’t want to make the connection with what he just said and herself. Not only did she have the urge to run, but charge at him with everything she had in the same instance. She didn’t know which one she should have done first.

“Don’t understand?” he asked, reaching for his hip, and unhooking a weapon that
resembled a gun of some kind.

Her
eyes immediately darted to the previously concealed weapon, wide and cautious. Her arm flinched, as if to protect herself, and then her entire body flinched when hearing and seeing the second half of the tree trunk to her left side slide forward along with the movement of her arm. Both of their heads jerked in its direction, and stared at it in bewilderment. It stopped when she did, its branches still giving off slight movements as a few dozen leaves fell from them. She turned back to look at the man by the name of Tebias, and he turned to look back at her, now in a crouching position. He honestly looked quite scared. Which meant … He didn’t do it. Slowly, he stood straight, and cracked his neck, looking back at the now still tree trunk. He fixed his attire and repositioned the weapon in his hand, clearing his throat.