Inside the Fire by Heather Glidewell
My mother’s voice was hollow when she spoke. Her white eyes penetrating the evil in front of her. I was in awe, shocked, amazed, and oddly proud of her.
“What do you want with the boy?” She demanded of the scared creature.
It tried to turn but was held fast, nothing it did would allow it to move from its spot.
“We are only doing as told.” The creature spoke unwillingly choking.
“And what is it that you were told?” She demanded. I had never seen her use her power before. Seeing her use it like this well I admit it was horrifying.
“To drain him to the point of death, so that he could be changed.” The creature gagged. Its eyes were shooting in all directions. It was confused as to why it was still speaking.
That’s when I saw her, the girl with the red hair stepped out and in front of the creature my mother was addressing.
“I am getting more curious about you Raven Princess.” She said in broken English. “First you shoot fire of Hell now you shoot the flame of Heaven. I demand to know what you are.”
My mother’s gaze shot from one to the other than turned to me.
“I told you already. I am your death. I am your salvation.” The words were not forced. I was simply repeating a line that had once been said to me.
“Oh sweet princess, how misguided you are.” The red head smiled.
“How do you know her?” My mother asked snapping the other creature like a twig in two pieces. The head went one way, and the body went another.
“She is the woman from my dream.” I said as anger filled me. “She is the one that is after my boyfriend!”
My mother huffed at me and turned her focus on the girl.
I could see anger and concern on my mom’s face as she grabbed my hand again.
“We need to hurry Wesley is fading.” She said this without moving her mouth. It took me a moment to realize that she was in my head. I let the anger fly.
My mother grabbed my hand as the fires of Hell burst from my fingertips and the flames of Heaven from hers. When the smoke cleared the red head was gone. All that was left was my Wesley lying covered in blood on the forest floor.
I pulled from my mother and raced to his side laying my hands on his face, his shoulders, and his chest. Feeling for anything that would tell me he’s ok. He was so cold, and he wasn’t moving.
My mother had pulled her phone from her pocket and was dialing frantically for emergency help. She collapsed at my side gently pushing me back as she touched his neck in search of a pulse.
“He’s alive but barely. Give me your hands," she demanded.
I felt energy burst from her and it somehow enlighten me, Wesley’s face lit up brightly like a star. My mother stopped out of breath, tired. His eyes cracked open, and I was right there, the first thing he saw.
“I knew you were an angel.” Was all he said as he touched my face, and then he was out cold again.
My mother had been able to close most of the wounds on his body to hide that he had been fed on. He decided on leaving only one deep gash open on his leg. This was meant to mislead the emergency crew into thinking this was where the blood had come from.
“Is this him?” I heard a woman’s voice above me and looked up into her violet eyes. My mother’s expression turned from fear too pleased.
“Yes, he’s lost a lot of blood.” My mother grabbed me and moved me out of the way so that they crew could get to him.
It didn’t take long for them to have him on the board and pulling him from the woods themselves.
“He’s in good hands.” My mother said gripping onto my arm.
“How do you know?” I asked as we followed the paramedics through the forest.
“Trust me. I just do.” She smiled at me and let me go.
****
When he re-emerged from the woods his father gripped my mother tightly thanking her. Though his son was not conscious he could see that he was alive. They wouldn’t allow me to ride with him since I was not his spouse or a family member. They still would not allow it even when his father pleaded with them to take me. He instead opted to stay behind and drive in with us to make sure we knew where we were going.
“Thank you Angie, thank you for finding my boy.” He cried on her shoulder for a moment before getting into the car.
My mother found it in our best interest to drive us since he was obviously incapable of doing so.
“Dawn go inside and get Melissa up. We cannot leave her here alone.” My mother instructed.
I did as I was told and walked in the back door of the Jensen house. I walked up the steps to the second floor and opened the door. Melissa was already awake her face pale.
“Melissa?” I asked as I entered her room. Her face shot towards me and huffed a sigh of relief.
“Dawn, thank goodness it’s only you.” She pushed the blankets off of her body and stood up, she was shaking.
“I need you to get dressed, we need to get going.” I said softly reaching up and touching her shoulders.
“You found him then.” She breathed heavily. “Is he ok?”
“Yeah, we just have to go to the hospital for a bit tonight.” I felt her arms wrap around my waist and I felt my heart flutter. I loved this little girl.
“Ok let me get some clothes on.” She grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt and changed quickly. Once she was done she grabbed my hand. “Did you see anything out there?”
“What do you mean?” I asked as we walked down the stairs.
“Nothing.” She said looking away from me.
This led me to believe that something was up. What did she know?
We drove to the hospital in silence my mother holding Mr. Jensen’s hand tightly as the man looked out the window his breathing increased. I sat in the backseat with Melissa my arms around the girls shoulder running my fingers through her hair. She looked lost and terrified at the same time.
“It’s going to be alright.” I whispered in her ear and she nodded.
“I know.” She looked up at me and smiled. “As long as you are around everything will be alright.”
We raced inside the Emergency Room entrance. Mr. Jensen made his way to receptionist and looked at her with blood shot eyes.
“My son was brought in by ambulance.” He said to her.
“Name?” She asked flatly.
“Wesley Jensen.” He said twisting his hands together.
“He arrived a few moments ago. Doctors are with him now. Please have a seat and someone will come out and speak with you soon.” She motioned towards the waiting room.
“Dawn?” My mother was behind me.
“Yeah?” I said turning around to face her.
“Who was that girl?” She asked me in a hushed voice.
“I already said she is the one from my dreams.” I said.
“How long have you dreamed about her?” She questioned. There was something she was thinking.
“It’s been a few weeks. She started out as nothing more than a victim in a dream and then turned into a face to face verbal fight.” I answered her and he just stared at me.
“Honey these aren’t dreams.” She crossed her arms and sat down in one of the plastic chairs.
“Then what are they?” I asked.
“Summons. She’s summoning you to an astral plain. Probably doesn’t have the strength to summon you all the way to her so she’s making due with what she can get.” My mother put her head in her hands.
“What are you talking about Mom?” I asked her as my throat became dry.
“She doesn’t know what you are, per-say. However she knows that you have demon blood hence why she is able to summon you.” My mother was making sure that her voice was low.
“That’s something new.” I groaned glancing at Greg and Melissa. “Does he know?”
“He knows enough.” She said looking away for a second. “Be careful with this woman Dawn
“I’m pretty sure she has an idea now. You know the two of us being together and all in the woods.” I rolled my eyes.
“Maybe.” My mother sighed.
“For now Mom, let’s worry about them.” I smiled at her and she nodded.
Chapter Fifteen
Enigma
Sitting in the waiting room of the Midvale ER was the most nerve wracking experience of my life. People came in and people left. The place got crowded and then it was dead.
After four hours of waiting and praying, pacing the linoleum floor over and over again, and constantly checking the time. The doctor came out and pulled his father to the side. There was a lot of nodding. When the doctor had finished speaking Mr. Jensen gave him a tired smile and came back over to us.
“They are going to admit him so that they can observe him over the next few days. The doctor said that they stitched up his wound. He didn’t know how Wes had lost so much blood from that one gash. So they want to make sure that it’s not a blood condition. He had lost so much they had to perform a transfusion in hopes of building up his blood count again.” He looked at me with those sad blue eyes. “Dawn, without you and your mother my boy would have died. I am forever in your debt for this.” With that he hugged me. “They are moving him to the third floor room 302. Let’s head up there so we can meet him.”
We took the elevator up the two floors. Melissa’s hand was entwined with mine. She was still crying from time to time but would never say what was going on in her head. In fact she would just wrap her arms around me and sob into my shoulder. When we finally reached the floor she pulled me out of the elevator and drug me down the hallway to the room, pushing me inside.
“What’s going on here Melissa?” I asked as she sat down on the visitors couch in the room.
“I saw her.” She looked at me with those innocent eyes.
“Saw who?” I asked sitting down next to her.
“Miranda, Wesley’s ex.” She looked worried. “She told me that she would get Wesley back from you. She said that you couldn’t protect him forever.”
“Really?” That was interesting.
Who the Hell was Miranda?
Before she could say anything else both our parents walked in. My mother glanced at us and I shook my head. I would have to tell her later.
Wesley was awake, but by no means alert, when they brought him into the room. He looked at me and smiled as I came to the side of the bed. He was groggy, but he gazed at me like he couldn’t believe I was there.
“I love you.” He said softly touching my face. He turned his head and looked at my mother giving her a weak smile. “Thank you.” He said to her, and she nodded at him smiling back.
“I’m just glad you are ok.” She said softly.
“Dad.” He said wincing.
Mr. Jensen stepped forward and ran his hand over his son’s hair.
“I’m right here son.” He said looking down at Wesley.
“I’m so sorry, Dad. I am so so sorry.” He looked at his father. There was pain in his eyes.
“It’s ok Wesley, you are fine now. You are safe.” Wesley nodded slowly at his father then looked back at me.
“I always knew you were my guardian angel.” He closed his eyes and in seconds he was out.
“Though he lost a large amount of blood we found damage throughout his muscular system that looked as if tearing had occurred. We assume that while he was wondering through the woods the muscles were torn due to the amount of force that was put on his appendages. He will be quite sore for a few days.” The doctor said looking at all of us. “This is a curious case. I would be happy that he even made it out alive.”
“Thank you.” Greg said nodding at the doctor.
****
I was asleep on the couch in Wesley’s room when my phone buzzed in my back pocket. I opened my eyes, rubbed the sleep out of them, and checked my messages.
Goodness was the time right?
I had been asleep most of the day, it was already past three.
Adam: Everything ok? You weren’t in class today.
I smiled at the message and glanced towards the hospital bed, Wesley was sleeping soundly his chest rising and falling, all the monitors beeping as they should be. Nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing that I could gather was that the blood loss sure took a toll on him.
Me: Yeah, Wesley had an accident I’m at the hospital.
Adam: Oh shit! Is he ok? Are you ok?
Me: Yes Adam, we are fine they are just keeping him for a few days.
Adam: You ate anything?
Me: No, been too busy to eat.
Adam: Is he resting?
Me: Yeah.
Adam: Meet me in the cafeteria in ten minutes.
I hesitated a moment not sure if I wanted to leave Wesley. Then my stomach made an impatient grumble, and I knew that I needed to eat something. It would be fine I could leave him with my mother for an hour.
Me: Ok.
Well that was an odd conversation. My mother looked up at me from the book she was reading and nodded.
“Go if he wakes up I will call you. You have to be starving.” I threw my legs off the couch and rubbed my eyes again.
I went to the bathroom and looked at myself. I looked like I had been run over by a mac truck. My sweater was torn from the tree limbs, and my eyes were a deep blue. This would be fun, looked like another contacts explanation was in my future. I smoothed my hair back and washed my face before taking one last look at Wesley and leaving the room.
****
Adam was standing outside the cafeteria when I came sauntering up. He smiled when he saw me, his concern was written all over his face. He gave me a hug when I got close enough to him. Odd, I’m not one to usually like hugs but his was warm and friendly.
“So glad you are ok.” He said his cheek on the top of my head.
“Yeah, all I did was assist my mother in finding him.” I shrugged and he let me go pulling me out to arm’s length and looking at me.
“Something is different here. I just can’t put my finger on it.” He was searching my face intently trying to figure it out.
“I’m an enigma, just when you think you know me I change.” I joked linking my arm through his and walking into the cafeteria.
Hospital food is not the greatest by all means. In fact it ranks up there with school lunches. I was hungry so everything looked perfect for eating. We got our food and sat down at a table in the corner. He had insisted on paying even when I handed my cash to the cashier. In fact, he’d very politely exchanged my bill with his and put mine back in my pocket, a stern look on his face.
“I asked you to lunch so I pay.” He said softly. I had just stood there looking at him with a confused grin on my face.
“What happened?” He asked me after a few moments of silence.
“He has been under a lot of stress lately. Sleep-walking from what his dad said. He wound up in the woods. Somehow got a nasty gash on his leg and lost a lot of blood.” I tried to make it sound like it was much less than what it really was.
How do I tell someone that has never seen a supernatural thing in his life that we had fought vampires? That my mother was an angel and had incinerated four of them with just a blink of the eye and snapped the last one like a twig with a stare.
I just totally made my mother sound like a Heavenly bad-ass.
“That boy has everything, what could he possibly be stressed about?” Adam looked at me and put his fork down. “I mean he has the car, he has the girl. What else could he want?”
“I can be quite stressful.” I joked.
“Naw, I don’t see that. You are far from stressful. Either way I’m sorry to hear that you had such a scary night.” He said taking a drink. “I’m equally glad that yo
“Yeah, those woods are thick, and lord knows what’s in them,” I swallowed a bite of something that looked like mac n’ cheese.
“There are rumors of course about them. Stories that a hundred years ago some farmer murdered a group of women from town.” He laughed. “Of course they are just rumors there are no solid facts that it ever happened.”
“I would hope that they are just rumors.” I shivered.
“What Weathers, are you scared of ghosts?” He eyed me.
“Anyway! We found Wesley in the woods. Mom called the ambulance, and they took him here.” I changed the subject away from the woods.
“I would say he is a lucky guy. I mean I don’t think any of my ex-girlfriends would look for me if I went missing.” He shook his head and suddenly a moment of clarity hit his face. “Your eyes! That’s what is different!” He exclaimed making me jump.
“What about them?” I asked my heart pounding, he’d figured it out.
“They are blue now. At school the other day they were brown.” He smiled politely a sense of pride illuminating from his expression.
“I wear color contacts to go with my style.” The lie came out smoothly. After telling it so many times it felt natural to just say it.
“I knew a girl once whose eyes did that.” He was staring, and I was becoming uncomfortable. “It was, I think, two years ago. She went to school with us for a year. She started out with brown eyes, by the end of the year they were this beautiful blue. She moved that summer, her family was military or something, just in town to do some recruiting. I think that is what she said.” He was rambling.
One thing that I have learned is that people tend to ramble when there is more to a story than what they are really wanting to tell.
I was intrigued by this story. There had to be far more to it than just her eyes changing and miraculously disappearing. This was something that I would have to look into. Behind every mystery is an answer.
After lunch Adam gave me another hug and told me to call him when Wesley woke up. I climbed into the elevator my stomach feeling better after my meal. As I was hitting the button for the third floor my phone started to buzz. I reached in my pocket and pulled it out.
Mom: How much longer? Wes has been awake for a while he just didn’t want me to tell you so you could eat.
I smiled at the message, leave it to my mother.