eyes, I lean back to rest against the wall, trying to calm my nerves. However, this time, I don’t hit the wall. I am thrust backward and am overcome with a feeling of falling. The world around me begins to blur as bright colors and random shapes and symbols cloud my vision.
Then everything goes black.
Chapter Four
“Uffh,” My body hits the ground hard. The wind is knocked out of my lungs and I’m having trouble catching my breath. This is the second time I’ve been thrown to the ground recently. I close my eyes and try to breathe normally, willing my body to cooperate. Every bone, muscle, and fiber in my body begins to ache, so I just lay there waiting for the pain to subside. With my eyes still closed, I assess myself and realize that nothing is broken or sprained. Groaning, I push myself into a seated position. When I reach an upright position I look around and am utterly confused by what I see.
“Where the heck am I?”
I am no longer in my small second story bedroom. I’m in the middle of a grassy field. The sky is a shade of blue that I have rarely seen before: the vibrant blue that only seems to exist in those desktop wallpapers of the beaches on new computers. The grass is the greenest green possible and there are huge trees with voluminous leaves everywhere around me. Random wild flowers are dispersed throughout the open field. I would have loved this area if I had any idea where I actually was.
Jane is going to kill me.
My body aches as I attempt to stand. Looking around, I see movement in the closest tree.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” I call out. There is no reply and no more movement. I brush it off as paranoia and look around again in search of a trail. Unable to find anything, I’m about to give up and walk blindly into the forest when I see the movement again.
I cautiously step closer to the tree, squinting, trying to see what is there. I’m starting to get scared. I’m in an unknown place and don’t know how to get back to Jane’s. When I freak out, my mind starts racing. I imagine every possible horrible scenario. What if someone is out there? It would be easy for someone to kidnap or kill me. No one would know what happened to me. What if there are cannibals in the forest? I can’t image that I would taste very good. I’d be a breaking news story for a day and when there was no evidence found in the case, I’d be forgotten. With no family to alert or friends to mourn me, my file would be put in another unclosed case box and placed in the back of a storage room to collect dust.
Suddenly, the wind begins to pick up and the leaves on the trees begin to fly everywhere, swirling in a vortex around me.
“Stop that!” yells the person from the tree.
“Stop what?” I call back. “I’m not doing anything.”
He jumps down, and says, “Calm down. Your emotions are affecting the weather.”
I scoff. This guy is crazy. Putting my hands on my hips, I push my chin out and defiantly I retort, “How the heck are my emotions affecting the weather? That’s not possib…” I trail off. The rest of the sentence is completely forgotten when I see the man standing in front of me.
He looks slightly older than me. It is hard to tell. He has long black hair that moves with the wind and light gray eyes the color of steel. The most interesting combination I’ve ever seen on anyone. A long jagged silver scar runs across the length of his left brow. His nose is crooked as though it has been broken a few times before. His full pink lips are set in a straight line as his hard gaze focuses on me. He is wearing a tight black t-shirt, emphasizing the muscles in his chest and arms, and has a dark leather belt strapped around his waistband. Around the width of his right upper arm is an extravagant flamed tattoo that disappears beneath the fabric of his shirt. Filled in with black ink, it reminds me of the tribal tattoos I’ve only ever seen on the internet or on those teen novels with the shirtless men on the cover. A large matching silver flame shaped pendent hangs around his neck.