Trapped (19 page)

“Listen Natalie, I can’t
stay long
. Anton helped me but he warned
that
my
time
here
will be
short
. I need you to be strong. I need you to take care of Luke until
he joins me
, but first you need to
find your way back to where you belong
. You will have to find
a gateway
of some so
rt that you c
an enter. This gateway
will
be somewhere that brings you peace, feelings of love and happiness. You have to le
ave all this
sorrow behind
you Natalie. You can’t sink
in
to
it
anymore. I am at peace Natalie. You have to find it t
o
o. I’m being pul
led back Natalie. I love you,”
she told me as
h
er smile faded
in front of me
.

“I love you too,
” I smiled in spite of my tears.

I sat alone in the e
mpty room for some time. T
rying to
think of where I should go
. Where did I feel
peace and happiness?
Where did I feel love?

“Of course
!” I shou
ted as
I jumped up, knowing Luke
had
returned.

“I’m going back
Luke
. P
lease find me wh
en I return
.
I want to help you,
” I told him before I turned and
ran from the house. As soon as I started running I imagined my beautiful bedroom with the big windows looking out on to the ocean. I traced my steps into the living room with even larger windows. I pictured in my mind the
sunrise
s across the water.
I walked out of the hou
se and towards the ocean. I sat down o
n the sand
and ran my fingers through
my hair. This is my happy place, or so
I thought. I couldn’t help but
wonder when I would see Hayden agai
n. I smiled and closed my eyes.

“Soon my love,
” I whispered.

~~~

“She’s talking again!” Carlos shouted. Hayden had just stepped out of the tent to stretch and gr
ab some much needed food.
When he heard Carlos shout he
flew
back
into the
tent and crouched down
.

“What did she say?” Hayden asked excitedly.

“I’m not sure exactly. It was a whisp
er, but I think she said ‘soon’,
” Carlos
had a hopeful look on his face.

“Natalie. Can you hear me? Are you coming home bab
y? I miss you.” Hayden kissed her
cheek.

~~~

I waited there on the sand for
what seemed like hours. I began
t
o
feel
im
patient.
“I’m here. What more do you want?” I shouted, to no one in
-particular. N
o one i
s here anyway. I didn’t know where else to go.
I stood up and dusted the sand off my legs. As I looked a
round at the crashing waves I
watched the
sun
setting
. A
fear ran through me. What if I never find my way ba
ck to Hayden?
I began to walk along the beach, dipping
my feet in the
water as I walked. Nothing happened. I started to run
until I couldn’
t take another step. I collapsed onto the beach.
I
laid there gaspi
ng for breath. Time i
s passing
me by
.
I have
no ide
a how long I have been
here
, in this world or on this
beach. I rolled over and looked up
at the night sky
.

“Oh no! W
hat’s happening?”
I shouted, feeling
a heavy
dread
ful feeling
wash over me. How could this
possibly be?
I
had
ru
n
so
far
from this place
before I fell. I
shouldn’t be lying here on the beach in
front of my
house
. Thi
s
is
not possible. If I was any closer to getting back to Hayden this would not be happening. I stood up and tried to regain my composure a
s I walked onto my deck and in to
my house. I looked in each room, hoping Hayden would appear. I stood in front of the large living room widows and cried. None of this
mattered if I’m to be alone.

~~~

“I think she
needs are help,
” Carlos stated
more to himself than
to
Hayden.

“It just feels like
she’s trying to get back and she’s close, which is why we can hear her at times. I’m just not sure what we can do. I’m going to cal
l Clive.” Carlos left the tent.

“Natalie, you have to focus. You have to be strong. Don’t cry darling. You
’
r
e
comi
n
g home soon,
” Hayden whispered.

~~~

As I stood there
, alone in my beautiful house
I
dreamed I
co
uld hear Hayden telling me I am
coming home. I on
l
y wished it to be
true.
I tried to hold back the tears as they rolled down my cheeks.
I couldn’t believe I still had any tears left.

“I’m sorry Hayden but I don’t
know what to do or where to go,
”
I whispered. I didn’t realize at the time that
he heard me. I fell asleep on the couch.

~~~

“Clive
, she doesn’t know what to do or where to go now, but I th
ink we can communicate with her,
” Hayd
en said as he tried
to
put his thoughts together, waiting patiently
to hear what Clive had to say.

“I think
we have to find a spirit that
can
bounce between both realms
. It has to be a newly deceased
sp
irit
,
I believe they have the ability to travel on a whim, more than the older ones do,
” Clive
told Hayden. He closed
his eyes and realized there’s
only one
sprit
that can
help her
.

“Luke!
We have to find Luke
,
” Hayden
said as he
went back
in
to the tent.
Carlos joined him a little while later.

“Well, Clive has put the word out that we need Luke. Hayden, how are we going to find him?” Carlos seemed concerned that it would
be difficult.

“I need you to stay here with Natalie
this time,
I’m going into town
.” Hayden kissed her
gently th
e
n left
.

Carlos sank down beside her. He brushed the hair from her face a
nd reached for her hand, kissing
her
fingers as he tried to hold back
his
tears.
It’s the first time he’s a chance to be alone with her. He has wanted to feel her breath on his face. He wished so much that he could take back their last meeting. He only wanted to take her out like she asked, why did he agree
to risk her life?

“I owe you a week of hunting now my darling, I promise we will have fun again,” he whispered as he
lay beside her lifeless body.

Hayden made it into town quickly.
He ran faster than he’s ever ru
n before.
He stormed into the a
bandoned apartment downtown where
Millicent and Joshua
dwelled
.

“I need your help!” he shouted, knowing they would respond.

“We’ll do
whatever we can, you know that,
” Joshua stated calmly. Millicent nodded, waiting for Hayden to continue.

“I need you
to find Luke, Natalie’s brother,” he ordered
them.

“Why do you need him?” Millicent blurted out.

“He is the only one that I know of that might be capable of going in between this realm and the realm
that
Natalie is
trapped in. Can either of you do that
?” he asked, stressing his point.

“If we could the
n we
would have done it already,
” Joshua answered.

“What makes you think Luke can do it, or
furthermore, that he will do it?
Isn’t he partly to blame for Natalie being where she is now?” He wasn’t feeling as optimistic as Hayden.

“He can and he will,
” Hayden
told them as he
stormed out of the apartment.

“You
should try the house
he died in,” Millicent shouted before he reached the stairwell.

As Hayden approached the house he sensed a number
of spirits surrounding it
but
they still would not go
inside
.
The door was locked but that wouldn’t
stop him
from entering
. He shouldered the door breaking the lock and entered quickly
. He slammed it shut a
nd searched the house with as much
speed
as he could
for the room he felt
possessed the most by Luke
.

He sat down on Luk
e’s chair in his
bed
room
and listened for him. He
walked
back
down to the living room and
decided to wait there
instead
. He knew
he would show up eventually.

Luke couldn’t stay a
way when he realized someone walked
in
to
his house,
someone
actually
has
been in
his bedroom!
He was furious. This is
not allowed
, he thought
. No one would ever live in tha
t house again, as long as he is
in control of it.

“Get out of here!” h
e shouted as he th
rew a vase across the room, hitting
the fireplace. Luke picked up every picture on the wall and put them on the mantel piece. He opened the kitchen cupboards and in a completely
cliché move
,
he emptied everything out of them and threw it around the room.
Hayden wasn’t surp
r
ised
by his antics
.

“
Luke? What are
you doing?
Really
? Do you seriously
think
this would have
scare
d
Natalie? Or
for that matter
,
do you think this will scare me
?” Hayden mocked. He
was amused
by Luke’s at
tempts
to
frighten
him
.

“No,
this would not scare you.
I actually didn’t realize it was you. Natalie
is in so much trouble. She is stuck in between your world and mine. She wants to return home, she really does, but she can’t
find
her happy place! It sounds stupid
but she was told to find a place that make
s
her happy and brings her peace.
She thought it would be
at the beach but apparently she was way off. I think I should go back and tell her where to go but I’
m still not sure
exactly
what
to tell her?” h
e stammered, kno
wing he needed Hayden’s
help but
unsure as to how to ask
for it
.