The Mistake

Chapter 1



         Marie tried to remember all the events which had happened as Peter drove down the interstate. It had been an awful, stressful day and now all she wanted was to get lost in her thoughts. She pictured the whole scene out in her head again and again, wondering if she could ever say anything to the man at her left. She even refused to look over in fear that she might be drawn into his face. His strong jaw line, his eyes that almost seemed too small, his strong but undefined arm muscles and the small beauty mark that resided on his ear were begging for closer examination but just as she was about to give into the urge once more she moved to stare at the sunset outside the windshield instead. The last ounce of her comfort and joy disappeared with the sun and she refused to be seen with the tears of confusion which threatened to fall like the rain that came down upon the car violently.
         
              There he was, Mr. Williams. Her new boss was sitting across from her at a small, comfortable café for lunch. She couldn’t picture him clearly from lack of looking his way at the time, but instead envisioned a dark figure with a nice smooth suit, making him look classy.
         “Do you understand why I brought you here?” Mr. Williams had  called this meeting and of course Marie assumed the worst since he was the new boss and was brought there to up the business. Marie had told him that she assumed he was going to fire her but all he could do was laugh. Then he introduced her to a new project. “There is no raise in it for you but you will find it more, well, stimulating then your past job.”  That’s when it all happened.

         “Are you going to be okay?” Peter pretended to be in his own world up until then but the look on her face could not be ignored. There was no expression on it, just blankness and wide eyes, almost as if she had gone catatonic.
         “Sure, it’s not like that was a big deal or anything, right?” She made him feel even worse with her sarcastic tone.
         “That’s why I’m asking.” He kept his voice without any emotion.
         “Let’s just, not talk to each other. That’s what I’m good at. I don’t want a heart to heart with a man I don’t know.”
         “Not even one who just saved your life?” It seemed as though a knife could easily cut through the tension because the silence that followed was so intense. This gave her a chance to finish her past thought.

          Where was she? Right, outside the café with her fingers around a mug already half empty of coffee. It happened so quickly. Red splattered all across her front, up her neck, and dripped down her cup. He looked at her curiously and then looked down at his chest. He fell off of his chair and under the table. She had quickly gotten under with him, putting pressure on the wound. Marie stared down at his cold body with a numbness she had felt before. The memory of her mother’s dead body came into her mind right before a strong hand grabbed her shoulder. After not moving, an arm went around her waist and pulled her up, half carrying her across the pavement to a car.

         She couldn’t recall what exactly happened during those brief moments in the car; most likely she had blacked out a few times before they arrived at her house. When they got there she was half conscious but not able to function so she was brought into the shower where both were drenched with the hot water. The hand that had saved her life gently washed the blood away from her skin..
         Instead of focusing on the present, she could only remember Mr. Williams’ parting words, “Find your mother and keep her safe.”

*  *  *  *

         The overweight truck driver slapped the waitress’ back end as she walked past. “I’ll have some of that any day, missy.” He was surprised that the only gesture made back at him was one which meant to follow her. Quickly, trying to look smooth, he followed behind her out of the truck stop to the alleyway, staring at her legs the whole way. She was an attractive woman compared to most of the other employees. She stopped abruptly to face his bulging eyes as she slowly rubbed her hand up his stomach and around his neck. He closed his eyes as the pressure of her body was felt against his. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a completely different person. Her hair was long and ragged, one of her blue eyes was pleading to come out of its socket, and the nose was torn, almost completely gone. The stench of her was almost unbearable as she took his neck into her decaying hands. He wanted to run but as the thought came to his mind she laughed a low, scratching noise.
         “You cannot run from your fate. You are my servant now, and will give me what I need.” She opened his mouth wide and interlocked her dry chipped mouth with his. Her cold touch was too much for him and he plunged to his knees. The woman’s body finally fell back the same moment his did.
         The truck driver’s eyes suddenly snapped open. They flashed red then went to the original brown. A smile appeared awkwardly on his chubby face as he looked at the decaying lady’s figure. To accomplish the task in this dimension, the Highest had to keep inside a freshly killed body.

*  *  *  *

         “Where are we going?” she asked while looking into his sky blue eyes for one of the first times. The miles seemed to be endless and being confined in the somewhat small car was not the way Marie would have chosen to spend her time. Of course, if she weren’t there it would just be in her apartment, scared of death itself. Considering this alternative, she would preferably be stuck with this man.
         “To his house.” He hadn’t looked at her as they spoke but just stared at the road.
         “What for? Are we going to do some snooping work?” The fact that she and Peter would soon be looking through Mr. Williams' old belongings was not very comforting.
         “Yup. He was the brain in this and he must have something there. Maybe some notes or a diary.”
         She looked at him strangely and in a sardonic tone said, “Yeah, because that’s what I did last night, wrote it all down.”
         “He’s known about this for more than a year. I would think he kept some notes or records on what’s going to happen,” his voice dropped in volume, as though he were in deep thought. Many moments passed in silence while he tried to make sense out of things.
         “Can we stop somewhere to eat?” After moments passed in silence her voice was loud enough to startle any idea out of him. “I’m really hungry, and we’ve been driving forever.”
         It took him a second to come to the realization that they had indeed been in the car for a long period of time, then after looking at the clock he smiled, “Only about four to five hours.”
         Not believing him, she took a glance at the time herself. “He lives way out here, huh? You would think he wanted to live somewhere a little closer to the city, you know? Unless you’ve just been driving around in circles for hours…for absolutely no reason.”
         “We’re going to his summer home, his apartment is cleaned out.”
         "Only a crumb too small for a mouse." Marie’s face suddenly changed to a worried expression. “When did you have time for that? You were with me the whole time.”
         “Relax, I didn't check his apartment. He knew he was going to die.”
         “No, you knew because you’re the one who killed him, aren’t you? That’s why you were so close by to snatch me up. Not to mention that you knew exactly where I lived.”
         “Right, I killed him, figured I’d save you for later. I’ve been stalking you for a long time, too, waiting for the right moment to make my move,” he said sarcastically.
         “You’re probably using reverse psychology with me or something like that. I’ll figure this out.”
         He pulled the car into a truck stop restaurant and got out of the car. He stood and went to her side to open the door. “Ready to be tortured? I figured you could use some food before the excitement starts.”
         “Very funny. I would continue to be stubborn, but I am starving more than ever, so you win,” she pouted.
         “Well, get out, and let’s go.”
         “Fine.”
         Slowly they walked to the rear of the smoky smelling restaurant behind the hostess and sat at the only unoccupied booth. They almost collided before deciding who sat on which side. When they were both seated they found ways to avoid eye contact, one looking out of the window while the other looked around the room pretending to be interested in the decor. They waited for a while in an awkward silence that was only broken with feet shuffling and bodies shifting. Finally, after they had excused themselves to use the bathroom simultaneously, a waitress came and apologized for the delay.
         “One of our waitresses left early, I suppose, and since this was her table, you two were in the dark, so to speak.” She rambled on for a while about how they had just hired the girl. She would not stop apologizing to them until they gave her their orders then finally went on her way to the kitchen.
         Peter stared at Marie after the waitress left with the orders. She had ordered so much food he could hardly believe a family of three could eat it and not be satisfied. After the woman came back with more than three plates for them, he was even more surprised because she was prepared to eat all of it. He looked from her meal to his, then back at hers and chuckled.
         “What?” she said with a bite of something already in her mouth.
         “Want any more with that?”
         “I told you I was hungry. You didn’t think a girl could eat this much?”
         “Well, here I thought that the whole, ‘I could eat a cow,’ was a metaphor.”
         “Whatever.” Playing with a piece of food with her fork after putting another bite in her mouth, Marie found herself looking at the amount of food the both of them had ordered. “You are paying for this, right? Because I am not exactly full of cash right now.”
         “Don’t worry about it. Mr. Williams gave me some.” After she gave him that worried, curious look he added, “No I didn’t steal it after he died or anything.”
         “Just so you know,” Marie smiled, “I’m putting a shit load of trust in you right now.”

*  *  *  *

         The truck driver slowly walked to a truck and was about to step up onto the stair, but his head suddenly jerked forty-five degrees to face the restaurant. His nose went straight up in the air and he inhaled deeply.  He started to walk fast and clumsily towards the diner, as though he wasn’t used to his legs.

*  *  *  *

         Marie and Peter began to eat in complete silence for a while; both pretending to be very interested in what food lay before them. Peter broke their silence when he said, “He‘s here,” in a hushed but confident voice. The overweight man’s eyes turned a dark black as he looked into Marie while walking straight to their table making Peter spring up from his seat and grab a hold of her wrist. She felt her mind wander as they made eye contact and would’ve stopped moving if it hadn’t been for Peter dragging her.

            The nerves were burning deep inside of her as she walked to the front of the classroom. The presentation was today, the one she had dreaded for two weeks now, and she was still not fully prepared. Her stomach had butterflies jumping, praying to be released; her throat didn’t want to let them out and she could only talk with little hiccups. With all of this in her mind, she was also just hoping it would be over and done with. The phone that hung right next to the door rang out for the teacher in the room, and it was quickly picked up. She looked around the room until her eyes came upon the fragile figure holding index cards in the front of the room. Wrinkled eyes gave a pitied look as Marie was told an important message was in the office, and she needed to go right away.

         The back door opened and led them into an alleyway which didn't seem to lead to the street.  Peter quickly jumped up onto a dumpster, ignoring a rotting corpse of a female laying near with one of her eyeballs rolling next to her face and from there lifted Marie up with him, who was still in a complete daze. He found a ladder on the side of the building and pulled it down, beginning to aid her with the steps, frantically praying that the possessed truck driver would not catch up. Marie didn’t understand why the back door hadn’t opened again because the man couldn’t have been too far behind.  Peter seemed to relax drastically as he slowly escorted Marie up the ladder.
         A loud sound was rung out into the dark night like a gun had gone off and Peter realized that it was the door slamming against the side of the building. The man walking through the opening cursed and looked around like a blind man. He closed his bulging black eyes and his head turned from side to side, nostrils flaring, then started to move upwards and his lids snapped open. They were staring up at Marie who still wasn’t paying any attention to what Peter was trying to make her do but instead all she could think about was her mother.

          The hospital was flooded with wounds, blood, screaming, patients, reporters along with the press, and even more blood. There she was, Sharon, on a bed, while a doctor in the usual blue scrubs rolled her down the hall in a hurry. Marie could smell the sweet metallic blood of her mother from where she was standing. It was all around her, in her, and all she wanted was to be closer to it, to her mother. She sat by herself, waiting for a doctor to tell her something about Sharon’s condition.

         Peter physically pulled her head away and forced her to look at him.
         “Marie! Don’t look at him. Look at me! You have to get up this ladder.”
         “No, I don’t think I can,” she sounded distant and drunk sounding, as though she had left her body completely.

          She could remember how her mom’s long, dark brown hair flowed around her bruises and scrapes as she looked up at Marie from the hospital bed. The beautiful, broken body’s name was Sharon and all she could do was reassure Marie that everything would be all right, even though she knew it wasn’t true herself. Much courage was used by them both during the last breaths that were taken; neither wanting to face what was about to happen. They just held each other, savoring every moment, while trying not to think about the horrible events that had happened to Sharon only hours before.

         Peter began to get nervous and shaky from her lack of consciousness. He stared up into the sky like he was letting a silent prayer rise up into the polluted air. While bringing his stare back to Marie, quiet words were heard as not only a reply but a plea, “Yes, you have to. If you don’t only God knows what will happen to you.”
         She glanced back to where the enemy was but he wasn’t there any more. Her mind was pulled back to reality. Peter, noticing the change in her, began to move her up the ladder again. After one push he didn’t have to help any more and she went up to the roof of the building freely. At that time, her mind wasn’t capable of comprehending the events that had just occurred.
         Peter asked her what was wrong and he came over next to her for comfort but instead she gave him a strange look and shifted away from his company.
         “Marie, come on, talk to me,” Peter remained where he was as she moved further away to sit on a small ledge.
         “Fine. Let’s start with why in the whole world did you and Mr. Williams come to me?” Her hand picked up one pebble at a time to throw it over the building but never bothered to hold her head up to see where they were going.
         “You are their target.” At Marie’s lack of movement he realized the absurdity of his comment, or the lack of information she knew to begin with. “Are you religious?”
         “Depends on what you mean by religious. I would like to believe that something happens after death but I am not practicing any kind of religion. It’s just a waste of time.” Peter took a step toward her but she stiffened so he took two more back.
         “Whether or not you believe in a higher being I guess doesn’t matter except you might not believe what I have to tell you.” She glanced up at him then back down to the numerous pebbles begging for the freedom of flight.  “As we speak there is a battle, constant and powerful, between the different higher and - well - lower beings. You are the main player.”
         Struggling for something to say, Marie looked at Peter and saw a gold ring on his left hand right before it went through his hair. “You never said you were married,” she said, sounding weak.
         “Well, it never came up,” he replied, acknowledging her need for a topic change.
         “It’s up now.” She looked up  at the ring to avoid any kind of eye contact.
         “I’d rather not talk about it.” He removed his hand from his head and set it back inside of his pocket. The quiet made Marie uncomfortable and she found her way to the edge.
         “Oh, okay. What do we do now? I mean, he could be right down there, right?” She looked back at him and waited for a reply, but when he began talking she found herself staring at everything but him.
         “I guess so, but I think he left us. We should go now before he shows up again, plus we want to make it to the house before morning. I don’t want to drive half asleep.”
         “Good plan,” she paused and glance back down to the ground, “but I think it’s a little too late for that.” She made a gesture towards the fast moving object moving towards the ladder.
         “Come on.” He grabbed her arm and led her towards the opposite side of the building. He looked frantically for another ladder to get down but couldn’t see anything. Marie pointed to a large dumpster that was almost completely full.  Peter turned to her with a scared look, “You’ve got to be shitting me, right?”
         “Afraid not. Do you have any other smart ideas?”
         “Other means that yours is smart to begin with.”
         “Fine then do you have any smart ideas?”
         She looked back to see that the truck driver was having difficulty getting up the last couple of steps. Looking back down again, she grabbed his hand.
         “No. If I jump, and that’s a big if, then I am not jumping at the same time. We’ll have more of a chance living if we go separately.  You go first; he wants you more than me.” After staring for one or two seconds Marie nodded to Peter and he did the same back. With one more look down she braced herself and leapt to her fate. Pressure could be felt on her brain and just as it seemed to become unbearable she instead felt a sharp pain come to her arm before it went numb. She looked at the bones in questionable health and after attempting to probe the swollen section she quickly retracted her hand. The tears began to whell up and she felt as though she may have to scream to relieve some of the emotion that wouldn’t come out through tears.
         She heard Peter call down to her and even though she wasn’t quite sure what he was trying to say she made her way to the edge of the dumpster to find a possible way out. There was so much trash that she was able to find the ladder without relying on her arm strength to lift her out. With one hand she managed to grab the side and while steadying herself she lifted her leg over and found footing. As she made her way down the ladder she was able to see that Peter had finally found enough courage to actually jump and was jealous to see that he had made a safe landing. He grabbed her arm to pull her along and she screamed in agony as her muscles seemed to rip more to let the bone protrude further. her body shook slightly from the shock mixed with adrenaline as she doubled back to the dumpster and vomited all she had just eaten.
         He held her for a second as she tried to regain her senses, which seemed to have been dulled from the excruciating pain. “We must be close to the car. Let’s get you to the hospital,” Peter suggested after she nudged him away. He tried to help her over to the car but she was determined to stand on her own, especially because it wasn’t her legs that hurt. He took his top shirt off after he got her to stop moving and even though she was still whimpering a lot he knew that he had to do this. With his shirt, Peter wrapped her forearm and tied it tight which made Marie let out a loud cry and baby it with her other arm so that it didn’t have to move at all.

*  *  *  *

         “My arm really hurts.” Marie stated the obvious to Peter as they drove in the car.
         “We’ll be at a hospital soon,” he paused for a minute. “So what happened up there?” Peter asked.
         “Well, when I landed, my arm…”
         “No, I mean with the fat guy,” Peter’s voice seemed to have dropped considerably for some reason. He brushed his hand through his hair and shifted in his seat, afraid to look into her eyes. He still felt guilty for hurting her arm even further.
         “I don’t want to talk about it Peter,” she said harshly.
         “I think that I have the right to know what is going on if I am to risk my life to save yours,” he seemed to be shocked at his own bluntness.
         “Nobody asked you to help. You can leave any time you want to.” She looked out the window for a second and then back in his direction before continuing, “And if it is such a burden for you to help than I honestly suggest that you get away from me right now because I don’t want you near me especially with your attitude.”
         Peter laughed harshly. “My attitude? You are the one who has been picking all of the fights. I say one thing to you that might have been a little offensive and you think that I suddenly have a worse attitude than you? I know for sure that that is complete bullshit.” He paused for a second and added in a much softer tone, “I didn’t have to save your life at the café and I really didn’t have to save your life earlier from the Highest. I just happen to have a lot of faith in what Mr. Williams told me, and that is the only reason I am sticking around.”
         As Marie opened her mouth to give another smart ass comment, the car pulled into a parking lot and came to a stop. They both disappeared inside of the hospital making sure to keep plenty of distance between them.


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