When Life Begins Again

Chapter Nine

Thursday, July 13th, 2023

The morning came and I couldn’t believe it. I woke in disbelief. It was finally going to happen and I was even going to take my friend Rose with me. I couldn’t wait to see Daniel again. I jump up out of bed and run to my clothes, pulling out the dress I bought yesterday. It was pink with a blue ribbing going under the bust area with a frilly kind of opening and short sleeves that hang off my shoulders. It's long and falls down past my knees. I take off my night gown and slip into my dress. It has a nice soft material to it and I love the way it looks on me. I take my money and stick it into my bag as well as a few outfits that I liked, making sure that my bag didn’t bulge so that I didn’t look suspicious. I then go to the door, unlock it and open the door. Just outside the door was Rose holding her hand up as if she was about to knock. “Good morning Rose,” I say with a smile.

“Same to you, Annabelle,” she tells me.

I run back inside and grab my comb, then I close the door and lock it, not that it matters, just to keep up the front.

“All set to go now?” Rose asks, half laughing as she stares at my comb.

“Yes, I just didn’t want to leave it behind. I forgot to brush my hair this morning. I figured you could brush it for me at the park,” I tell her, putting the comb into my bag. It was filled just enough to not look stuffed.

“I would love to brush your hair Annabelle,” she tells me with a smile.

Then we walk towards the elevator and head for the main floor.

Once off the elevator Dalia stops me. She runs her hand through my hair and looks me over. “Annabelle, you’re a bit of a mess this morning. Are you doing alright?” she asks me.

“I’m just nervous about getting back on the stage after what happened two night ago,” I told her, trying to draw her attention away from my bag.

She brings her hand to my face, gently caressing my cheek and says, “It’ll be alright my dear, no one is going to touch you again after what happened last time. You’ll be safe. Don’t worry about anything.”

I nod my head, smiling at her and say, “Thank you Madam, I’ll look forward to it then.”

“Perfect, do take care of your hair though,” she tells me, letting go of me.

“I will Madam. I’m getting Rose to brush it for me while we’re out,” I tell her.

“Alright, go enjoy yourselves I’ll see you both back here at 5pm as usual,” she says with a wave of her hand and heads onto the elevator.

I take Rose’s hand and head out of the building, going straight to the park.

“That was nerve-racking. I don’t know how you could talk to her like that and not freak out,” Rose tells me, partly shaking.

“It’s simple,” I tell her. “I just tell myself that everything will be alright. I just tell her what she needs to hear and nothing bad will happen. If she has no reason to be suspicious then she won’t be. I didn’t lie to her. I really was nervous about going back on that stage after what happened. But I’m not looking forward to going back on it.” I start walking to get further away from that place. The last thing I wanted was Dalia coming after us.

“That’s smart, I’m glad it was you and not me that she questioned, but then again, you are her star,” she tells me, trying to keep up with my pace.

After walking for 5 minutes I slowed down. “I’m sure you could do great if you really believed you could.” I told her.

“You’re too kind to me. I don’t know that I could believe in myself the way that you do. Maybe some day. But not now. Which is why I’m glad I was with you,” she tells me honestly.

“Just a bit further and we’ll be at the park. No more worries and no reason to be nervous,” I tell her. Coming to a crosswalk I stop and push the button, waiting for the cars to stop. Once they did I crossed the street, still holding onto Rose’s hand.

“Thank you Annabelle. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. So, thank you for being my friend and trusting in me,” she tells me as we reach the other side of the street.

We walk a bit further up and finally reach the park.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m glad to help you. I had a feeling that if I didn’t then you would’ve been killed. It’s part of my seeing ability. I get strong feelings about things and if I don’t follow those feelings bad things happen,” I tell her honestly. “That’s how I was able to convince Daniel to take you with us.”

Rose looks at me shocked. “I would’ve died if not for you? Why shouldn’t I thank you then? I owe you my life,” she tells me seriously.

I walk into the park and pull her along with me saying, “You don’t owe me your life. I’m just happy to be your friend. You’re a wonderful and beautiful person Rose. Don’t ever think that you owe me your life. You can thank Daniel if you want as I have but he tells me that I don’t need to thank him because he’s happy to help me.”

“Alright, if you say so. I’ll be glad to be your friend for the rest of my life because you truly did save me, even if Daniel is the one saving us, you are the one that saved me. More than once. Now sit down and give me your comb so I can brush through your hair,” Rose tells me, sitting down on the bench under the willow tree.

I smile at her and pull out my comb, handing it to her and sit down on the grass in front of the bench.

Rose takes the comb from my hand and begins brushing through my hair gently. “You have such beautiful hair, Annabelle. I’m a little envious of it. Not that I hate my hair, I think it’s okay. But I love your hair. The way it curls, the softness, how it flows, and the vibrant sun kissed blonde colour that it is.” She tells me as she combs through my hair.

I turn back to look at her and say, “Your hair is just as beautiful Rose. It might not be blonde and curly like mind but it’s a vibrant red that makes the beauty of your fair complexion stand out. Also, your hair has a flowy wave to it.” I smiled up at her then turned around so she could finish combing through my hair.

Rose started blushing and said, “Thanks, I never really cared for my complexion being so fair as it makes the freckles on my face stand out more.”

“Your freckles are part of what makes you beautiful Rose. It’s a part of who you are,” I tell her honestly.

“Annabelle, I’m never going to fall out of love with you if you keep talking to me like that,” she tells me as she finishes combing my hair.

Daniel walks over to us right at that moment, smiling and says, “Now isn’t this a lovely sight. And I just hear you tell my girlfriend that you’re in love with her?”

I stand up, dropping my bag to the ground and throw my arms around him happily. “I’m so glad to see you Daniel,” I tell him excitedly.

Daniel’s arms slide around my waist and he smiles at me happily. “I’m glad to see you too my Belle. But we better get going before someone starts getting suspicious of the two of you and comes looking,” he tells me.

Rose gets up off the bench and picks up my bag off the ground then walks over to us. “I didn’t say I was in love with your girlfriend Daniel. I said I would never fall out of love with her,” she says with a smirk. “She’s just to beautiful and sweet. I don’t think I could find anyone else as perfect as she is.”

I turn in Daniel’s arms to look at her and say, “Don’t think like that Rose. I’ve already told you that I’m not perfect and that you’ll find the person that’s perfect for you someday. You just have to be opened to it. And don’t compare anyone else to me because no one person is the same as anyone else. We’re all individuals.”

“Alright, that was beautifully said my Belle, but we need to go, so I’m going to just scoop you up and carry you to my truck. Rose, you can follow me. But please don’t touch my Belle,” Daniel says, scooping me up into his arms. He starts walking to where he parked his truck.

“You really don’t have to carry me Daniel, I can walk. I’m actually a really fast walker,” I tell him, wiggling in his arms.

“It’s true, she is. She’s so fast that she could walk a block in like 2 minutes. Yesterday I was so exhausted walking with her that I collapsed as soon as we got here. She walked a bit slower today so that I could keep up,” Rose tells him, walking along beside him.

“That’s great,” he says. “But I like the filling of you in my arms so I’m going to carry you till we get to my truck.” He keeps walking towards the other side of the park till he reaches his truck. He sets me down on the passenger's side of the truck and opens the door for me. “You can sit in here. Rose you’re going into the back seat.” He pulls opened the back door and ushers Rose inside.

Rose gets into the back of the truck and Daniel closes the door behind her.

I step up into the front seat and Daniel helps me up as it was high off the ground. “Thanks, for all of this,” I tell him, smiling happily.

“No thanks needed, I’m happy to do it. Now lean in so I can close the door. I’ll see you on the other side,” Daniel says, shutting the door and running around to the driver's side, getting into the truck. He looks around at Rose and I then puts his seatbelt on and starts the truck. “Are you ladies all set to go?”

“Definitely,” Rose says from the back as she hands me my bag.

I take the bag from her and say, “Thanks. And yes Daniel, I can’t wait to get as far away from here as we can.” I look at the time and see that it’s just after ten o'clock, which means that Daniel got to us earlier than he had planned.

“Good, cause we’re off and there’s no going back from here,” he says, putting the car into drive and drove off.

“Thank goodness, I don’t want to go back there. Not ever,” Rose says, sitting back in her seat.

I place my hand over Daniel’s and rest my head on his shoulder. “I’m so glad that you found me Daniel.”

“I’m glad that I found you too Belle. You bring light to my life that I never knew I needed. I love you, and I’ve felt it from the first moment I saw you. Not because you’re beautiful. There’s just something about you that told me you were meant to be mine and I was meant to be yours. The way that you looked at me told me that you felt the same way,” Daniel told me as he drives towards the highway.

Rose looked out the window trying to ignore our conversation. “Can anyone see us in here?” she asked curiously.

“No one can see in, but we can see out. The windows are blacked out for privacy. I had it done when I bought the truck,” he tells her, keeping his focus on the road in front of him.

“That’s good, I wouldn’t want anyone from Dalia’s captivity to see us and report back to her. She’d be on us sooner rather than later. And things wouldn’t be good for you and me. Annabelle would be safe, but she’d have the two of us killed,” Rose tells him.

“Well, that's not going to happen. I won’t let them have my Belle and I’m not willing to die right now. We’re heading onto thte highway now. I’m going to drive until I need to stop for gas then we’ll find a police station and report Dalia’s crimes. If either one of you is hungry, I packed some food and put it in the backseat,” Daniel tells us.

“What kind of food did you pack?” I asked him, sitting up to look back there.

Rose grabbed a bag that was beside her and pulled out some crackers, cheese sticks and other snack foods. “Looks like a bunch of snacks,” she says.

“I also got some bottles of water which are on the floor back there,” he tells us.

“I’ll take a bottle of water and some of the cheese sticks and crackers. I’m actually kind of hungry and really thirsty from all that walking,” I told Rose.

Rose leaned down and grabbed two bottles of water off the floor, putting one on her lap and handed me the other one. She then took a couple of cheese sticks and a pack of crackers and handed them to me.

“Thanks,” I said, taking everything from her. I sat back in my seat and pulled the wrapping from the cheese then opened the crackers and started eating them together. “Did you want something Daniel?”

“No, I’m okay. I had breakfast before leaving this morning and I grabbed a coffee before getting to the park. It’s right there in the cup holder. Thanks for thinking of me thought,” he tells me, smiling.

“Of course. I could do a lot more than think of you,” I tell him, biting my bottom lip.

Daniel glanced over at me for a moment and says, “Don’t be distracting me Belle, I need to keep my eyes on the road but with you talking like that it makes me want to stare at you.”

“I’m sorry Daniel, I’ll keep my mouth shut,” I tell him innocently as I take a bite of the cheese and the crackers. I then moan in pleasure. “This is so good.”

“Annabelle please stop, you’re turning me on back here,” Rose tells me, kicking at the back of my seat.

“Maybe you should cover your ears then, because all I’m doing is enjoying my food,” I tell her, putting my food down. I open my bottle of water and take a long satisfying drink. I was so thirsty.

Daniel sighs deeply, keeping his focus on the road. “I kind of wish you weren’t so hot right now. Every sound that comes out of you turns me on,” he tells me.

“I’ve never actually had s*x before,” I tell him honestly, turning to look out the window as

I put my water in the door.

“Really? Never?” Daniel asks, curiously.

“Not once. I wanted to wait until I was married. Or found my forever person. I thought that person was Anthony, but he was an ass hat,” I said, bitterly.

“Who’s Anthony?” Daniel asks.

“He was my ex-boyfriend. We dated for a long time, then he left me for my best friend who he had been sleeping with the whole time. They had s*x for the first time soon after we started dating. Needless to say, she’s not my friend anymore,” I tell him.

“When I get you back to your hometown you need to show him to me so i can beat the s**t out of him,” he tells me, sounding pissed.

“You don’t have to do that Daniel. It wouldn’t do any good to beat him up. He’ll just see that he screwed up and that’ll be payback enough because he’s never ever getting back with me again. He lost his chance when he cheated on me repeatedly with my ex-best friend,” I told him. “And there will be a day when he’ll want me back, when he sees what he’s missing. But then he’ll find that I've moved on to someone ten times better than he’ll ever be.”

Rose starts cheering in the backseat and says, “You get him girl.”

I roll my eyes and look outside the truck again.

“You’re a strong lady Annabelle. It’s much easier to beat someone up but you’re waiting it out to show him that he screwed up,” Daniel says to me, placing his hand on my back.

“I’d rather not take the brutal way if it can be helped. I don’t care much for violence. Especially after all that I’ve seen in my visions. I don’t enjoy it either,” I tell him, honestly.

“It’s good that you don’t enjoy seeing that stuff, that means you’re a truly good person Annabelle,” Rose tells me.

“Rose is right. And I knew that about you before I even walked over to talk to you. You have a glow about you that lets other people know that you’re a truly good person, with no judgement.” Daniel tells me.

I look over at the time to see that we’ve been driving for a bit over an hour. It was now almost twelve o'clock. “We’ve been driving for longer than I thought we were.”

Daniel looks at the time and says, “We have been driving for quite a while. I think I might actually need to use the bathroom. There’s another city up ahead we can stop at so everyone can use the bathroom if they need to. And we can get some lunch.”

“I think we should just use the bathroom then head back onto the road. I’m not overly hungry from snacking on the stuff you brought. And I don’t want to risk getting caught,” I tell him. “Oshawa is still pretty close to Toronto so it wouldn’t be wise to spend a bunch of time there.”

“I guess you’re right. I wasn’t really thinking,” he says, pulling off the highway into Oshawa. He drives up to the first gas station he came across and pulls up to the pump. “I’m going to top up the tank while we’re here, so we don’t have to stop for a while.”

Rose and I both get out of the truck and go into the gas station.

“I won’t be long,” Daniel says, pulling out the gas nozzle.

I walk into the gas station and head straight for the bathroom. I actually had to pee quite a bit. I look behind me to see Rose following behind. “I’ll go in first because I really need to pee. Then you can go do whatever it is you need to do,” I tell her, opening the door to the woman’s rest room.

“Okay Annabelle. I’ll be here waiting,” she tells me, smiling.

I step into the bathroom and lock the door behind me. The bathroom was relatively clean looking but the toilet looked nasty, like someone had pissed all over it and didn’t bother to wipe it down. I walk over to the toilet, grab some paper towel and wipe it down then toss the dirty tissue into the trash. I then pull down my panties and sit on the toilet peeing out a long stream of piss.

“Almost done there Annabelle? Daniel just went into the men’s room,” Rose tells me through the door.

“Just about. I had to clean off the toilet because it was really nasty,” I tell her as I stand up to wipe my crotch. I then toss my used up tissue into the toilet and go to the sink to wash my hands thoroughly. Once washed I rip off some paper towel and dry my hands, tossing the used tissue into the trash. Then I go to the door unlock it and head out of the bathroom. “All yours now,” I tell her with a smile.

“Thank goodness, I was about to piss myself,” Rose says, rushing past me.

I laugh to myself and head back out into the shop part of the gas station.

Suddenly a big strong hand grabs hold of my wrist and a man says, “Excuse me Miss, but do I know you? you look very familiar to me.”

I try yanking my arm away from him and say, “No, I don’t believe we’ve met. Could you kindly let go of my wrist, you’re hurting me.”

“Are you sure? I feel like I saw you somewhere just a couple days ago. Maybe at a club,” he says, putting the pieces of his memory together.

“I don’t know you. Now please let me go,” I tell him again.

Daniel comes up to us, kicks at the man and yanks my arm away from him. “Keep your filthy hands off my girlfriend,” he tells the man angrily.

The man steps back and says, “Sorry man, I didn’t mean to offend you. I’ll back off. I don’t want any trouble.”

Daniel comes over to me and takes me into his arms, looking over my wrist. “I’ll make sure to stay by your side from here on out. I don’t want anything like that happening to you again. Are you okay? Your wrist looks sore.”

I smile at him, grateful to have him and say, “It does a bit but I’ll be okay. I’m just glad that man is gone.”

Rose comes out of the bathroom and stares at us. “What happened here?” she asks.

“Some scumbag tried taking my Belle. He had her by the wrist and was talking to her harshly. I kicked him in the shins and told him off. He backed off and left. Now it’s time for us to go,” Daniel tells her, taking my hand and leading us out of the shop.

We all get back inside the truck and take off onto the highway again.

“I hope you all got your bowels under control because I’m not going to stop again for at least three hours,” Daniel tells us. “That’ll put us in Ottawa.”

“Are we going to contact the police while we’re there?” Rose asked him, sitting back in her seat.

“We could, if that’s what you want to do. We’ll be about 7 hours from Toronto so we’ll be safe from Dalia catching you and possibly killing me,” Daniel tells her.

“I think it would be a good idea, the sooner we can talk to the police about this, the better. Who knows how long she’s been doing this and how many people she’s killed doing it. As for what I’ve found out, she has all the parents killed of the kids she kidnaps and anyone that she doesn’t see as useful she gets rid of by killing them. She doesn’t risk letting anyone live because they would most likely turn her in. I believe she lets us go free during the day to give us a sense of normalcy so that we don’t try to run away and she figures that if we tell anyone about it, they won’t believe us because we’re clearly free. But we have the threat of death looming over us if we don’t comply with what she wants. If we take off when it’s time to come in she’ll come after us and take away our freedom again,” I tell Daniel.

“That’s crazy. I’m glad that I believed you. I don’t like what that woman is doing it’s not right,” Daniel tells me, keeping his focus on the road.

“I am too. I was worried that you wouldn’t but the vision that I had told me that you would,” I tell him, looking over at him.

“Okay, we’re all happy that you believe her Daniel. Do you have any music we can listen to? I’m kind of tired of the silence and the talking,” Rose says

Daniel turns the radio on the first station that works. It was a mixture of country and pop music. “This good enough for you?” he asks.

“Yes, she says, leaning back again.

I rest my head on Daniel’s shoulder and close my eyes. With everything going on I started feeling tired. Listening to the music and the sound of Daniel breathing I drift off to sleep.