Wolves In Helfire

L A N D O F T H E L I V I N G

I’m back. Laying in a hospital bed with pain shooting through my body. I seen soldiers at the door but no sign of my mom. There were someone sitting in the chair across the room, but I couldn’t make them out yet. My eyes are still adjusting to the bright lights overhead.

As if they felt me awakening, the person raised up, revealing to me Karen. Wait, I’m back at the underground facility for kids in need of protection? No, I’m at a real hospital. How did she know or get here? I moved my fingers to my lips as if telling her be quiet. She ran up to me and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

“Oh my God, Justin, we thought you were dead. Are you ok?”

“Why are you here, Karen? How did you get here?”

“I was told by upstairs that you were dead, and we needed to come say goodbye before they took you away. Your mom and Stacey are in the waiting room. I’ll go get them.”

“No. Before you do, I need to know if Emma’s alright.”

“Honestly, Justin, I think she felt like something bad was gonna happen to you. All she’s been doing is crying and raging on everyone. Her parents are dead so, Casper asked your mom if she would consider taking her under her wing to keep her close to you. Of course, she agreed.”

“Where is she?”

“Dammit, Justin, you want me to ruin all the surprises, don’t you? I’ll be right back.”

Moments later, Karen comes back in the room with my mom and Stacey. They rushed to my bedside with kisses and thanks to God that I survived. Shortly after, Emma walks in wiping tears from her eyes.

“I tried to save you, brother, I tried…”

“And you did, Emma. You were the one that guided me back to the land of the living. Thank you, lil sis.”

She laid her head on my chest. It feels good to be back, but I couldn’t help thinking about what waited for us on the outside of these walls. Moments later, Jim walked into the room.

“Stacey, dear, tell everyone bye. We must get going.”

“Just another minute, dad, please…”

“3 minutes, and we have to go.”

“Can I have a minute alone with Justin, please?”

Everyone left the room. She sat next to me and grabbed my hand. I felt her sadness through her palms.

“Stacey, you’re leaving?”

“I don’t want to. My dad, he feels it’s in my best interest if we left the country for a while. Until we’ve had time to grieve, and things cool off.”

“How will we talk? I wouldn’t even know how to get in touch with you if you’re in another country…”

Her eyes grew watery.

“Don’t worry, babe, I’ll always find you. We were meant for each other, and I believe it more now than when we first met.”

Silent tears rolled down my face. Stacey got up and kissed me. A long and passionate kiss, interrupted by Jim calling Stacey once more to leave. “I Love You” she whispered. I said it back with the lump still in my throat as she faded out the door.

I spent 3 more days recovering in the hospital before I was discharged. My emotional wounds were more severe now than my physical state of being when first arriving. I couldn’t believe Stacey was gone from my life when I fought like hell to barely get it back.

Things weren’t all bad. I still have my big cousin and gained a little sister. My mom’s alive, which is the main thing, but me and her have issues to work out. Things will never be the same between us again. s**t, I’ll never be the same Justin everyone knew again.

We flew out to our new home to settle in. It was nice. 5 bedrooms. 3 bathrooms. Basement. Attic. Huge backyard surrounded by trees. Even with all the beauty surrounding this place, nowhere felt like home anymore. I’ll enjoy my time here, but I didn’t expect us to be here long.

The 3 bedrooms upstairs were ours. You got to Emma’s room right before mine, and then Karen’s after the bathroom. We’d been there a week now and Emma has yet to sleep throughout the night in her own.

The morning sun beamed in on us through the window.

“Get up, brother…”

“I’m up… I’m up.”

“I’ll go wake Karen.”

From the bathroom.

“I’m way ahead of you, Emma.”

I don’t know why they’re so happy about exploring the woods. It’s not like we’re gonna find buried treasure or something. I did need to stay busy, you know, to keep my mind off everything. It’s been a week now and I still feel like I’ve just lost the best thing that had happen to me.

We got dressed and headed out, but not before I grabbed one of my moms’ pistols. There was a trail we decided to follow, and it led us to a creek. Beautiful. We took a minute to soak in the scenery.

“Wow… This is gorgeous, cousin.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

“Brother, I think I just found my new reading place.”

“Yeah, this place is magnificent. Peaceful.”

The birds chirped above, welcoming us to their waterhole. The deer frolicked around the area in large numbers. Too bad I still felt like s**t, otherwise, I’d fully take advantage of the nature around me. We hung around a little longer then headed back inside. Did I forget to mention that we were the only house within a mile in either direction? Everything was secluded.

Night crept on us. Emma and I sat alone on the back porch gazing at the sky. It brought back memories of Stacey and I in the treehouse.

“I wonder what Stacey’s doing… Brother, did you hear me?”

“I’m sorry, Emma, what was that?”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. No. Honestly, I’m not ok. A week ago, I was dying in a hospital bed. Today, I’m fighting the beauty of nature because I can’t share it with the girl, I think I love. My mind's in a knot right now.”

“It’ll be ok, Justin. If you two were meant to be, it’ll happen.”

“I believe it a little more when it comes from you. s**t, you saved me from the Deep Dark Hole, you know? If it wasn’t for you, I probably would’ve died at the hospital.”

“You give me too much credit. They wouldn’t let Karen and I back while they were operating on you.”

“Yeah, but you were in that hell with me, guiding me back to the land of the living. Something happened while I was there, and I can’t seem to shake it…”

“What happened, brother?”

“While you were there, did you have to choose a door to make an escape?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Justin.”

“Ok… Well, when I was there, I was given an option to escape at the price of another’s freedom. Whoever opened the door, I had to get them to come outside in order for me to return to the land of the living. First time, Stacey was the one. I turned it down. Second time, if I chose a door then that would be final. I was back before I could see who the person was. Then, after I get back, she has to leave? Everything’s all screwed up right now and I can’t cope with it as well as I make out.”

“We’re all fine, brother, we’re ok. Who ever it was can find their way out like we did.”

“That’s beside the point, Emma.”

“No, it isn’t. You’re ok. We’re ok. That’s all that should matter right now. That, and your full recovery.”

She leaned over and kissed my cheek. I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her closer. A month passed us by without trouble. We’re sitting in the living room when my mothers phone rings. She took the call in the kitchen.

She came back with a huge smile on her face and placed the phone on speaker.

“They can here you now…”

From the phone I heard “JUSTIN… I MISS YOU.”

I grabbed the phone from my mom, and Karen, Emma, and myself stood over it to speak with Stacey. We chatted briefly, catching up much as we could in the short time we had. My mom then went back into the kitchen when Jim got on the phone. They were whispering about something that sounded really important.

When she came back into the living room, she had this look on her face that didn’t match our positive vibes. I had to ask her.

“Is everything alright?”

“Son, everything will be alright. You 3 go to your rooms, we’ll discuss everything in the morning.”

Karen’s eyes were growing heavy before the call, so she went straight to bed. Emma and I, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep. We laid in bed thinking about everything.

“Brother, you think the bad men are still after us?”

“No doubt in my mind. I just don’t know who this time.”

“Gotta be people linked with this Ray guy, right?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

“This is bad…”

“Can I ask you something, Emma?”

“Sure.”

“How did you end up at that facility? I mean, do you remember anything?”

She sighed but said nothing.

“I understand if you don’t wanna talk about that. Another question, why did Casper tell me to be careful around you? He made it sound like you were a psycho or something…”

“If I tell you, please don’t look at me differently.”

“Never, Emma.”

“Well, my daddy beat me senseless when I was younger amongst other things. Doctors say that I created Jinka to stand up for me, but I don’t even remember doing it.”

“Who’s Jinka?”

“According to the doctors, she’s a figure I made up in my head and comes out at certain times. I don’t know when, how, nothing.”

“Did Jinka do something to your parents?”

“I don’t know. I do know she makes me touch myself sometimes, and I can’t control my hand. If that happens here, kick me off the bed to wake me.”

“That’s natural, Emma, to want to touch yourself. Guys and girls do it.”

“You don’t think I’m strange, or weird?”

“Everyone is a little weird, which means everyone’s a little normal. Nobody’s perfect.”

“The kids at that facility use to pick with me, saying I’ll never have a boyfriend or get married. They said no one in their right mind would even kiss a creature like me. I’m starting to believe them.”

“Don’t believe those idiots, Emma. When things blow over, I’m sure you’ll find that special someone.”

We briefly laid in silence.

“Ok, my turn. Can I ask you a question?”

“Go for it…”

She hesitated.

“Will you give me my first kiss, which also could be my last?”

I stumbled over my words, missing the right things to say by a longshot. Then…

“Just one, Emma. Nothing more can happen between us, ok?”

Her eyes lit up with joy. She leaned in for the kiss with her eyes closed. We held it for five seconds and then our lips parted. She turned her back to me in attempt to go to sleep. Squirming with low satisfied moans.

The next morning, we were awoken to my mom calling us from downstairs. Karen walks to the door as another alarm clock.

“You two, get up.”

I got up and started out the door. I woke up Emma who missed the first two calls.

“Emma, we’re needed downstairs.”

She started pulling back the covers then stopped.

“Umm, I’ll meet y’all down there.”

Karen and I made our way down. After Emma finally joined us, my mother began telling us what was going on. s**t, I knew not to get my hopes up about this place. Everything was too good to be true.