Arabelle

Chapter 2 - Awakening II

Derrick’s POV

The smell of strong alcohol lingered on my breath, the bottle of Jack Daniels I had been consuming lay discarded in a corner, it was the second bottle in just 24 hours and it had proved itself just as useless as the first, I had drained out the last drop hoping it will block out the demons that sought to tear me apart from the inside,

I ran my fingers through my thick black hair, I couldn’t understand why the heavens had chosen to punish me this way, I had thought it will end with my death but obviously, death was not the end, I had expected punishment but when none had come, I began to think that none was forthcoming, I had been wrong, so very wrong, my punishment awaited me 400 years after my crime.

Perhaps my punishment was insanity, these days I had no idea who I was, was I Derrick King, son of a multi billionaire or was I Lord Richard Blackwood, heir to the Blackwood fortune? It was getting harder to understand with each passing day,

The dreams had been bad enough but now, events played out before my eyes and memories came flooding with a vengeance, I couldn’t get Arabelle out of my mind, how she had at me with loathing and hate but above the anger and hate, I had seen pain and hurt in her eyes, those clear pools that I could drown in and not give a damn about dying.

”Good God Arabelle, will I ever be free of you?” I said to no one in particular, I knew the answer deep in my heart, I will never be free of her, if I wasn’t even after 400 years then there was no hope for me.

I laughed humorlessly, I couldn’t understand myself, I had begged and prayed for punishment and now when it had come , I lay in the dark wallowing in sorrow and misery, I was a pathetic soul, a very pathetic soul indeed.

“Do not forgive me Arabelle” I said, once again to no one in particular.

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I woke up the next morning with the grandmother of all hangovers, my head felt like a live concert was going on inside, it pounded with a vengeance, I had fallen asleep on the floor and judging from the light streaming in from the windows, I could tell it was late in the morning.

I got to my feet swaying like a deranged lunatic, then again, wasn’t that what I had become recently, steadying myself, I dragged myself to the bathroom, when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I was appalled by what I saw, my hair was a positive mess, my face looked like it belonged to a homeless beggar and my eyes looked tired and lazy, the shadow of a beard was also forming on my face.

“How long had I been in my room drinking away the memories that stubbornly remained” I thought,

“Mum will throw a fit if she sees me looking like this” I said to myself as a ghostly smile spread across my face, a very good idea popped into my head, with a determination to cause mischief I walked out of the bathroom to find my Mum.

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I found her sitting on the front porch, sipping orange juice and looking like a majestic queen, I had always wondered why we never got along but now I knew the reason why, it was because we still had a pending issue to settle from very, very long ago.

I collapsed on the chair across her wearing but my jeans, she sat up on her chair quickly, her eyes went wide when they fell on me and then her face twisted into a frown,

“What is the meaning of this appalling behavior Derrick?” she asked her voice was surprisingly cool

I merely shrugged my shoulders and poured myself a cup of orange juice as well,

Her eyes narrowed to slits “You look like a homeless bum, you look nothing like the heir to an empire, imagine the scandal if the news saw you looking like you do now, it will be a big disgrace to our company” she said

Once again I shrugged my shoulders and took a long sip of the cold liquid, it was actually very soothing and refreshing

“What has gotten into you son?” She asked, her voice was a little higher than before.

I smiled, she was cracking, I wanted to see just how far she could go before finally losing it.

“Funny question mum, I find myself asking that question one to many times these days, I don’t know what’s gotten into me” I said as I laughed humorlessly,

She looked at me quizzically, like she didn’t know what I was saying, well I just had to find out if she knew exactly what I was saying or not.

I leaned closer to her from across the table, I stippled my fingers under my chin “Tell me mother, does the name Arabelle sound familiar to you? I asked, my eyes watching her every movement to notice even the slightest hint that the name meant something to her.

For a brief second I saw something flash in her eyes and even before I could begin to process what it was, it disappeared and all that remained was mother’s hard, cold metallic gray eyes.

“No, it doesn’t sound familiar, is she a woman you are familiar with? She said and took a sip from her glass.

I sat back in my chair, I had missed my chance just now, and she was always one step ahead of me, even back then, she had played on my emotions gotten what she wanted.

“Yes mum, she is a woman I am associated with, she plagues my dreams, her voice calls out to me in the dark, and her eyes hunt me and memories of her have become a bane to my existence, she is woman I can never forget even if I tried” I said with a loud sigh,

Mum scrunched up her nose as she perceived my breath “you need a bath Derrick, that’s what is important right now, not some woman who from all point of view sounds hell bent on ruining your life” she said,

I laughed humorlessly “She is not to out to ruin me mum, this much I can guarantee you, ruining me has no use whatsoever, she will take my life, slowly in the worst possible way, that is what she will do”

Mum was quiet, I saw something like pity flash in her eyes “you will be alright Derrick, I promise” she said,

I laughed “No I will not, I wasn’t alright since the day I hurt her” I said and stood up,

Mum kept looking at me, in her eyes, I saw all the words she couldn’t or perhaps refused to say.

“I think I should take that bath now, I have an empire as you said that needs my attention, have a good day mother” I said and walked away leaving mum with an expression on her face that almost made me think she cared, almost but not quite.

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I lay on my bed five hours later still not comprehending what I had seen or what had happened, I was sure what I had seen but I couldn’t comprehend it, I had seen the cups floating in the air, this much I was sure of, I had frozen midair when I was falling, of this, I was very sure as well, but the question was “How?”

I felt myself getting more and more confused with each passing second, I ran my fingers through my hair, tangling it up in the process, with a sigh of exasperation, I rolled around on the bed, I was losing my mind, I was sure of it, the dreams and the events from this morning, I was sure that if they continued, I would go crazy sooner or later, I needed a distraction from all this insanity.

I grabbed my phone from on top the dresser and scrolled for a while before I saw Danny’s number, I pressed the call icon, it rang for a few seconds before he answered

“Sup Bella” his deep voice rang out through the phone,

his voice had a kind of calming effect on me, it always brought a smile to my face when I was down, and today was no exception, a bright smile lit up my face,

“Hey Danny, what’s up?” I said

“Not much, I was just surfing the net, watching random videos on YouTube” he said

“Sounds like fun” I said

“So what’s up? You sound a bit down? He said, I heard a sound in the background like he was getting into a more comfortable position, he was able to tell whatever mood I was just from the sound of my voice,

I hesitated for a while, I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about the dreams and everything that had being happening lately, I wasn’t sure he would believe me when I couldn’t even believe what I had seen myself,

“Bella, are you there?” I heard him say,

“Yeah, I’m here, I was just thinking about some stuff” I answered

He was quiet for a while then he said “okay………so what stuff?”

“You know, just random stuff, this and that” I said

“Okayyy……..explain this and that then” he said

I laughed “Ever heard the saying, curiosity killed the cat” I said to him

He laughed as well “And ever heard the saying, a problem shared is a problem half solved” he said

I laughed and said “some problems are just too crazy to understand”

“Look young lady, I am not in the mood to play smartass with you right now, so better say what’s bothering you before I get on the next plane back home” he said

I laughed and so did he, but I knew he was only half joking, he could sure as hell get on the next plane back home if he really thought something was bothering me

“No need for such chivalrous acts, it’s not needed here” I said

I heard him chuckle on the other end “Any other girl would swoon if a guy offered to cut his vacation short and get on the next plane back home simply because he noticed a slight discomfort in her voice” he said,

I laughed “Well fortunately I am not other girls, I am Isabella Mavericks and I don’t find such displays swoon worthy” I said

Danny laughed “You need help my dear” he said

I stuck my tongue out then I remembered he couldn’t see me

“Whatever” I said

“You just stuck your tongue out just now, didn’t you?” Danny said, a hint of amusement in his voice

I laughed, Danny knew me better than anyone else, he knew everything I could and couldn’t do

“So are you ready to tell me what’s bothering you now that you are in a better mood?” Danny said

I exhaled deeply “I think I am going crazy Danny” I said

Danny chuckled on the other end of the call “You don’t say”

“I am being serious right now Danny, stop messing around” I said

“Okay I am sorry, tell me what’s up?” Danny said

“I keep having this weird dream of being burnt at the stake, yeah I know it sounds cryptic but it keeps happening, for a while now, I see a woman being burnt at the stake, I think she was a witch or something, because she was chanting a sort of spell, I remember every detail like I there when it happened, I even felt the pain she felt and the sorrow and agony she went through before she died, it keeps repeating itself every night like it wants me to remember something, it’s really creeping me out Danny” I said

“Whoa, that’s weird” Danny said

“Well it gets even weirder, this morning I think I somehow stopped time for a few seconds” I said

For a few seconds there was silence on the other end,

“Danny, you still there?” I said

“Yeah, I was stunned for a few seconds but did you say you stopped time? I mean that is quite illogical from any point of view, I am having a hard wrapping my head around what you just said” Danny said

I could hear the uncertainty in his voice, if he was this shocked then just imagine how I was feeling

“I swear Danny, I saw it happen, I was about to fall and suddenly everything froze and I was falling anymore, the cups in my hands flew up in the air and just stayed there, it took a few seconds before they finally came crashing to the floor, I still can’t make any sense of what happened, that’s why I called you so you can tell me I am not crazy, please tell me I am not crazy Danny because I feel crazy right now” I said and buried my face inside my pillow

“Calm down Bella, you are not crazy, maybe you are just stressed out that’s all, it’s possible that you are just tired and that is why you are seeing things, you just need to get some proper rest and I can assure that all this will soon be a thing of the past, I promise Bella, just try to get some rest okay? Promise me you will try to get some rest” Danny said

I could sense he was concerned for me, I could hear how worried he was from how serious his voice was sounding

“Yeah I promise, I will try to get some rest, you are probably right, I do need some rest, mum said I look like a corpse this morning” I said with a small laugh, I was trying to dissipate the tension that had built up,

“You sure you don’t want me to come back? It’s not like I am doing anything important here, I can be on the next plane out of here” Danny said

“Nah, don’t worry about me, you don’t need to do that, it probably as you said, I just need some proper rest and I will be okay” I said infusing just the right amount of glee into my voice,

He was quiet for a while then he said “Okay if you say so but promise me, if it happens again you will tell me about it”

“I Promise you Dad” I said and laughed

Danny chuckled “You are one silly young lady Miss Mavericks” he said

I laughed and said “And that’s precisely why you love me so much”

“You have no idea Bella” Danny said

I laughed “I better let you go back to your YouTube videos and I need to start getting that rest I need”

“Okay Bella, take care of yourself” Danny said

“Sure thing and you too” I said,

“Bye love” Danny said

“Bye love” I said and the line went dead and I was left with just my thoughts again, I decided to take Danny’s advice and get a proper sleep, maybe, just maybe everything will be just fine, with that single thought in mind, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.