The Choice (a Painful Past)

43

"Callie, come here. I'll keep you safe." I heard Will's voice call out to me.

I looked everywhere for him, as he repeatedly called my name. Until I finally saw him. On the side with the storm, holding his hand out towards me.

"It's okay. It's just a little storm. I'll keep you safe. I will love you forever, Callie. I promise. I will never do anything to hurt you. You believe me, don't you?" He smiled, and stretched his hand out further towards me.

I smiled back and took a couple of steps towards him. The lightning crashed again, making me shriek and freeze in place. I hated lightning.

It freaked me out.

"Wait, Callie, don't go to him!" I heard another voice call out to me.

It was familiar too, and I knew who it was immediately. I turned back, towards the beautiful sunlit side of the field, and saw Colby standing there. His intense blue eyes were full of worry, and were concentrating on me.

"Colby!" I exclaimed, gleefully, and waved to him.

"Don't go, Callie. He's lying to you. He always lies to you. Stay here, where it's safe. Keep your heart safe. He won't protect you."

I rolled my eyes at him and smiled. "Yes, he will. He loves me." I replied, then turned back to Will.

"I will do anything for you, my heart. Anything." Will said, fixing those hazel eyes on my own.

I was held in his stare, like he was mesmerizing me, hypnotizing me.

"Callie, please don't go." Colby called out behind me.

I sighed, stopped, and turned back to look at him.

"Callie, hurry. We don't have much time." Will said, from behind me.

"No, Callie, this way! Take my hand! There isn't much time!"

I looked back and forth between the two guys that I loved the most, over and over, as they kept calling my name, begging me to come to them. I groaned and grabbed both sides of my head.

"UGGH what do I doooo?" I whined. "Why are you doing this to me? I don't want to choose!"

"You're running out of time, Callie!" Colby yelled, over the now loud, roaring wind that whipped through the corn field.

The high stalks bent over, almost touching the ground.

"Hurry, Callie!" Will screamed. "It's coming!" I glanced back at him, then up to see what he was pointing at.

A massive tornado, bigger than any that I had ever seen on any viewing device, bigger than the one that took Dorothy to Oz, was headed straight for us. The darkness started to take over the bright sunlit side of the field. Soon, the storm would take over the entire sky and we would be caught in it.

Maybe that's why we didn't have much time. We had to get out of the storm. I was closest to Will, so I grabbed his hand, then looked back and held my own hand out to Colby.

My arm stretched as far as it could, as I pleaded with him.

"Colby, come on! We can all go together!"

He just stood there, with the wind whipping his hair around his face. His eyes were sad and forlorn, as they held my gaze.

"HURRY UP!" I yelled, as I glanced out towards the tornado again.

It was gaining on us. Corn stalks were being ripped up and shot into the spinning eye of the terrifying thing that Mother Nature had set loose. My body was shaking with adrenaline and fear. I was beyond terrified.

Colby shook his head at me, then held up his hand in a way that told me "goodbye."

"NO!" I shrieked, and tried to yank my hand from Will's.

He held tight though, even as I turned and tried to rip the skin from his arm with my nails.

"Let me GO!" I screamed, as I watched the sky over Colby turn dark as night, and the wind get stronger. "He has to come with us!"

Will yanked on my hand, hard, and shook his head. "NO! There isn't room! You chose! Now, we're going!" He was extra strong for some reason, I noticed, as he pulled me through the field.

Somehow we were moving away from the tornado at an exceptional speed. Colby's form started to fade, as he kept his eyes locked on mine. Then I saw the tornado spin closer to him, so so close.

I screamed, as I watched his body be picked up and tossed through the wind, before the whirling mass sucked him inside of it. Will picked me up, even as I fought to go back to where Colby had been. I kicked and screamed, punched and shifted.

I had to go back. I had to find him. He had to be okay.

"CALLIE!" He yelled. "YOU HAVE TO STOP! HE'S GONE! YOU CHOSE! THIS WAS YOUR CHOICE. YOU CHOSE ME! NOW LIVE WITH THAT!"

My eyes snapped open, when my body set off an alert signal that I wasn't alone any longer.

Will stood over me, with a small smile on his face.

"Hey there, Beautiful." He murmured, before he leaned over and kissed my forehead. "You were making a lot of noise in that dream. Thinking of me?" He asked, with his lips close to my ear.

I shifted so that he would back up. After he did, I shrugged.

"I don't remember. It was a bad dream though. That much, I know." I lied.

The image of Colby being sucked up into that hateful, whirling mass was still spinning in my mind. My dreams had always been a little weird, and most times I could relate them to my own life. Sometimes, they even came true.

I really hoped that this one didn't mean that Colby was going to leave me, when he found out that I was giving Will another chance. I needed him.

"You're shaking." Will whispered, as he took my hand.

"I'm okay." I said, quietly. "Just shaken up a bit."

"You're sure?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah." I said, as I smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

He took a seat on the bench across from me and shrugged. "To see you. I know that you said you wanted some time to figure things out, but I still wanted to show you how sorry I am, and how much I love you. I can't live without you in my life, Callie." I held his gaze, as I let his words sink in.

As much as it had hurt watching him make out with Laura, the thought of not being with him hurt even more. I already knew my decision. I wondered how long I would be able to hold out, before I told him.