Path to Secrecy

The Journey Companions

I stared in horror at the enigmatic pair of brown eyes that twinkled down at me, the incongruous smirk I had once seen when I had been attacked in the car park outside my workplace. 

It was like there was a twist in my back that held me from swinging a punch at his immobile figure behind the doorway. I didn't know what I was currently feeling, but what I did know was that I was a mere second away from yelling in pure fear and vehemence. I could feel my knees wobbling, my feet aching from the weight of my exhausted body. I let loose a strange growl and only then, the image blurred, like I'd scared away the hallucinations empowering over my mind.

"Are you okay?"

Commando Bernard frowned at me, his hands unclasping from him back before he put them forward, stepping towards like he was about to grab onto me.

I continued to stare without an air of motive on what to do. "Yeah." I mumbled as my answer, gesturing for him to not walk any closer. With my hands stretched out and a disarray groan mixing with a grunt of agony that instantly erupted within my shoulder, I clumsily dropped the weapon in my hand, the clattered sound of it as deadly as its function.

"Aralana!"

I dropped to the ground with my hands by my side. My body propelled forward in an upright state and I could hear the strangulated wheeze escaping my throat before I helplessly tumbled onto the ground, my injured shoulder taking the first impact.

"Darn! Sergeant call the nurse."

The sound of a tinkling wind chime soothed the grunt of waking up. I swallowed, my head tilting over on to the softness of the mattress beneath my body. I smiled like an idiot.

"Hey my little angel, why are you still in bed?!"

I ripped my eyelids open and looked into the set of deep ocean coloured eyes, twinkling. His rough thumb caressed my cheek, the most comforting touch of my lifetime. My heart began to pump, a new, fresh organ beating for the very first time. I could see the sweet smile on his lips and the protectiveness in his eyes as he exhaled a small breath, pushing back the locks that rested on my forehead, staring down at me like he was confused that I had slept in.

There was an angelic shadow outlining him while the white curtains I remember having in my childhood home wafted around from serene winds.

I couldn't describe the astonishment in my eyes, the jolting anxiety of it being a dream.

"Dad?" I gasped quietly, my sore lips threatening to crack into a grin as I leaped up to embrace him but was stopped short when he shook his head, like he was assuring me it was just a dream. The moment of a mere touch could awaken me. I bit down so hard on my lip that I was surprised I hadn't drawn blood. I scampered my hand around to find his, gripping onto it like my life depended on it. The look in his eyes made me want to cry the amount of pain I had been subsiding for the past eleven months without him.

"Don't give up. Don't ever give up." He spoke, folding the hairs behind my ear before gritting his teeth, holding back what seemed to be apprehension. "Promise."

I nodded my head, my lips stretching as a struggled breath escaped my lips. "I promise." I screeched, squeezing my eyes shut as the warmth of his hand within my palm, vanished.

"I told you she wouldn't come even close to my score."

Someone sounded an unappreciated grunt. "Zip it."

"Zip's alright zipped, Azaleapy."

A sigh followed. "Wow, I am begging to the Almighty Lord with infinite powers above us, that he reign the abundance of patience and empathy on me before I detonate and explode both our bodies, taking your soul along with mine to heaven and pushing you off the ascension of the steps to the fountain of purity so you drown in the burning fire of hell."