Viribus

Chapter 4: They are always there

Dimitri and I get up and dressed as fast as we can and I'm an emotional wreck on the way to the vet. I'm convinced something awful happened to him. Once we get there and get inside, Dr. Fredrick is pacing back and forth. As soon as he see's me, his eyes light up.
"Viviana, you ain't gonna believe this. Hell, I don't even believe it and I saw it with my own two eyes.", he said as he motioned me to come to the back.
"Is he okay? Is anything wrong?"
"Sweetheart, he's better than okay, he's perfect actually."
Once I get back into the exam room, it becomes all too clear as to what Dr. fredrick was so amazed by. Viribus is standing in the middle of the room and when he see's me, he runs into my arms and almost knocks me over, covering my face with sloppy wet kisses.
"Whoa boy! I'm so happy to see you too! You're.....all better but how?"
"Now you're askin' the questions I want to know. Last night when you dropped him off, his legs were shattered like glass and even the X-ray showed that. I mean, I thought amputation could have been in his future. Then I come back to the clinic this morning and he's standing, walkin' and got all the energy in the world."
"Did u do a repeat X-ray?",says Dimitri.
"Sure did, check it out doc."
Dr. Fredrick holds up the X-ray and there is not even so much as a crack.
"In all my years as a veterinarian, I ain't never seen nothin' like it."
Me and Dimitri just stand there in kind of a stupor.
I look over at Viribus and I become overwhelmed with emotion. I'm just so glad he's okay. I run over to him and wrap my arms around his big neck.
"I don't know how you did it boy but,I don't care. I love you so much."
Viribus is so happy to see her in one piece but he also knows that the battle has not been won; he can still feel its strong presence around her.
Dr. Fredrick walks over to me. "Now, I don't know what happened, I don't think any of us do,but I think it would be in you and Viribus's best interest if y'all didn't tell anyone about this and neither will I. He's a good dog, I wouldn't want him turned into a game of operation for the FBI or the government."
"I completely agree with you Doctor. Thanks so much for understanding and taking good care of him. I'm going to start bringing him to you for all of his checkups!"
"Thank y'all! Keep givin' him whatever y'all been feedin' him and he won't need a checkup!"
Once we leave the vets office, me and Dimitri get Viribus in the back seat and let the window down so he can enjoy some fresh air.
We sit parked for a while to take in what just happened.
Finally Dimitri looks over at me and says, "What  just happened? Is Viribus even a dog?"
"I have no idea. This was the last thing I expected." I look back at my big black dog.
"What kind of amazing being are you?"
Viribus looks up at me with his beautiful golden eyes, they're filled with life again. He tilts his head to the side, his tongue slips out of his mouth and he starts to pant. He looks so happy. I get so caught up in the moment that I almost forget that I need to come up with some kind of game plan to survive.
"I just want you to know that I have to go back to work in the next few days but I still don't want you to go home. I insist that you and Viribus stay at my house.",Dimitri says as he takes me by the hand.
"That's so nice of you but I feel like running from this thing isn't going to help me. I think it's attached to me in some way. I don't want to bring it into your home."
"I'm not scared of them but I am scared for you. Please stay."
"We'll stay tonight with you while we plan what we are going to do next."
Dimitri looks over at me and smiles.
"I guess I will have to be satisfied with that then. Now, I will have to work tonight so do you think you will be okay by yourself?"
I turn around and look at Viribus.
"With him, I know I'm always safe."
"You know what would be a good idea? I know an outside computer cafe we can visit. We should do our own research about the story your mom told you about; maybe get more details."
"Great idea."
Once we get downtown, there are people everywhere. It looks to be some kind of party. There are booths set up everywhere and the town is alive with the low rumble of conversation and children laughing.
"Oh yes, I forgot all about the fall festival being this weekend. It's always the first weekend in November."
I put Viribus on a leash and we start to walk the beautifully decorated streets of the city. The sidewalk is crowded with towns people. It's a bit warmer than last night but there's still a nip in the air and multicolored leaves fall by the dozens from stinging gusts of cold air every once in a while. It's that weather you only get in those Alabama falls.
All of a sudden, something shoves into my back hard, the pain radiates from my spine to my ribs and I let out a scream. Viribus, who was walking ahead of me jolts into action. He immediately turns around and runs to me. He's barking and snapping into the busy sidewalk.
Behind me, I see a middle aged lady with a younger looking guy, probably a teenager, that's wearing a black hood over his head, covering the majority of his face.
"Ma'am, I am so sorry, my son is very rude! Apologize to her right now, Colbey!"
"She was walking too slow.", He says, face still covered.
"I don't give a damn Colbey, you're not just going to do whatever you want, while living in my house! Apologize right now!"
"Ma'am, it's really okay. It's no big deal.", I say holding my waist. Viribus is still beside me, ready to charge at any minute. Dimitri is holding on to his leash so he doesn't eat these people. I've never seen him so violent with just other regular people. It's weird.
"...And take off that God-awful hood so she can see your face when u apologize."
He takes off his hood to reveal his face. I can't believe what I am seeing. His right eye is opaque. At this point, I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or if this entity is messing with me. Adrenaline floods my system. My heart beats hard like it's trying to escape. My body wants to either run away or hide behind Viribus but I stay where I am.
"I'm sorry Viviana, but you're the one that will be sorry soon.", Colbey says. He looks at Viribus and runs away, leaving his mom standing there. She looks at me and shrugs. "Teenagers.",She says with an eye roll and a sigh and she walks off.
Dimitri walks up and asks if I'm okay.
"I'm fine but what just happened? Did you see his eye and how did he know my name?"
"I don't think that was a normal encounter. It took every muscle in my body to stop Viribus from getting at them."
I feel like this is all going to come to a head soon and it's not going to be good. What is this thing and what does it want? 
I am lost in a sea of my own thoughts the rest of the walk.
Walking into the small shop, the air is thick with the aroma of coffee and pastries.  I get a caramel macchiato and Dimitri gets an americano. Wow, we really are polar opposites. We sit out on the patio and Viribus curls up at my feet. I sit at the table and wrap my fingers around the cup, enjoying the heat that spreads throughout my hands. I take a deep breath and and look up to meet the gaze of Dimitri. His eyes were like little pools of ocean with specks of seaweed. He looked at me in a way a man looks at something he is truly amazed by, like he'd never seen a woman in his entire life until now.
"Dimitri, why are you looking at me like ET or something, I know I look like crap but you don't have to stare.", I say jokingly.
"You don't look like ET but you are definitely extraordinary. Viviana even in times of complete and utter chaos, you carry a calmness in your eyes that is so beautiful."
A shy smile dances across my face and I look down. Viribus is looking at us, obviously confused and for the most part uninterested.
"It amazes me that someone so beautiful is so shy."
"It amazes me that someone as amazing as you noticed.", I say as my cheeks start to ache from trying to stop a huge smile from forming.
After a few seconds of enjoying the moment and pretending like my life was normal, even just for a little bit, we decide we need to get to work before it gets too late. Dimitri grabs his laptop out of his bag and we open it up and start searching.
11 N. fifth street
Immediately we get several articles on exactly what my mom was talking about.
"Local Man injured in work related accident."
"Man loses eye in work related accident, doctors use experimental procedure to save his eyesight."
"Check this out, that's interesting, mom never said he lost his eye, she just said he got injured on the job."
I click the article and read.

Tuesday, April 5th
1948
"Lincoln Liles lost his right eye in a work related accident this past weekend, leaving him unable to work and his family helpless. A doctor, Wylan Ludwig, from a hospital in Tennessee has heard his story and wants to help. The new experimental procedure involves replacing the missing or injured eye with that of a primate."
"Wow, they actually replaced his eye with a monkeys' eye, his spirit has been following me all along.", I say as I look in amazement.
"That explains why the entities have all had one thing in common, that eye."
"Check this one out Viviana.", Dimitri points to the computer screen.
Friday, July 17th
1948
"Lincoln Liles, an Alabama man, is being charged for the murder of his son, 6 month old Trenton Liles. Liles, 42, was one month out from an experimental procedure in which his injured eye was replaced with that of a primates.
It has been said from several outside sources that the procedure went horribly wrong and was the cause of Liles ever-growing madness. His wife Delilah Liles and young daughter were able to flee the scene safe. He will be put to death by electric chair on July 27th, 1948."
"It says here that the wife and daughter survived. I wonder if the daughter may still be alive?", I say as I continue to search through the articles.
That's when I come across a picture of the family. The picture is dated February 14th, 1948;Valentines day and a couple of months before things went south. There's a pretty lady with brown hair in soft pin curls, looking down lovingly at a bundle she's holding in her arms. There's a little girl that looks to be the age of 11 or maybe 12. She also has dark curly hair in braided pig tails and what looks like a large dark birthmark on the upper part of her left arm. She smiles up at her mother as a raggedy Ann doll hangs loosely from her hand. Beside them stands a tall and rather handsome man in overalls. The thing that really stands out to me about him is that he's African American.
"Dimitri...wow, look at that, an interracial couple in the 40's. I can't even imagine all of the prejudices they experienced."
"Perhaps it were those same issues that eventually led to the family's untimely demise.", Dimitri says with a sigh as he sips his coffee. The picture looks kind of like it's been cut off and maybe there were more to the photo but there's no real way to tell.
It had felt like we'd been at the café for maybe an hour when one of the waitresses come out on the patio.
"Hey y'all, I just wanted to give y'all a heads up. We close at 5 and it's about 4:45."
"Okay, thank you, ma'am, we will be leaving shortly.", Dimitri says as he looks over at me and smiles.
"Wow, we've been here for 6 hours just talking and researching. How did that happen?"
"Time flies when you're having fun right?", Dimitri reaches over the table and grabs my hand.
I'm actually very glad that I decided to stay at Dimitri's house tonight because reading those articles really shook me up at bit. The whole thing is odd to me. I never did anything to Lincoln Liles. I didn't even know what happened in that house until after I had been there for months. He taunts me even when I'm not at the house which makes me feel like it's not necessarily about that but maybe something else. I hope I figure it out before it kills me.
By the time we leave the café, the sidewalks have cleared out from most people and there is a beautiful peach colored sky. Viribus walks alongside me to the left and Dimitri to the right. The air is so cold yet the trees are on fire with the bright oranges and yellows of fall. I smile up at the inferno above my head. The chill in the post-dawn air is the first hint that winter isn't far behind. Then these trees will stand naked, robbed of their color, but for now they line the avenue and my walk to the car is almost like therapy. I am torn between keeping my eyes high to watch for the falling leaves dancing their way to the carpeted ground, or looking down to spy the crunchy ones. I love to step on them, I guess I'm still a kid at heart.

For some reason, learning about the history of the house and the people in it felt like a small victory. I felt like for once, I wasn't left completely helpless and clueless as to what was going on.
Meanwhile, Viribus is looking at Viviana and he can see and feel these dark spirits whirling around her, their eyes were black and their mouths were wide, hungry for the vibrant soul full of life inside her. No matter how safe she felt or how many people she was surrounded by, they were always there. They were always there waiting for a weak moment or a break in her constitution, in that case, they'd wait forever.
Viribus knew that without him, she thought she was always so scared and fragile but she had no idea how much strength she really had.