Chapter 1 Jason

So this story is continued from my last blog entry, called prologue. So make sure you read that one first... it's right below this one. Enjoy! And keep checking my blog, the next 'chapter' should be posted soon. :)


I woke up from a very deep sleep. I looked around and had no idea where I was. I heard someone moving around in the room next to me, the kitchen maybe? I studied my surroundings; It looked like I was in the living room of a small apartment. I saw a big screen TV and a bookshelf overflowing with DVDs. A big, expensive looking stereo sat beside the TV. Artistic photos lined the walls. A Grand piano stood in the corner of the room, with sheet music scattered all around it. A sketch book lay on the coffee table, next to a notebook filled with what looked like poems or song lyrics. A thick booklet that looked like a script lay on the hardwood floor next to the couch. Whoever lived here was obviously very artistic.

Someone walked into the room, just as I was about to pick the script up off the floor. He was holding a glass of water in one hand and what looked like a peanut butter and jam sandwich in the other. "So Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up!" He said with a smile. I sat there and stared at him like an idiot. I had no idea what was going on, or who he was, but he was gorgeous. His smile vanished as worry started to creep across his features. I had seen this face before. I recognized the worry lines that spread across his forehead, underneath his dark hair. I recognized the way he held his mouth... and suddenly everything came flooding back. This was the same guy that had picked me up off the park sidewalk after my little fainting spell. I blushed as I remembered everything. "Hi," I murmured, and his smile returned.

"So I thought you might be hungry. Fainting can take a lot out of you." I shook my head, "No it's ok." I answered. "Are you sure?" he asked. "If you don't feel like PB & J, I could take you out somewhere..." "No it's ok. Really." I answered. Why should this stranger have to feed me? I wasn't even hungry. He shrugged and put the sandwich onto the table. He picked a guitar up, from beside the couch, and sat on the floor, strumming a few chords. Eventually the chords turned into a complex, but beautiful piece of music. I watched his hands, mesmerized, as he played. Then he started to sing. His voice was beautiful, one of the most beautiful voices I had ever heard in my life. The deep, poetic words wove in and out with the guitar melody. I sat there in silence, completely hypnotized by the music that filled the room.

The song came to an end, with a soft chord that hung in the silence. "Do you like it?" he asked me, curious. I was speechless. "That was... that was... com-... ama-..." he laughed softly. "That was beautiful," I finally blurted out. "Did you write it yourself?" I asked. "Thanks, and yeah I did write it actually." His eyes met mine, and he smiled. I looked away. I heard him put the guitar down, and then felt as the couch sag as he sat down next to me. I could feel his eyes still staring at my face. "What's your name?" he whispered. I didn't reply. He lightly placed his fingers on my chin and turned my face so I was looking at him. "What's your name?" he whispered again. "Lyla" I muttered. He let his fingers drop and smiled. My skin tingled where his fingers had been. "Lyla, that's a beautiful name. I'm Jason." I blushed and but continued to stare into his dark eyes. "Hi Jason," I whispered back, smiling.

Ever so slowly, his face came closer and closer to mine. Our lips were about to touch, when someone coughed. Jason pulled away with lightning speed. I followed his gaze, and saw a tall girl with long, blonde hair, red lipstick and a lot of eyeliner on. She was leaning against the door frame, and was staring at me. "My, my, my. Who's this? Won't you introduce me to your friend, Jason?" "Oh hi Anny, I thought you were out..." he replied. "I can see that." She awnsered, her voice full of implications. He cleared his throat, "But this is Lyla; I saved her from the park, and I was just about to drive her home." Anny raised an eyebrow, but never took her eyes off of me. I avoided her gaze, and looked down at my hands. "So anytime you're ready, Lyla." Jason said. "Oh right, right." I replied flustered and stood up, a little too quickly. I swayed, and Jason caught me. "Thanks I muttered," and quickly walked past Anny, who was still starring at me.

We sat in the car, in an awkward silence. I wished that he would turn on the radio, or something; But he didn't. Both of his hands stayed safely on the steering wheel. I sighed, and looked out the window. He looked over at me, and then turned his gaze back to the road. "Lyla, I should explain..." "No Jason, you don't have too. I get it. You and Anny are together, it's fine." He didn't reply. He pulled onto my street, and looked at the numbers, trying to find the right one. "Right here," I said, and he pulled up in front of my apartment complex. I wanted to get out of the car, to get away from this ridiculously perfect guy, but I knew I had to thank him for saving me from the park. So with one hand on the door handle, I turned and looked at him; He was already starring at me. "So, um. Thanks for picking me up at the park and making sure I was fine and ever-" but before I could finish, he had pressed his lips gently against mine.

He pulled as quickly as he had come in. "And me and Anny aren't really together; She's just taking forever to move out." With that, he pulled a pen out of the glove apartment, and wrote his phone number on my hand. "Give me a call sometime," he said with a smile. I smiled back and nodded. "Thanks again," I said, and then stepped out of the car. "Lyla," he called out, leaning over the passenger seat "Goodbye." I smiled and shut the door. He smiled back and then drove away.

I walked up the stairs to my apartment in a bit of a daze. I had just met the most perfect guy! I unlocked the door, and walked in, shutting it behind me. I hung my bag and sweater up on the hook by the door. I turned around and fell out of the daze immediately... I was standing face to face with Andrew, my boyfriend.

Prologue

Alright, so this is a longer story I'm writing, and I have no idea what it's title is going to be, so this is the 'prologue' of the story. I'm sorry if it comes along slowly, but I have alot of stuff going on right now. But I promise you, more is comming. Oh and remember, this is very rough, no editing. :)

With each laboured step I took my vision blurred, my joints ached, my muscles shook. A wave of dizziness shook my system with each movement. Numbness started to take over. I closed my eyes, trying to push it back... but it crept forward at a never changing pace. I opened my eyes to find somewhere to sit, somewhere to recover; I saw the curb of the sidewalk and lurched unsteadily towards it. I sank to the concrete and pressed my face against the grey, rough surface. The coolness of it sank in, trying to calm the fever that surged through my veins. Relief swept through my body slowly.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, my vision blurred like never before; the dizziness climaxed and all went black.

It felt like I was falling, no, sinking. Like I was being swallowed by the darkness, smothered by the black, consumed by the night. At least the pain and dizziness was gone, it had all been taken over by the dull numbing that buzzed from the tips of my toes all the way to my scalp. It was a very strange sensation, but oddly peaceful. Then, out of the blue, I felt something ice cold against my cheek. It jerked me forcefully, pulling me away from the peaceful, numbing black. I wanted to be rid of it, to continue sinking. I reached up to move the ice, to push it away, but I couldn't move my arm. I couldn't move anything... not a single limb.

Panic filled my body, the numbness disappeared and my eyes shot open. Colour and light shocked my system. Pain and dizziness crashed into me, like a tidal wave, retaking my body and mind as prisoners in record time. I then realized that the ice that had brought me back to reality, to this torture, to this hell, was gone. My eyes swiveled around, hunting... and they succeeded. A beautiful dark haired guy knelt beside me. Worry filled every crease, every line, every plane... every part of his face. In his hand, he clutched an ice pack.


"Are you alright?" he asked me. I replied by putting my face back onto the sidewalk, and moaning. He put the ice pack back onto my temple. "No!" I yelled at him. He jerked it away, and watched as I closed my eyes, trying to fall back into the calming darkness. When my body went limp, he realized what I was doing. "Oh no you don't!" he said, and then I was moving. My eyes flashed open, and I saw that he was carrying me, like a child. "What are you doing?" I moaned. "I am taking you to the somplace where you can rest." he replied smugyly. I didn't have the energy to argue, so I closed me eyes and let the rocking of this stranger's walk lull me to sleep.

Her Words Would Cut Holes

There she sat. The warm salty tears that streamed down her cheeks mixed with the cold rain that fell from the sky. The wind whipped her wet hair around her face. She started to shiver as the cold seeped into her skin. She was completely alone, on the bench in the park. No one in their right mind would come out in weather like this, not if they could help it. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself, but it was no use. She was soaked to the skin, and the cold had latched onto her; sucking up her body heat and refusing to let go. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten all day. The tears continued to fall as she thought back to that night, two weeks ago when she'd run away from home.

It had just started out as another stupid fight between her and her mum. Her mum was mad because she had stayed out past curfew again. However, they had both started yelling, and things got worse. They started bringing up things from the past; things that neither of them meant. She knew her words would cut holes through the both of them, but she said them anyway. Painful subjects flowed in and out of the argument. Like how her father had walked out on them, or how her mother had almost put her up for adoption and the reasons why her brother had killed himself. But it was when her mother had slapped her that she went flying off the edge. That night she had packed her backpack with a jacket, a change of clothes, her toothbrush and the 72$ she had in her piggybank and left. She didn't know where she was going; she just knew that she needed to get away.

So now here she found herself, wet, cold, broke and hungry on a park bench in the pouring rain. She knew there was a warm bed waiting for her somewhere, somewhere she didn't want to be. But if she stayed here, who knows what could happen. It didn't help that she was scared of the dark, either. The fight played through her mind again and again. The tears that had overflowed out of her mother's eyes with every cruel thing she had said. The pain that festered around the barely healed wounds as each dark memory was brought up. The things that had been said, that neither of them had meant. They both had short tempers, and she knew it. It wasn't their faults that when they got angry, things just slipped out of their mouths. Suddenly a flash or lightning lit up the dark sky, if only for a moment and she knew what she had to do. She picked her backpack up from the ground and slung it over her shoulder, before getting up and starting the long walk back to her house.

The light that came from the house was so welcoming compared to the dark night that surrounded her. She stopped at the end of the driveway, looking into the kitchen through the window. She saw her mother, bustling around, cleaning the already spotless kitchen; probably humming along to the classical radio station. She found herself smiling. This was her home, it really was. How could she want to be anywhere else? Sure, she and her mum had problems, but if they tried they could work them out. Without pausing for another second, Sarah walked up the gravel driveway, opened the door and ran into the kitchen. Her mother looked up at her, shocked, and then started to cry. Sarah started crying too, and then found herself in her mother's arms. "Don't ever leave me again, you hear me?" her mother asked lovingly. Sarah couldn't help but smile. "I hear you."

Time Ended

The warm glow of the sunset came in through the kitchen window, hitting her face softly. She hummed along to a song that played quietly on an old radio in the background. Up to her elbows in warm, soapy water doing the dinner dishes and she seemed content. Just seeing her would make you calm, happy even. Like contentment just radiated off of her, infecting all those within a certain proximity. The song on the radio ended, and the hourly news began. "Breaking news. A Canadian soldier has died in Afghanistan today. Private Danny Nilson was killed when the vehicle he was driving hit a land mine. 4 other soldiers are reported to be injured, but in stable condition." The glass she was holding fell to the floor, and shattered into a million sharp shards. She rushed into the living room, not bothering to dry her soapy hands, and turned on the TV. There it was, on the news. Private Danny Nilson, dead. They even showed his picture. It was him all right.

It all sank in slowly, as the information seeped past the protective wall that shock had put up around her... She would never get lost in those green eyes ever again, never run her fingers through his thick, dark hair. Never again would she feel completely safe in his strong arms, or comforted by the way he gently squeezed her hand. She would never taste his lips, or see him as she walked down the aisle. She would never have his children, or grow old with him. He was gone. Her high school sweetheart, her fiancee, her Danny... Gone forever.

Somehow she managed to turn the TV off before she sunk to her knees. The tears started to flow, warm and salty down her cheeks. As she crumpled and fell to the ground, the crying really started. Her body shook violently as she gasped for air. She cried until her eyes ran dry, but even then the violent shaking did not stop. The sun set, and she was enveloped by darkness.

Eventually, she fell asleep, and dreamed about the perfect wedding; Complete with Danny and all. She was walking down a sandy aisle and was wearing a beautiful, simple, white summer dress. She held a bouquet that was composed of a rainbow of flowers. She looked past all of the guests, her crying mother, her smiling best friend; All she saw was Danny. The look on his face was exactly how she felt, overwhelmed with love for one person. And at that moment she knew that she could not live in world where he did not exist. She reached the end of the aisle, and took his hand. They said their vows and exchanged rings. The priest uttered those famous last words "You may now kiss the bride." and time seemed to stop. She stared up into his bright green eyes, and all she could see was love; Love for her. He leaned in and pressed his lips gently against hers. The kiss became passionate as she locked her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her closer...

Time did indeed freeze for Lisa that night. In fact, it was so frozen it ceased to exist at all. Time ended; Lisa never woke up.

I gave up, I let go.

A story I wrote in French Class, that my friend wanted me to translate/re-write in English. The teacher said it had to involve the 'Andes' (the mountain chain) in some way and it was to start with 'I'.

I'm so scared. These mountains are magnificent and so breathtakingly beautiful, but at the same time, so dangerous. I am free-climbing one of the mountains in the famous Andes. The smallest mistake, one wrong move, and I fall. It's a nerve-wracking thought. I move slowly on the vertical cliff. One hand at a time, one foot at a time. I continue like this, paying close attention to my surroundings and to what I'm doing. Suddenly, my left hand slips from the rock. My heart skips a beat. "Stay calm, it's nothing." I tell myself. I take a swift glance beneath me; There is nothing but air for at least 25 feet, and then a pile of menacing-looking rocks...

The hands of fear take control of me. I try to push them away, but the more I resist, the tighter their grip on my calm. I feel something stinging in my right hand; a piece of pointed rock is stabbing into it. Blood starts to gush out of my hand, and the warm, crimson liquid rolls down my arm. The hands of fear are starting to play with me; Push me around. My pulse and my breathing become quicker and quicker. Adrenaline pulses through my veins. The throbbing pain in my right hand becomes more and more intense. It was a bad idea for me to climb up here alone. Now, finally when I need help, there's no one here. No one to help me. Just like always, there's no one in my life except for me... And now I need someone, anyone. My breathing quickly turns into hyperventilation. The hands of fear hit me violently once more and I fall. All I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears and my scream that echos into each cave, each crack of the mountain valley... and I land. I hit the ground, I hit the rocks...

Intense pain screams from every cell in my body. I know that I am broken beyond repair, shattered into a million little pieces. "It'll be ok. I won't die," I think desperately. All I can see is red. The only think I can feel, is the pain. I can't feel the faint beat of my heart, or air that is just barely entering and exiting my lungs; Only pain. I try to ignore it, but it feels like I'm on fire. Like I'm burning alive. "I can't die..." I realize that no sound can escape my blood crusted lips. I can't call for help, I can't save myself from this excruciating agony, from reality. Something inside my head clicks, like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; I'm going to die. "I know it's the end, why should I fight it? Why do I have to continue to suffer? It's the end. I'm gone..." and I gave up. I let go of everything, I let go of life.