War Guilt [#Wattys2015]

Chapter Twenty

Location Unknown, Year Unknown

Maria

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As I was about to turn my head back he held my cheek with his hand and kissed me. I wasn't sure what to do at that moment, so I kissed him back. That's when I realised something; I was so in love with James Barnes.

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My eyes opened slowly and I found myself in complete darkness. I couldn't move, nor could I see a single thing. I waited for a good ten minutes before trying to sit up on my elbows. As I did my head thunked on some sort of wooden door. I began to stress as I found that I was in a small coffin like compartment.

Shit, shit....

I hit the lid over and over again, not thinking about yelling. When that did nothing I attempted to push the sides apart, but that only resulted in dirt seeping through the cracks in the wood.

By now I was really scared; I was buried alive. When I couldn't do anything more, and my frustration level was at it's peak, my skin began to glow golden. At first I was shocked until I remembered what I could do. I readied myself and created a huge golden ball, blowing the coffin lid and dirt above me sky high.

"Oh shit," I said gruffly to myself.

The sudden light blinded me, burning my eyes. I yelped in pain and covered them quickly. I could also feel my skin burning. It was like I had been buried for years, but that's not possible...right?

After a while I could bear the light better than before and found some sort of file underneath me. I got it and opened it. A small photo and a metal chain with dog tags fell out of it. I grabbed the photo and saw a red haired woman smiling next to a tall man.

Ryan.

"That's me," I said to myself.

When I had done looking at the photo, I then studied the dog tags. On them it had a bunch of numbers under the name Private William Jackson. The name flicked a switch in my mind and my memories suddenly came flooding back like there was no tomorrow. It was exhausting and I had to lay down again. It also gave me a huge, painful headache.

"Oh god what happened to me," I whispered to myself.

Not long after, I decided to get up. I used my weak arms to haul myself out of the ditch in the ground and sure enough I found myself in a graveyard. I examined my surroundings; it didn't look too out of fashion or anything. My explosion had seemingly missed my headstone so I brushed the dirt off and read it aloud:

Here Lies Maria Brown
1918-1944
"An Inspiring Woman Who Was
Loved By Many"

I was so confused. Since when was I dead? And how did I supposedly die? I clutched my head in fear. I had to find out what was happening. I turned around and walked over to an empty road then followed that until I saw some buildings. I couldn't have been buried that long because it still seemed like I was at home, so waking up in the very far future was crossed out of my mind.

As I walked along I noticed that there were no war banners or anything of the sort. That got me wondering if the war was over and if we won or not. Perhaps the war was won but not by us and we're all imprisoned by Germany. Who knew. I finally found a small grocery store and wet inside to find a lonely man standing behind the counter. He didn't seem to take notice of me, as if he didn't care that he had a customer.

"Excuse me," I said to him "Where am I and what year is it?"

He looked at me like I was an idiot, obviously shocked that I would ask such a question. He stood up right and opened his mouth to speak.

"You're in Brooklyn lass, and it be 1952," he responded in an Scottish accent.

1952!

"Oh -- uh wow," I cleared my throat "Thank you." And walked out the door.

Bloody 1952! I was buried for eight years! Eight years! How the hell am I alive!? I didn't know what to do so I ran home as I remembered I was in Brooklyn. At first I couldn't remember where home was, or what home itself was. Then it all came back as I passed the little Antiques Store. I stopped in front of a brown stressed wooden door that had a small brass handle. Taking a deep breath I tuned the handle and walked inside to an empty house. All my stuff was gone, every last bit of it.

"Well at least I still have my house," I said trying to lighten the mood.

How could I possibly lighten this mood? This situation was all wrong. I fell to my knees, my head dipped low. I kept asking myself 'why me, why me?' None of this made sense. I had to find someone who could help me. At first I thought Ryan but there was no telling if he made it back or not. Then I thought about Barnes and Steve, but again I didn't know if they made it back.

"Peggy," I said to myself.

I had to find Peggy, she would help me. That is, if she was still here. But I had a better chance of finding her than finding the others.