Lucia - Satan's Daughter (COMPLETED)

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

                I awoke with a sudden rush of suspicion; of fear. Glancing around me I found nothing but the tree that I last saw before the night cloaked me in sleep. Where was Jesse?!

                I tried hard to call for him, but my voice was gone. Suddenly I felt a strong sensation beside me. I turned, my eyes landing so viciously on my mother. But I knew it wasn’t her. Her eyes were focused on something past me, she was here, and she couldn’t see me. Yet something in me longed to just hold her. I lifted my hand towards her cheek; until nothing but the cold air hit the back of my wrist. She disappeared.

                My throat became dry, as I could feel my eyes tighten with tears. Where was Jesse?!

                He had to be around, somewhere anywhere. Even if he wasn’t I knew someone else was. I felt eyes pierce through my back…someone was watching.

                “Jesse…” I managed to squeak.

                “Lucia!” It was Jesse! He was screaming, but not a reply to my call. Something was wrong!

                I ran as fast as I could into the oblivion of the white scene around me. The grass had disappeared, and the pathway was gone. Again, the only thing there, was the tree where I woke from. Frantically I whipped my head around the blankness. He had to be somewhere.

                “Lucia!!!” He called.

                I shut my eyes. His voice echoed through me. Then with a sudden rush, I found myself back in Central Park. The grass whispered against the wind, and the tree was accompanied by Jesse underneath its shade. But the boy was in panic. His hands were fiercely clawing against the grass and his eyes hysterically looking around.

                “Jesse!” I cried.

                He paid little attention.

                “Jesse I’m here!”

                Nothing…I couldn’t be seen. Looking around him, for something to do, to grab his attention I realized, that he was the only one there. Against the trunk of the tree, lonely, and isolated, Jesse was alone at the park.

                “Jesse…” I whimpered.

                I knew what was happening; Jesse was thrown in to solitude. Against his will, and under the power of the room, Jesse was facing one of his deep fears. I ran to him, trying to embrace him. But like my mother’s cheek, nothing made contact with my hand. Why couldn’t I reach him?!

                “Come back, come back!!” Jesse cried.

                Tears were gently falling against his cheek. My breath was growing shallow; I didn’t know what to do!

                “Lucia,” He whispered. “Please come back!”

                At that moment I noticed a flash of colour behind him. I looked up, my attention drawn to a girl. She was a fair distant away. But I could still make out the detail of her flowing dress. The black lace against the tan fabric blew with the wind; her dark hair dancing along.

                I forced myself to look away, but I couldn’t. The girl’s face was the same one I had seen on the blond woman. The eyes were cruel, her smirk so loathing and her stare too strong. I was gazing upon a face I knew. I face I hated.

                “Lucia!” Jesse called out again.

                I pulled my attention away from the creature and back to his nervous voice. My fear was growing and I couldn’t do anything but will myself to reach for him. Only this time did my arms finally touch him.

                His breath fell short as he gazed up, his head almost colliding in with mine.

                “I’m sorry!!” Jesse cried, his voice broken.

                I shook my head, almost letting out a laugh. He was the only one I knew that would apologize to his own fears.

                Feeling him collapse against my lap, I let out a breath. If I was able to come back to him, if he was finally allowed to see me, I knew that this would cycle again. Like all the other rooms, each horror would replay. I wasn’t sure how many more fears this room would present to the both of us, but there was no doubting that they would come back…

~*~

                Jesse and I quietly walked back toward town, noticing, but paying little attention to the slow coming of the ‘people’. He was scared to be alone, and not by himself lost in a crowd, but rather, alone as in the only one left. I could feel his fear subside in him, but mine was only growing. He didn’t know the extent of the room’s powers, or Lucifer’s for that matter. But I did.

                When we reached a crowded market -one that resembled an exquisite famer’s market somewhere in Scotland, or Austria- I grab Jesse’s attention. He looked up at me, smiling as his eyes began to slowly brush away past tears.

                “Yah?” He asked as he grinned.

                I shook my head.

                Turning his attention back towards the fruit I suddenly felt the same tense sensation from before. I twisted my head around; it was that same figure in the park. This time her smirk formed a smile. It was a grin that made me shiver, one that planted a seed of panic in my head.

                All of a sudden Jesse started to cough. His lungs were threatening to hack out his insides. I rushed over pulling him up as he began to curl down. Surprisingly the crowd paid no attention, their eyes and hands still busy with the vegetables.

                “Jesse,” I whispered as his cough subsided. “You okay?”

                He nodded, a small smile returning to his face.

                But I knew something was wrong…because the moment he smiled another series of coughs emerged. Only this time did I notice that the palm covering his mouth, had blood.