California. Slowly, but surely, we made it here. We're in Longbeach. It's sunny and clear as the eye can see. I have always wanted to come to California. Something about this doesn't feel the way it should. It should feel like a paradise or something along those lines. It doesn't. Everytime I close my eyes I see the man I shot in the head. I know he was about to take Glen, and I had to do it, but I still see his face in my mind. I killed a man. I killed a person.
I'm sitting on the beach. We're getting a hotel right across from the beach. Glen is in there getting it right now. It took almost all the money we had left. Which leads me to wonder how ge gets more money. Part of me doesn't want to know the answer. I run my fingers through the soft sand. I had been to Flrodia once in my lifetime. It was afamily vaccation. I remember the beach then. It was beautiful and my whole family was with me. It's one of the memories I hold most dear. I look out and watch as the waves come farther and father in. Closer and closer to where I'm sitting. It's sun down now. The sky has the orange tint and it truly does look like the sun is falling into the ocean. The sight would take my breath away, if I still had any to give. I hear footsteps and look up at Glen. He looks down at me. I know he's worried about me. But, I'm fine. At least I think I am.
"Are you okay?" I nod my head and look back out at the ocean. I feel the wind blow my hair around my face. It doesn't bother me. In a way it makes me feel free. That's something I'm not. Something I'll never be. Not in this world.
"I'll be better after I get some, semi, good sleep." He sets his bag down and then plops down next to me. I look the bag over. He really should be more careful with the laptop that controls his fate. "You should probably ditch the bag and get something more secure." He looks at me. His blue-grey almost burn through me. It's not anger that is burning me. It's a mixture if sadness, guilt, pain, and anger. It's almost as if I can feel exactly what he feels staring into those burning eyes.
"I will. When I find something better, I'll change it out. But, I've done fine with the bag so far. It's made out of some tough ass material. You have an better ideas?" I keep looking at him. His eyes get softer as he looks out at tghe ocean. "I always liked the ocean." I look at him somehwat surprised.
"You actually like something?" He lets out a sound. It almost could be a laugh.
"Yeah. I remember my dad had to come here once with me. It was for his job." He looks down at the sand and is silent for a few minutes. "I had a great time. My dad was a great man. He made a mistake and he paid for it. And I made a mistake too. I'm still paying for that." I push some of my hair behind my ear.
"What did you do?" Glen looks at me and his eyes are burning again. This time with anger. I feel like I might burn up from the inside if I stare at them any longer. I look away,
"I killed the man who murdered my mother and sister. I watched him do it. I tackled him, took the gun, and put a bullet in his brain, That was before the chip. That WAS the reason, Greyson put the chip in my barin." He looks back the ocean. I laugh. I'm not completely sure why. He looks at me with a puzzled look on his face.
"No, I'm not laughing at what happened to you. I'm... It's just... I wanted to kill you. Your face was burned in my skull for the rest of my life. All I would see at night was your face. But now, it's like your face is completely different from the one I remember. Glen, you aren't just a killer. There is so much more to you than you even know. I forgave you, because I know it wasn't you behind the triger." He kind of sighs and looks at me again. This time his eyes look tender.
"Thanks for saying that. But..." He leaves the sentence with, but. I grab some more sand and it runs through my fingers. It almost feels like a sheet or blanket. It feels soft and comforting.
"The way I see it, things don't just happen for no reason. Everything that happened, happens, and will happen all have a reason for happening. I think are fates are already written, but how they are played out is up to us as people. I think that our destinies are inserted into our lives the moment we're born. We just have to figure out what that destiny is. We are all meant for something bigger than us" Glen looks back at me.
"I don't think like that. I refuse to believe that my life was ruined for some greater purpose. If that is so, I say screw it! I don't want any part of whatever destiny this world has lined up for me." He isn't angry. He means what he says. He refuses to believe as much as I believe otherwise.
"I guess we'll see in the end, won't we? He nods.
"We'll see."
It's about nine AM when I'm in the bed. Glen, chose to sleep on the couch inside of the hotel room. I told him to get a cott but he refused. That would involve talking to people, and he wants to do as less of that as possible. So he settled for the couch. I tried to give him the bed but he refused of course. He can be such a stubborn ass sometimes. I roll over and try to sleep. Every time I start to fall alseep I see that man face again. I feel like I cannot breathe. The room is completely quiet. Glen isn't asleep yet. I know he isn't because there would be snoring are heavy breathing of some kind. There isn't though.
"Glen?" It is a few minutes before he answers me.
"Yeah?" His voice isn't as rough as usual. It's more tender than usual.
"I can't sleep. Every time I try I just keeo singing the man I shot. I don't know..." Before I know it tears are falling down my cheeks. "I have no clue how to deal with this." Glen sits up off the couch.
"Don't think about Lee-Ann. It will be the death of you if you let it." I swallow and wipes the tears off my cheeks and from my eyes.
"Can you...Can you lay with me for tonight?" There is silence. I'm facing away from him so I don't see anything. After a few minutes he gets up and climbs into the bed with me. He wraps his arm around me and hols me close. We haven't been this close since that night after the diner. "Thanks." He doesn't reply. After a while I fall asleep. I have no nightmares.
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This is pretty short. But, this chapter is probably one of the most imporant chapters to this whole trilogy. I have it all planned in my mind but this chapter really is important. You probablycan't tell right now but after the end of all this I think it will mean more than you think. I hope you liked it. There will be more action in the next chapter. Trust me. Comment, add, and share.
-Nicole
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INSERTED (Being Edited)
Ciencia Ficción"The way I see it, things don't just happen for no reason. Everything that happened, happens, and will happen all have a reason for happening. I think are fates are already written, but how they are played out is up to us as people. I think that our...
