Terrible Friend

14

Rage stared to build in Albert. His observed handle on the thing was not a handle on things at all. Little Seralie flashed through his mind. She was on the swing at their favorite park. The summer sun reflecting off her bright blond hair. The sparkling jewels in her bright blue eyes and a giggle that sounded like angels singing rang through his mind. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly, trying to prevent the images that always followed.

Saralie's limp body lying on the bank of the lake in the park. Tears filled his eyes as the sound of Angela's sobs and the image of her holding her daughter's lifeless body in her arms played on loop. The images stirred and heated his emotions to boiling. He wanted them to stop, to go away forever, but they overtook him and he was powerless to stop them.

Beverly saw what was happening. She backed away from him and spoke to him quietly and calmly. He looked like he was about to have a stroke. The pain in his eyes spoke of a sadness brought on by loos and agony at the hands of the demon. She thought, perhaps, that the demon's crimes were not as minor as she had suspected. She knew that look. She knew it all too well.

She had to press on though. Nothing was going to bring whatever was lost back to him, or her. Even if there was something, it wouldn't matter. They were facing the end of the world now anyway. She needed his help. She needed him to focus.

She needed to intervene before he stormed out again. She placed her hand gently on his forearm and spoke very softly. "I'm so deeply sorry he took something precious from you. I can't change it. I can, offer this though. Having him with you all this time has probably kept a lot of people from getting hurt. I know that doesn't do anything for the pain and loss you have experienced, but if you can imagine the number of people who would have felt what you have and worse had he been free all these years...her voice trailed off. She thought to herself about what little consolation that would have been for her.

It was then that the bald man on the stool slowly stood and rushed passed the two of them. He darted for the door. He had rocked back and forth on the stool until it teetered and tipped over, dumping him to the floor. He got to his feet and ran.

The sound of the stool crashing to the floor pulled Albert from his sorrow filled state. They both jumped out of their skin and turned toward the sound of the crash just as the man was rushing past them. He had managed to loosen the ties enough to run before they even remembered he was there.

"Shit!" Beverly and Albert exclaimed at the same time. They ran into the gallery thinking they had been hot on his heels and catch him before he reached the front door and got it unlocked. He was nowhere to be seen.

They burst through the glass doors of the gallery, Beverly in front. Out on the sidewalk they looked up and down the sidewalk in both directions. Albert went to the left a few paces and Beverly to the right. They saw people walking in both directions but none of them resembled the bald man in a hooded cloak running for their lives.

They met back at the door. "Well, that solves that." Beverly shrugged and turned back toward the gallery.

Albert shot her a questioning glance before following her inside.

Beverly walked back to the back room. She picked the necklace up from the shelf she had set it on earlier. She headed back toward the gallery and collided head on with Albert.

He put his hands on her arms and steadied her as she bounced off of his broad chest and stumbled backward. She righted herself and straightened out her hands to indicate when he could let go of her. He loosened his grip. He knew he was a large individual, but he was in good shape for his size, so the collision was anything but soft. He wanted to make certain she was steady before he let go.

"I'm fine. Take this and follow me." She held the necklace up so Albert could slip his head through the chain.

Jax bellowed as Albert's head bowed to allow Beverly to slip the chain over his head. Albert stood upright, placed his hands over his ears and backed away. "I can't take that. It hurts Jax when I touch it for some reason. Although I enjoy the peace and quiet that it brings, now that I know he is an actual soul, I can't cause him pain."

"What do you mean it causes him pain. Can you feel his pain?"

"No, not exactly and yes. I feel a buzzing in the back of my head, but when I stop touching it, he and the other voices scream like they are in agony. It's agonizing inside my head. He says it hurts. I can't..."

"Oh, ok. Hold on." She turned and walked back into the storage room behind her. She headed to a heavy, dark curtain in the far right corner of the room. She slid the curtain aside and stepped into a dimly lit space. Albert followed closely behind her.