Bete Noire

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

I was standing in a forest, the trunks of the slender trees wrapped in a blue-green twilight that fell quickly from the East. I was alone except for the fireflies that darted about above my head. My body felt odd and slightly feverish, my limbs went from cold to hot and sweat-sheened in cycles. I wasn't sure where I was, maybe by the river where I had walked earlier in the day, but further away from the roar of the currents.

I couldn't remember how I got here, or why I was in my sleeping attire, but I wasn't worried and I wasn't afraid.

For once, in a very long time, I was not afraid.

"Roni.."

I heard my name on the wind as it brushed my hair off my shoulders and swirled the aqua light away from me. I followed it, my feet quick and quiet on the damp grass.

Clearing back the branches of the trees, hearing strange voices emerging from the dark places around me.

They sounded so far away. I heard someone crying. She sounded like my best friend,Angie.

I continued through the glade, my pace quickening as the darkness dropped even faster. Finally I saw him, the one who had been calling for me.

He sat on a log with his back to me, a camera placed beside him, the light from it illuminating the trees and adding extra sparkle to the fireflies.

I glided toward him, drawn forth like a magnet. I couldn't keep away.

He didn't stir until I was standing right behind him. He raised his head without looking at me. Another breeze wafted past and tossed his black hair delicately

"Roni"he said, his voice unmistakably Drew. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"And you still won't," I replied.

I reached down with my hands, placed them on both sides of his cold, rough face and with one quick motion I broke his neck, the SNAP of his vertebrae shattering through the still forest.

Drew slumped to the ground, motionless.

Dead.

I smiled to myself and walked away.

A giant shudder ran through me, almost causing the hot coffee I had in my hands spill.

I quickly glanced up at Larry a regular,who always forgets his log in password almost every Monday... His lips were squeezed tightly together, his eyes on the beverage on my hands.

I composed myself - that was the last time I'd let myself think about my disturbing dreams at work - and looked at him with a smile on my face.

"How may I help you this morning Larry.?"i asked obviously knowing what his answer would be.

Larry took the drink from my hands as if I were seconds from dumping it on his shirt(he wasn't too far )

"Are you okay?"

I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes, a migraine threatening to appear.

I looked up and gave my colleague a tight smile. I could keep up the cheery pretenses with my fellow mates.

"Just feeling a bit under the weather again," I said sheepishly. I had only been working at Tilisi for four weeks and it seemed like every other day I was suffering from killer cramps, a terrible migraine, dizzy spells, painful bloating or plain old pissyness. Oh, and a broken heart. I tried to keep my complaints at a minimum because I didn't want the manager, Ken to regret hiring me but sometimes it was hard to hide.

Larry was extremely observant, too. He was a few years older than me and had aspirations of being a criminal investigator but he opted to taking a technical course

There I was, a failed internet host, who, despite having a degree in IT, had found herself unable to get any kind of respectful employment aside from dealing with almost the same technical problems all over. Not that being an IT technician was anything to look down upon, but I wondered if all my sudden ailments were related to the nagging feeling that I wasn't doing what I should be doing.

That said, things weren't all bad. Lisa was a fun kid chick I'd hung out with her most time of the day as I did with Shay, Steve, Mikeala and a few other IT interns. We had fun at work, and when I wasn't being bombarded with people like Brandon who demanded the most ridiculous tasks to be done, or Clifford the pervert who kept staring at all ladies and making funny faces, the job was fairly low- stress and it all owed me to continue living at my parents' house without being guilt-tripped about it. It also ended the "I told you sos," which had lasted for at least a few weeks

I don't like to talk about that time, let alone think about that time. It's probably why I'd been having so many icky dreams lately - my subconscious was pushing them up through the ground, like bones through a fresh grave.

To put it mildly, January had been a hell of a month. I was in a very black place, one I feared I would never crawl out of. But I did eventually crawl out that hole, dragging myself out of the depression by my fingernails. My younger sister Sheryl helped; she was a great shoulder to cry on. And by cry, I mean slobber. I was an ugly, hysterical mess more often than not. I never knew that kind of agony before.

Finally, getting this job helped, too. It forced me to go somewhere every day and put on my best face. Put on my best face and try to forget the pain that still ricocheted through me from time to time, pain that intensified when certain songs came on the radio, a pain that left you with a tear-soaked pillow in the morning.