Reawakened Fear

Part 3

"Interesting. You do have fewer fears now than you used too, boy." James said as I stood in front of him shaking. He slapped me hard across the face. "Three fears I can reach? Pathetic. You used to be so full of anxiety and fear. Where did they go?" I looked him in the eye and quietly spoke. "There are more you could find if you searched hard enough. I know there are. But I have worked for so many years against my better judgment, so when you come back there is little you can do to me." I took a deep breath, and let my rage fill me. "You already took my family away from me! You've tried to take my life. For the better part of fifteen years, I fought to be better than I was. I am NOT the scared teenager I was then." He stepped back with a cruel smile. "Time will tell if that is true or now. Mark my words, you will see me again. You know you can never rid yourself of me. Not entirely." Flames appeared and swallowed him, leaving nothing but the stench of sulfur and his words echoing.

I woke up to the sound of the door opening. "Oh, Michael, I didn't realize you were asleep. Did I wake you?" My love asked gently. I sat up and smiled slightly. "I'm glad you did, honestly." The look in his eyes told me he knew what I had gone through. "Well, I have good news!" He replied. I gave him a questioning glance as he sat on our bed. "I got a promotion, and we were approved by the government to adopt." I smiled and hugged him tightly, knowing how much it meant to him to be able to have a family. "It might be different processes than the old days, and much harder, but we did it." He said through a yawn.

I laughed as he went to get ready for bed. Once he was ready, he crawled in beside me and I place an arm around him. "I'm so lucky to have you," I said quietly. My love gave a small laugh and nodded. "I'm lucky to have you. I'm glad we fought through the bad times." We fell asleep shortly after, knowing life would continue on and that things were finally starting to look up for us.