Post by Hellokitty on Aug 19, 2006 8:55:10 GMT -5
Falling Book 2: Finding Marlena – Chapter 9
How far would you be willing to go to save the one person you deeply care about and possibly love? Would you be willing to risk everything you have, everything you’ve built your entire life on and around for one person? Even if it meant that you’d have to give up that person, and any chance of you ever being together? If given a chance would you? Could you?
For Stefano Dimera his conundrum was much more than that of a lesser mans. Reconciling the fact that the woman that he’d loved and lusted after for two decades was now morally and ethically off limits to him was harder than he thought it would be. Even though his brain was telling him that this was wrong, thinking of Marlena in anything other way was wrong, his heart was unable to stop the torrent of emotions. As much as he wanted to just accept Marlena as his niece and move on, he was unable to.
During the day he was consumed with revenge, revenge upon those that brought the destruction of his brother John Dimera and his family and revenge upon those that foolishly decided to cross his path by hunting after one of his own like she was a common criminal. No Dimera would ever be treated like that, Stefano vowed. His endless search and devotion to his family and their protection helped assuage the guilt her felt over what he dreamt about at night. At night Marlena visited him in his dreams, willingly joining him in bed in a vision of white lace in the candlelight.
“I’m no better than my brother John,” he said outloud to himself, as he got ready for bed, knowing that his dreaming of Marlena was inevitable. Shane Donovan had disclosed to him months ago what a monster his brother was to his family, but particularly to Marlena. Did his dreaming about doing to Marlena what his brother actually did make them the same? The more he thought about it, the more he drank. However, no amount of alcohol seemed to ease the pain he felt deep in his soul, knowing that his dreams were wrong.
“I’ve got to stop doing this to myself,” he thought as he took off his robe and climbed into the barren four-post bed. Laying alone, with no one but himself for company his thoughts turned to his nemesis John Black, the man he hated with every ounce of his being. His hate and rage towards John conflicted with his feeling of gratitude for John protecting his queen. How could he be so consumed with hate for the man that was doing the one thing that he was unable to?
“Damn John Black,” Stefano muttered as he grabbed his pillow and fluffed it. “Damn him. I should have killed him years ago when I had the chance.”
**********************
“I’m going to kill you…kill you with my bare hands,” John mumbled in his sleep, tossing and turning in the small bunk of the boat. John grabbed Alex by the neck and squeezed him as hard as he could, pushing him up against the faded red brick wall.
“Did you do it North?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alex replied smugly.
“Did you fucking send that man to rape Marlena, to rape my wife?” John demanded as he slowly placed more pressure on Alex’s windpipe.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alex said with a little more effort.
“Did you send that man to rape Marlena?” John asked once again as he placed even more pressure on him. John was filled in inexplicable rage, rage that he hadn’t felt in years. It was taking every once of effort for him not to just finish Alex off with one quick blow to the windpipe, like he’d been taught to do by Stefano so many years before.
“I can’t breathe.” Alex was starting to sweat profusely and panic.
“Did you?”
“Yes…alright I did it,” Alex said, gasping for air.
“Why?” John stepped back dumfounded. The man had actually admitted to doing something so vile that John still didn’t believe it. He’d asked the question thinking that Marlena was mistaken.
“Let go of me and I’ll tell you,” Alex threatened him, knowing that he still had some leverage on his side; information that John wanted but didn’t have.
Not knowing what to say or do and still stunned by Alex’s confirmation; John let him go with a quick shove against the wall. As Alex cowered in the corner, the more John thought about what Alex did to Marlena, the madder he became. It was no longer about retribution for what he had done to her, but what he had done to them. In the absence of the attack, Marlena might not have distanced herself from John for all that time. She wouldn’t have gotten so wrapped up with Tony and the twins. He wouldn’t have lost all that time with her when she kicked him out of the penthouse when the town of Salem lived in fear of the serial killer. It was because of Alex that he had lost precious years with her when she was presumed dead. Ultimately her infidelity with Roman would never have happened and she wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. Without her being pregnant and falling down the stairs, her amnesia never would have happened and Alex fucking North wouldn’t have been reintroduced into their lives. It was a sick chain of events and he was the one that set it all in motion. One act one night, 5 years of misery that should never have happened.
Enough thinking about what might have been, all John had to go on what was, and what was, was that Alex was going to pay dearly. Taking his gun out of its holster he released the safety lock and pointed the barrel at Alex. “Talk, you worthless piece of shit…you’re running out of time.”
“Because the answers are inside of her,” Alex blurted out in fear, seeing the rage boiling beneath John’s cool exterior. “She’s the only one that knows the numbers…”
“What the hell are you talking about?” John interrupted.
“Your precious Marlena is much more important than you realize…she knows things that Presidents would risk their whole administration and legacy to protect, things that are worth more than….”
“Stop talking in codes North and tell me the fucking truth… Why did you fucking do it? WHY?”
“I needed what was in her head…your precious Marlena doesn’t even realize that she holds the key to everything… I needed that key and knew that her little encounter might trigger her memory recall… Her mind is more messed up than I realized. I don’t think even Mason could straighten it out if he tried,” Alex laughed nervously. “No foul, no harm right? You aren’t going to shoot, are you?”
“Afraid I have to pal….can’t let a scum by the likes of you that did what you did to my wife get away, can I?” John said as he placed the barrel of the gun against Alex’s temple and started to pull the trigger.
“She’s a very beautiful woman, you have to be vary of girls like that,” Alex said in the nanosecond before John pulled the trigger.
“What?” John asked.
“She’s a very beautiful girl Forrest….You have to be vary of girls like that, they know how to use men to their advantage,” Matthew Dimera warned his cousin. Sitting on top of the picnic table, John swung his legs back and forth watching the gorgeous blonde as she walked along the beach lost in thought.
“And you would know this because?” John asked Matthew, knowing that Matthew was all talk and little action. He fancied himself a ladies man, but had little experience in that department.
“You wound me cousin….are you going to stare at her all day or are you going to talk to her?” Matthew asked motioning towards the young woman that seemed out of place. Wearing crème colored linen pants and a matching blouse, she seemed lost in the sea of sand.
“Later…see you at dinner,” John said as he hopped down from the table and straightened out his chinos.
“Don’t be late Forrest….you know how mad they get when you don’t follow proper etiquette,” Matthew joked. John knew it wasn’t a joke though. His family was more concerned than most about how they looked to the outside world than their actual substance. Tardiness was one of those things that set his Aunt Suzanne off. From an early age Forrest was reared not only to dress the best, behave better than other children his age, but also to consider himself as better than those of a lower class. As hard as he tried to buy into and accept his family’s constant tutelage the harder it became. Although he was only sixteen, he was wise beyond his years, already achieving the maturity and insight necessary to recognize and accept people for what they were.
“Screw etiquette,” John yelled back at his cousin as he quickly walked toward the girl. After licking his palms, he quickly tried to slick down his jet back hair.
Standing behind her, John took a moment to gather the courage to talk. He’d never been nervous around a girl or a woman for that matter in his whole life, yet here he was palms sweating, heart pounding. “What’s your name?” John finally gathered enough courage to ask.
“Ju…Ju…Jill,” she replied as she slowly turned around, not quite looking at him. John couldn’t tell if she was nervous or just plain rude.
“That’s a pretty name,” he said watching as she shuffled her white tennis shoes slowly against the hot sand.
“Thanks,” she nervously replied, not knowing what else to say.
“So are you here on vacation?” he asked, trying to engage her in a conversation long enough to see what color her eyes were. He imagined them to be as green as the ocean in front of them.
“Yes.”
“With your family?” he asked thinking that she looked only to be fourteen or fifteen years old at most. He’d been at the resort for the past six weeks, how had he not seen her before?
“I guess.” What did that mean? She was either here with her family or wasn’t?
“Hey there Jules,” a girl that looked exactly like Jill said as she walked up to them. John watched as the twin put her arm around her sister and stuck out her hand for him to shake.
“I’m Samantha,” she said, her hazel eyes appearing to be almost green in the sunlight.
“Forrest,” he said smiling as he shook her hand. “Forrest Alamain and I was under the impression that your sisters name was Jill,” John said with an air of authority. All the years of grooming lessons had paid off. His Aunt Suzanne would be proud of his manners.
Samantha laughed as she looked over at her sister. “She’s such a kidder….her name is Julie, but you can call her Marlena... Don’t ask….long story,” Samantha said as she held onto John’s hand a little longer than necessary.
John looked over at this Julie/Marlena person and noticed her standing quietly by. For as quiet as she was, her sister more than made up for it. “I was just asking your sister if you were here with your family.”
“I guess you could say that,” Samantha said as she took inventory of one Forrest Alamain. John could see the look in her eyes and knew that she appreciated what she saw. He was no stranger to the looks of women, but that was as far as his actual experience went. He’d never admit that to his cousin Matthew though. It was better for Matthew to think of him as a woman-conquering stud. Brought him more respect.
“Who are you here with Forrest?” Samantha asked, the R’s in Forrest rolling off her tongue.
“Extended family….It’s a yearly obligation for me,” John explained, not wanting to offer more than that. The twins didn’t seem to pick up on his last name, which was a good sign.
“Sounds fascinating…you’ll have to tell me all about it later,” Samantha propositioned him. Twirling a long strand of her blonde hair around her index finger, she looked up at him coyly through half closed eyes. “Much later.”
“Julie…um Marlena…which name do you prefer I call you by?” he asked the quiet blonde, thinking that she looked more like a Marlena to him.
“It doesn’t matter,” she responded, still not making eye contact with him. The more she ignored him, the more John wanted to engage her.
“Okay…Marlena… Are your parents here?” he asked, not missing the look that passed between the sisters.
“We don’t have parents,” Samantha replied, putting her well manicured hands into the pockets of her bell bottom jeans. Slowly she sashayed from one foot to the other, trying to entrance the handsome stranger. Men had never been able to resist her, why should this one?
“Samantha…” Marlena warned her.
“What? It’s not like it’s a secret anyway… well its not.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, who are you here with?” John wondered if they were European royalty. It wasn’t often that he got to meet new people, for it seemed that everyone in his parents social status seemed to travel to the same places at the same time each year. Winters were spent in Austria or Switzerland skiing followed by a couple weeks of recuperation in the south of France. Every summer they spent two months at their summer house in the Mediterranean. Fall was spent in the Caribbean, which was where he happened to run into Marlena and Samantha.
“Our guardians,” Samantha told him before Marlena ever had a chance to. “Our parents are dead.”
“Wow…” John said as he took a step back, stunned by the young woman’s callousness. “I’m sorry,” he said with regret, more towards Marlena than towards Samantha.
“I’m not,” Samantha joked. “My life is a hell of a lot better now.”
John watched, as Marlena seemed to shrink in her own skin, obviously wanting to be anywhere else but there. Placing her right index finger into her mouth, she slowly chewed on the nail. “Still its tragic anytime you lose a parent,” he told her.
“We need to get back Samantha,” Marlena said, as she wiped a tear quickly from her face hoping that no one saw it. “They’ll be worried about us.” John quietly watched her; her tears and sadness not lost on him.
“You go back miss goodie two shoes…I plan to have some fun with Mr. Alamain here,” Samantha said as she looped her arm around John’s and leaned into his body for support. John could smell her perfume, but didn’t recognize the scent.
“I will,” Marlena said softly to her sister as she walked away. John followed her form as she quickly walked away unsure of what to do.
“Wait,” John yelled after Marlena. “Wait.” Disengaging his arm from Samantha’s lethal grip he took off running after Marlena.
“Wait Marlena,” he pleaded as he caught up with her. He wasn’t ready for the moment to end, there was still so much more to discover about this mysterious girl.
“What?” she said as she turned around and looked over his shoulder towards her sister. Samantha had seemingly lost her patience with and interest in Forrest and was running down the beach toward a group of teenagers. John was blown away by the intensity of the color of her hazel eyes. He’d never seen anyone with eyes quite like hers. For as bright and full of life as they were, they also contained a deep underlying sadness that John didn’t understand.
“How can I contact you? Are you staying at the hotel?” John wasn’t willing for the moment to end and was scared that he was never going to see her again.
“You can’t,” she whispered, eyes downcast once again.
“Why not?”
“He won’t allow it.”
“Who is he?”
“Frank…my guardian…look I know you mean well, but I’m sorry….this has to be it.”
“Can’t I just walk with you along the beach for now? There’s no harm in that is there?” One way or another John was determined to break Marlena’s chilly and guarded façade.
“Why?”
“Why not? It’s a beautiful afternoon at a lovely resort.”
“I’m not much for company,” Marlena added, not understanding why this handsome teenager was still talking to her when he could easily be spending his time with her beautiful and talented sister.
“That’s okay…we don’t have to talk.”
“You’re not going to leave me alone are you?” Marlena asked as she stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at him. The instant that their eyes met he was left speechless. He felt a connection with her that he’d never felt for another soul in his entire life. As he stared at her, he felt like she was looking into his soul and taking hold of all the pain he’d felt and stored carefully away, gently caressing it. The hair on his arms standing up, John felt electricity in the air. Although he’d just met her, he felt like he’d known her forever. Everything about her was comfort and hope and at the same time mystery and fear. Unable to break the contact, break the connection, he reached out to take her hand.
“It’s you,” she whispered as she slowly closed her eyes unable to stand the intensity of the moment.
“What?” John asked as he abruptly sat up in the small bunk, slamming his head against the fiberglass ceiling. His black T-shirt drenched in sweat, John frantically leaned over the bed and looked in the bottom bunk for Marlena, needing to tell her about his dream.
“Marlena?”
Not seeing any sign of her he hopped down from his bunk and quickly ran up the small set of stairs to the top deck to find her. “Marlena?” he asked. The deck of the boat was shrouded in fog, visibility less than 5 feet. He panicked not being able to see the island.
“Marlena where are you?” John yelled out into the distance not knowing where Marlena was only that she wasn’t on the boat. “Marlena?” he yelled again as he started to panic. “MARLENA…..MARLENA.”
“John….help me,” he heard her shout followed by the sound of a gun being fired.
How far would you be willing to go to save the one person you deeply care about and possibly love? Would you be willing to risk everything you have, everything you’ve built your entire life on and around for one person? Even if it meant that you’d have to give up that person, and any chance of you ever being together? If given a chance would you? Could you?
For Stefano Dimera his conundrum was much more than that of a lesser mans. Reconciling the fact that the woman that he’d loved and lusted after for two decades was now morally and ethically off limits to him was harder than he thought it would be. Even though his brain was telling him that this was wrong, thinking of Marlena in anything other way was wrong, his heart was unable to stop the torrent of emotions. As much as he wanted to just accept Marlena as his niece and move on, he was unable to.
During the day he was consumed with revenge, revenge upon those that brought the destruction of his brother John Dimera and his family and revenge upon those that foolishly decided to cross his path by hunting after one of his own like she was a common criminal. No Dimera would ever be treated like that, Stefano vowed. His endless search and devotion to his family and their protection helped assuage the guilt her felt over what he dreamt about at night. At night Marlena visited him in his dreams, willingly joining him in bed in a vision of white lace in the candlelight.
“I’m no better than my brother John,” he said outloud to himself, as he got ready for bed, knowing that his dreaming of Marlena was inevitable. Shane Donovan had disclosed to him months ago what a monster his brother was to his family, but particularly to Marlena. Did his dreaming about doing to Marlena what his brother actually did make them the same? The more he thought about it, the more he drank. However, no amount of alcohol seemed to ease the pain he felt deep in his soul, knowing that his dreams were wrong.
“I’ve got to stop doing this to myself,” he thought as he took off his robe and climbed into the barren four-post bed. Laying alone, with no one but himself for company his thoughts turned to his nemesis John Black, the man he hated with every ounce of his being. His hate and rage towards John conflicted with his feeling of gratitude for John protecting his queen. How could he be so consumed with hate for the man that was doing the one thing that he was unable to?
“Damn John Black,” Stefano muttered as he grabbed his pillow and fluffed it. “Damn him. I should have killed him years ago when I had the chance.”
**********************
“I’m going to kill you…kill you with my bare hands,” John mumbled in his sleep, tossing and turning in the small bunk of the boat. John grabbed Alex by the neck and squeezed him as hard as he could, pushing him up against the faded red brick wall.
“Did you do it North?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alex replied smugly.
“Did you fucking send that man to rape Marlena, to rape my wife?” John demanded as he slowly placed more pressure on Alex’s windpipe.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alex said with a little more effort.
“Did you send that man to rape Marlena?” John asked once again as he placed even more pressure on him. John was filled in inexplicable rage, rage that he hadn’t felt in years. It was taking every once of effort for him not to just finish Alex off with one quick blow to the windpipe, like he’d been taught to do by Stefano so many years before.
“I can’t breathe.” Alex was starting to sweat profusely and panic.
“Did you?”
“Yes…alright I did it,” Alex said, gasping for air.
“Why?” John stepped back dumfounded. The man had actually admitted to doing something so vile that John still didn’t believe it. He’d asked the question thinking that Marlena was mistaken.
“Let go of me and I’ll tell you,” Alex threatened him, knowing that he still had some leverage on his side; information that John wanted but didn’t have.
Not knowing what to say or do and still stunned by Alex’s confirmation; John let him go with a quick shove against the wall. As Alex cowered in the corner, the more John thought about what Alex did to Marlena, the madder he became. It was no longer about retribution for what he had done to her, but what he had done to them. In the absence of the attack, Marlena might not have distanced herself from John for all that time. She wouldn’t have gotten so wrapped up with Tony and the twins. He wouldn’t have lost all that time with her when she kicked him out of the penthouse when the town of Salem lived in fear of the serial killer. It was because of Alex that he had lost precious years with her when she was presumed dead. Ultimately her infidelity with Roman would never have happened and she wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. Without her being pregnant and falling down the stairs, her amnesia never would have happened and Alex fucking North wouldn’t have been reintroduced into their lives. It was a sick chain of events and he was the one that set it all in motion. One act one night, 5 years of misery that should never have happened.
Enough thinking about what might have been, all John had to go on what was, and what was, was that Alex was going to pay dearly. Taking his gun out of its holster he released the safety lock and pointed the barrel at Alex. “Talk, you worthless piece of shit…you’re running out of time.”
“Because the answers are inside of her,” Alex blurted out in fear, seeing the rage boiling beneath John’s cool exterior. “She’s the only one that knows the numbers…”
“What the hell are you talking about?” John interrupted.
“Your precious Marlena is much more important than you realize…she knows things that Presidents would risk their whole administration and legacy to protect, things that are worth more than….”
“Stop talking in codes North and tell me the fucking truth… Why did you fucking do it? WHY?”
“I needed what was in her head…your precious Marlena doesn’t even realize that she holds the key to everything… I needed that key and knew that her little encounter might trigger her memory recall… Her mind is more messed up than I realized. I don’t think even Mason could straighten it out if he tried,” Alex laughed nervously. “No foul, no harm right? You aren’t going to shoot, are you?”
“Afraid I have to pal….can’t let a scum by the likes of you that did what you did to my wife get away, can I?” John said as he placed the barrel of the gun against Alex’s temple and started to pull the trigger.
“She’s a very beautiful woman, you have to be vary of girls like that,” Alex said in the nanosecond before John pulled the trigger.
“What?” John asked.
“She’s a very beautiful girl Forrest….You have to be vary of girls like that, they know how to use men to their advantage,” Matthew Dimera warned his cousin. Sitting on top of the picnic table, John swung his legs back and forth watching the gorgeous blonde as she walked along the beach lost in thought.
“And you would know this because?” John asked Matthew, knowing that Matthew was all talk and little action. He fancied himself a ladies man, but had little experience in that department.
“You wound me cousin….are you going to stare at her all day or are you going to talk to her?” Matthew asked motioning towards the young woman that seemed out of place. Wearing crème colored linen pants and a matching blouse, she seemed lost in the sea of sand.
“Later…see you at dinner,” John said as he hopped down from the table and straightened out his chinos.
“Don’t be late Forrest….you know how mad they get when you don’t follow proper etiquette,” Matthew joked. John knew it wasn’t a joke though. His family was more concerned than most about how they looked to the outside world than their actual substance. Tardiness was one of those things that set his Aunt Suzanne off. From an early age Forrest was reared not only to dress the best, behave better than other children his age, but also to consider himself as better than those of a lower class. As hard as he tried to buy into and accept his family’s constant tutelage the harder it became. Although he was only sixteen, he was wise beyond his years, already achieving the maturity and insight necessary to recognize and accept people for what they were.
“Screw etiquette,” John yelled back at his cousin as he quickly walked toward the girl. After licking his palms, he quickly tried to slick down his jet back hair.
Standing behind her, John took a moment to gather the courage to talk. He’d never been nervous around a girl or a woman for that matter in his whole life, yet here he was palms sweating, heart pounding. “What’s your name?” John finally gathered enough courage to ask.
“Ju…Ju…Jill,” she replied as she slowly turned around, not quite looking at him. John couldn’t tell if she was nervous or just plain rude.
“That’s a pretty name,” he said watching as she shuffled her white tennis shoes slowly against the hot sand.
“Thanks,” she nervously replied, not knowing what else to say.
“So are you here on vacation?” he asked, trying to engage her in a conversation long enough to see what color her eyes were. He imagined them to be as green as the ocean in front of them.
“Yes.”
“With your family?” he asked thinking that she looked only to be fourteen or fifteen years old at most. He’d been at the resort for the past six weeks, how had he not seen her before?
“I guess.” What did that mean? She was either here with her family or wasn’t?
“Hey there Jules,” a girl that looked exactly like Jill said as she walked up to them. John watched as the twin put her arm around her sister and stuck out her hand for him to shake.
“I’m Samantha,” she said, her hazel eyes appearing to be almost green in the sunlight.
“Forrest,” he said smiling as he shook her hand. “Forrest Alamain and I was under the impression that your sisters name was Jill,” John said with an air of authority. All the years of grooming lessons had paid off. His Aunt Suzanne would be proud of his manners.
Samantha laughed as she looked over at her sister. “She’s such a kidder….her name is Julie, but you can call her Marlena... Don’t ask….long story,” Samantha said as she held onto John’s hand a little longer than necessary.
John looked over at this Julie/Marlena person and noticed her standing quietly by. For as quiet as she was, her sister more than made up for it. “I was just asking your sister if you were here with your family.”
“I guess you could say that,” Samantha said as she took inventory of one Forrest Alamain. John could see the look in her eyes and knew that she appreciated what she saw. He was no stranger to the looks of women, but that was as far as his actual experience went. He’d never admit that to his cousin Matthew though. It was better for Matthew to think of him as a woman-conquering stud. Brought him more respect.
“Who are you here with Forrest?” Samantha asked, the R’s in Forrest rolling off her tongue.
“Extended family….It’s a yearly obligation for me,” John explained, not wanting to offer more than that. The twins didn’t seem to pick up on his last name, which was a good sign.
“Sounds fascinating…you’ll have to tell me all about it later,” Samantha propositioned him. Twirling a long strand of her blonde hair around her index finger, she looked up at him coyly through half closed eyes. “Much later.”
“Julie…um Marlena…which name do you prefer I call you by?” he asked the quiet blonde, thinking that she looked more like a Marlena to him.
“It doesn’t matter,” she responded, still not making eye contact with him. The more she ignored him, the more John wanted to engage her.
“Okay…Marlena… Are your parents here?” he asked, not missing the look that passed between the sisters.
“We don’t have parents,” Samantha replied, putting her well manicured hands into the pockets of her bell bottom jeans. Slowly she sashayed from one foot to the other, trying to entrance the handsome stranger. Men had never been able to resist her, why should this one?
“Samantha…” Marlena warned her.
“What? It’s not like it’s a secret anyway… well its not.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, who are you here with?” John wondered if they were European royalty. It wasn’t often that he got to meet new people, for it seemed that everyone in his parents social status seemed to travel to the same places at the same time each year. Winters were spent in Austria or Switzerland skiing followed by a couple weeks of recuperation in the south of France. Every summer they spent two months at their summer house in the Mediterranean. Fall was spent in the Caribbean, which was where he happened to run into Marlena and Samantha.
“Our guardians,” Samantha told him before Marlena ever had a chance to. “Our parents are dead.”
“Wow…” John said as he took a step back, stunned by the young woman’s callousness. “I’m sorry,” he said with regret, more towards Marlena than towards Samantha.
“I’m not,” Samantha joked. “My life is a hell of a lot better now.”
John watched, as Marlena seemed to shrink in her own skin, obviously wanting to be anywhere else but there. Placing her right index finger into her mouth, she slowly chewed on the nail. “Still its tragic anytime you lose a parent,” he told her.
“We need to get back Samantha,” Marlena said, as she wiped a tear quickly from her face hoping that no one saw it. “They’ll be worried about us.” John quietly watched her; her tears and sadness not lost on him.
“You go back miss goodie two shoes…I plan to have some fun with Mr. Alamain here,” Samantha said as she looped her arm around John’s and leaned into his body for support. John could smell her perfume, but didn’t recognize the scent.
“I will,” Marlena said softly to her sister as she walked away. John followed her form as she quickly walked away unsure of what to do.
“Wait,” John yelled after Marlena. “Wait.” Disengaging his arm from Samantha’s lethal grip he took off running after Marlena.
“Wait Marlena,” he pleaded as he caught up with her. He wasn’t ready for the moment to end, there was still so much more to discover about this mysterious girl.
“What?” she said as she turned around and looked over his shoulder towards her sister. Samantha had seemingly lost her patience with and interest in Forrest and was running down the beach toward a group of teenagers. John was blown away by the intensity of the color of her hazel eyes. He’d never seen anyone with eyes quite like hers. For as bright and full of life as they were, they also contained a deep underlying sadness that John didn’t understand.
“How can I contact you? Are you staying at the hotel?” John wasn’t willing for the moment to end and was scared that he was never going to see her again.
“You can’t,” she whispered, eyes downcast once again.
“Why not?”
“He won’t allow it.”
“Who is he?”
“Frank…my guardian…look I know you mean well, but I’m sorry….this has to be it.”
“Can’t I just walk with you along the beach for now? There’s no harm in that is there?” One way or another John was determined to break Marlena’s chilly and guarded façade.
“Why?”
“Why not? It’s a beautiful afternoon at a lovely resort.”
“I’m not much for company,” Marlena added, not understanding why this handsome teenager was still talking to her when he could easily be spending his time with her beautiful and talented sister.
“That’s okay…we don’t have to talk.”
“You’re not going to leave me alone are you?” Marlena asked as she stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at him. The instant that their eyes met he was left speechless. He felt a connection with her that he’d never felt for another soul in his entire life. As he stared at her, he felt like she was looking into his soul and taking hold of all the pain he’d felt and stored carefully away, gently caressing it. The hair on his arms standing up, John felt electricity in the air. Although he’d just met her, he felt like he’d known her forever. Everything about her was comfort and hope and at the same time mystery and fear. Unable to break the contact, break the connection, he reached out to take her hand.
“It’s you,” she whispered as she slowly closed her eyes unable to stand the intensity of the moment.
“What?” John asked as he abruptly sat up in the small bunk, slamming his head against the fiberglass ceiling. His black T-shirt drenched in sweat, John frantically leaned over the bed and looked in the bottom bunk for Marlena, needing to tell her about his dream.
“Marlena?”
Not seeing any sign of her he hopped down from his bunk and quickly ran up the small set of stairs to the top deck to find her. “Marlena?” he asked. The deck of the boat was shrouded in fog, visibility less than 5 feet. He panicked not being able to see the island.
“Marlena where are you?” John yelled out into the distance not knowing where Marlena was only that she wasn’t on the boat. “Marlena?” he yelled again as he started to panic. “MARLENA…..MARLENA.”
“John….help me,” he heard her shout followed by the sound of a gun being fired.