Unintended

Ireland is beautiful. Of course, there was many additions and modernizations since I had last been here, but the drive has been incredible so far. It's pretty cold here. I'm glad I packed a coat. I touched my necklace and thought about the last time I was here.



Through all the smoke it was hard to see what was going on in at the actual castle. It was incredibly dark and the cold nipped at my skin through my shawl. Another cannon went off. It was an unfamiliar sound, as this was my first time on the battle feild and cannons had just been invented thirty years prior.

"Calista!" Jonah got my attention. Another man was brought on a stretcher, bleeding through his clothing on his torso. I ripped through his shirt with my long fingers which were blistering now. A large shard of rock was stuckk just above his intestine. Is seemed to be acting like a plug. The blood that barely leaked from around it would undoubtedly gush out of him, maybe along with his organs. He writhed under my touch.

"I can not help you if you keep moving." I whisper. He stopped as tears slid from his eyes and he beckoned me to lean forward. I did.

"Please...Help me."

"If I take this out you will probably..." My voice trailed off. I felt my eyes get moist. He looked at me, utterly helpless.

"Please pray for me." He sighed, closing his eyes. I motioined for Jonah to take out the seven-inch long shard as I placed a rag in the man's mouth.

"I want you to bite down on this okay?" I said sweetly, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He looked terrified. I kneeled beside him and took his hand in prayer.

"God, I'm calling on you to please help this poor man and save him from his--" The rock is ripped out by Jonah. The man screams and constricts my hand."--suffering and may he lay safe from harm in heaven with thee--" The man sceamed and screamed. I leaned over and grabbed his head in my hands and twisted his neck hard. He finally fell silent.

"Amen."



"Ava?" Josh said, seeming like he'd called my name multiple times already.

"Huh?"

"We're here. Are you okay?"

I look up and shudder. We are at the base of the hill that beholds the ruins of the castle. It looks nearly the same.

"I'm fine." I force a smile, not taking my eyes off of the castle. Josh doesn't move his gaze from me. I see a flash of bodies everywhere--strewn across the court like little fleshy bits of confetti, and then it's gone. I look over at Josh.

"Really." I smile, touching his forearm slightly. His skin is warm but it gives me goosebumps. We get out of the car and I put on my slim black coat. The camera crew is already filming Jason in interview format. I shiver and shove my hands in my pockets and walk towards the group with Josh following.

"Ayyy!" Tango says in a pure Italian accent.

"Ay."I say unenthusiastically. I wait a moment and smile. We have a weird sort of friendship. We hate eachother but we love eachother too.

"I don't think I got my hug." He murmurs, mocking dejection.I make sure the camera crew isn't focusing on us and I give the boy a great big hug, holding him tightly. I hear Josh walk away from behind me. Jason motions everyone over.

"Alright guys, we're going to be teaming up in threes. There's three main areas: The field, the bayshore, and the ruins themselves. Grant, Josh and I are going to meet with the current land owner, and I want Ava, Tango and Ben to just get equipment ready for now." Jason booms over the wind.

I head off to the truck to unload a case of some tech equipment when Ben comes by my side.

"It's Ava, right?" He says after a minute of unpacking.

"Yeah. And you're Ben right? I think we met last week."

"Yeah." After a minute of untangling wires, he adds,"So what's your connection to this place?"

"Jay didn't tell you?"

"No, I don't think half of us know."

"And here I was thinking I was special." I sigh. Ben chuckles.

He is handsome, really. Slightly long, brown hair that was kind of shaggy. His face looked smooth and his jaw was pointed at the chin. I continue talking to him, telling him my lineage and other things that he wants to know, like where I got my accent (New Jersey) and what interested me in the paranormal.

After we lug all of the equipment up the hill to the edge of the field, I see Jay, Grant and Josh come back out. They laugh at something Josh says that I cannot hear. I step out of the path and onto the field and land myself right into another flashback.



He is hard to carry, so I end up dragging him. Tears fill my eyes, not because of the pain in my torn bicep and calfs, but because he is dying and I know I can't save him. He forces labored breaths.

"You will need to become someone else." He sputters, exhaling blood. I feel a tear slip out of my eye.

"I don't want to become anyone else."

"You can not die, but you must make them think you have."

"Jonah, I can save you!" I yelp. He begins closing his eyes. I hold his hand and lean over him."You wont die! You can't!"

"I can. Let me tell you this, Aruna," His use of my real name coupled with his rasping speech makes me shudder,"We have eternal youth but we are not immortal. We are not God, merely a creation. You are just as vulnerable as any of the men on this field, as am I. I want you to take this," he rips at his flesh, I am horrified but he manages to dig out the shard of shrapnel that had severed his jugular,"Take this and never forget what the world can do to you. Take this and never forget that you are vulnerable at all times, Aruna. Take this." He forces it into my hands. The piece of metal is so bloody I can't tell if it's grey or black or red.

"Jonah, please. You can't leave me for the rest of--" BANG. Another loud blast of a cannon as a large object misses my skull by six inches. I find myself so distracted by what I can see, but everything feels like it stops when Jonah's hand tightens on mine and then releases, dropping into my palm the piece of metal.

The piece of metal that killed the only thing I had left.



I shuddered as I touched the pendant hanging over my throat in the exact spot it had penetrated Jonah. I hadn't even realized I was on the ground. I'm not sure I want to open my eyes.

"What I would give to have that back..." I whisper.

"Ava?" A very worried Jay came. Everything around me was quiet. My eyes fluttered open and had to adjust to the setting sunlight.

"Thank God." I hear Grant whisper. Even the camera men were just staring--not filming--staring. Jay was kneeled beside me. I sit up slowly as he supports my back with his arm.

"Jesus. How long was I out?" I mutter, rubbing my sore head.

"About fifteen minutes. Do we need to take you to the hospital?" He stated it, more than asked. My eyes got wide.

"No. I'm fine. I'm fine."

"You just fucking collapsed out of nowhere, don't tell me you're 'fine'. I knew you were sensitive but Jesus--I thought you were dead for a minute. Hell, you could have rolled right off the fucking cliff."

"I'm fine. The pressure change was probably too much. I um...I probably jogged up the hill too quickly." I lie. I look around and add,"I'm not going anywhere, so can you guys stop staring please?"

"Ave, they're just as worried as I am. Do you need to go home?"

"No, I'll be fine. I'm feeling better already."

"I know you're sensitive to these kind of things--"

"We can just take the logical approach on this one. We don't know that this was anything paranormal, there is no reason for anything to target me like that. Let's be logical, Jason." I sigh. I add:"Sorry."

"It's okay...Are you sure you're going to be fine?"

"Positive."

Jay is quiet for a minute then nods. I notice everyone is exchanging worried glances back and forth, trying hard not to look to my request. I appreciate the effort, but Josh is not among them.

"I can take it from here Jay." Josh mumbles. Jay looks up at him, considers, and nods, slowly getting up and walking away reluctantly. As soon as he is out of ear shot, Josh leans down next to me and whispers.

"What the fuck happened?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." I sigh. "Shall we go on?"

"Grant and I are going to take the first investigation on by the bayside." Jason thinks for a minute."Josh, why don't you stay here and we'll take Ben with us. You'll know what to do better in case something happens."

"Alright." Josh nods, not taking his eyes off me.

"Tango, you monitor the cameras and stay here with these two."

"Okay."

Things got serious damn fast. Josh holds out a hand and smiels at me slightly. I take it and he stands, helping to pull me up. He holds onto me until I get my footing, making sure to keep a hand on my back all the way to the van. I sit in a chair next to Tango by the cameras.

"What are you doing?"

"Something productive."

"Bullshit. You need to lay down."

"I appreciate the concern, I really do. But I'm fine, David."I murmur. He sigsh in defeat and Josh sits on the other side of me and we monitor together. I'm nervous to get out there for my investigation. But I can't wait.