Broken Scream

“Good bye, Alice, I hope we have a chance to meet again I have enjoyed getting to know you.” Rosie said. She embraced me in a tight hug.
“Rosie I can’t breathe you’re hugging me to tight.” I wheezed. She loosened her grip around me. “It was good to meet you too, Rosie.” I said.
“You have to come visit me when you have the chance. It doesn’t matter when just as long as you come visit me.” Rosie cried.
“I’ll try my best, Rosie. When I get a free time I’ll come visit you.” I said.
“I’m going to hold you to that. Rick, you be nice to her she is a very sweet girl.” Rosie accused.
“Sweet? You should have been there when we first met her she was no where near sweet. She still isn’t as sweet as you think she is.” Rick defended himself.
Rosie rolled her eyes then gave me one last hug before she went inside. We started walking down the road towards Nevada. I looked back at the ocean and felt sad that I had to leave it behind. I loved the ocean like mother loves her new born baby. The ocean looked calm and peaceful today. I turned around and fallowed Rick.
We passed a sign that said Nevada 257 miles. That was going to be a lot of walking to get there. I wonder what they have waiting in Nevada. We will probably have to stop before we get to Nevada because it would probably be dark before we get there. I had to jog to keep up to them because they were walking so fast.
“It’s going to take a while until we get to Nevada, Rick.” I said.
“We’re not going to Nevada. My cousin is sending over his private jet so we can meet him in Nashville, Tennessee. We called him last night he wants to meet you and give us some information. The jet is going to be up in this field.” Rick said.
I stopped dead in my tracks. “Wait, we’re flying?”
“Yeah, why?” Rick asked.
“No reason just caught me off guard.” I said.
I didn’t want to tell him, but I hated flying. It was too high and we could crash, and I didn’t want that to happen. I decided to just suck it up and get on the jet. The jet was black with a red strip running down the side of it. The seats were comfortable, but I was still nervous about the flight. I sat down in the seat and put my seatbelt on. Rick sat by me, and the others sat across from us. They all buckled their seatbelts also. I put my hands down on the arm rests and tried to relax. The arm rests seemed uncomfortable so I put my hands in my lap. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. The engines on the jet started up, and a voice came on over the inner come. I was too busy trying to stay calm, so I didn’t hear a thing the person was saying.
The person finished talking, and the next thing I knew we were moving. The jet got some speed up then he took off. My hand shot up and squeezed what I thought would be the arm rest, but turned out to be Ricks arm. My eyes were squeezed shut and I didn’t loosen my grip on Ricks arm. We could take off or seat belts now, but I was not about to do that. Everyone else took them off. Rick managed to pry his arm from my grip he reached over and unbuckled my seat belt. I didn’t do anything about it I just sat there gripping the arm rest.
I finally decided to get up and walk around the jet. I was about to head to the bathroom when we hit an air pocket. I let out a shrill screech and grabbed onto Brian’s arm because he was the closest person to me. I couldn’t move my legs or anything it took both Brian and Rick to get me back to my seat, and buckle me up. After I unfroze I started shaking like a person in the middle of a snow storm wearing shorts. I pulled my legs up to my chest and put my chin on them. I took a deep shaky breath in through my mouth.
The jet began to lose altitude as we started to land. Everyone got buckled up again as they felt the jet go down. I felt a ping of relief in the pit of my stomach. The plane hit the ground and started to slow down, and then it came to a complete stop. The doors opened and everyone got out. When my feet hit the ground I was so happy to be alive and touching solid ground. I stretched my limbs out as we were walking out of the building we had landed in.
Rick touched my arm and asked me softly. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were afraid of flying, we could have walked?”
“It wouldn’t have been fair if the person flew all the way here for no reason. I just decided to suck it up and get o the jet.” I said.
“Careful, your nice is showing.” Rick teased.
“We don’t want that now do we?” I said sarcastically.
“Next time you’re afraid of something, and we can take a different route, tell me.” Rick said softly.
“No that’s ok; you don’t need to know everything I’m afraid of. We can just do what was planned every time.” I said.
“You know fears are for overcoming. How can you overcome your fears if you don’t ask for help? Rick asked.
“I don’t need to overcome my fears because they make me who I am, and I don’t want to change that.” I said.
“Strange, I know a lot of people who want to overcome their fears. I know I want to.” Rick said.
“Well I’m not a lot of people.” I said.
“Rick, how have you been? It has been too long.” A guy said. He wrapped Rick in a tight hug.
“Yes hello, Spencer. I’m good how, are you?” Rick wheezed.
“Great just great. There has been a lot going on around here for the past couple of weeks, I’m just glad you decided to call me when you did. I have to tell you about it out of ear shot of the unknowing ears. Speaking of unknowing ears is this the Alice you have told me about?”
“Yes, Spencer, this is the Alice I have told you about.” Rick said.
“Well, Alice, it is a pleasure to meet you my name is Spencer.” Spencer said.
He stuck out his hand for me to shake I looked at it and crossed my arms. “Yeah that’s what I heard when you were talking with a person who has knowing ears.”
Rick started to laugh and Spencer gave him a confused look. “Cousin, you started off on her bad side. That is just too funny; you don’t want to be on her bad side. Trust me I’ve been on her bad side and good side for the past four or five days.”
“Come on, Rick, I need to give you some information that could help you along the way. You just need to keep it between you three, Alice can’t know about it. It’s no offence to you, Alice, it’s just you’re not part of this like we are. No it’s nothing illegal.” Spencer grumbled.
They went off towards a small building south of the landing strip. Spencer pointed me to a car that would take me to his place. I went over to the car and got in. The driver was short and ugly. His face has warts all over it, and it looked like it was swollen. I sat in the back seat quietly. The drive wasn’t too long it only took about twenty minutes. His house wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be a mansion, but it was a one level with two rooms, one kitchen a living room a family room, and two bathrooms. It was the kind of house I like except I would rather have four rooms not two.
I sat down on the couch and waited patiently for them to get here. It felt weird to be in someone’s house without them being here. He had a television, but I didn’t know if I was allowed to watch it. I got up and went outside he had targets set up out back, so I decided to get my bow practice in. I took my bow from my bag and opened it up. I aimed at the target carefully I let the arrow go and it hit just to the right of the bulls eye. I took another arrow and aimed again.
I was about letting go of the arrow when Spencer came up behind me. “Ah, so you are a bow and arrow type of person. That is a fine weapon, a fine weapon indeed.” I jumped and my arrow went flying past the target and hit the fence.
“Be careful who you sneak up on. You made me miss my target I could have hit the bulls eye.” I complained.
Spencer just laughed. He was about my height had short spiky light brown hair; he had a high set jaw. His nose was narrow, his eyes were a shade of green, and his lips were perfectly shaped. Not to mention he had muscles, all in all he was a good looking guy. I pressed the button on my bow and it shrunk down to the size of a pill. I walked over and did the same to the two arrows I shot.
“That’s a cool trick your bow can do. Where did you get it from?” Spencer asked.
“I’ll tell you what I told Brian, I made the bow myself.” I said.
“That seems like it would take a lot of mechanics and math to come up with something like this. How exactly did you design a weapon like this, and how long did it take you?” Spencer asked.
“I didn’t want to carry a big bow around with me it was just too much trouble, so I decided to make a retractable bow and some arrows to go with it. It took me about four hours to build this one. The one Brian has it only took me about two hours.” I explained.
“That’s not that long a person who can do that must have an I.Q of one hundred and forty seven.” Spencer cooed.
“I really don’t know what my I.Q is I never got it tested.” I said.
“You’re pretty cute for a smart girl. How do you explain that?”
I didn’t have anything to say to that. I didn’t realize that he was inching towards me until my back was pressed up against the wall of the house. He put his arms on either side of my head blocking me in. I had no idea what he was doing, but I didn’t like it. He leaned down and sniffed my neck. He pulled away and his arms fell to his sides he looked confused. I rolled my hand into a ball and punched him right in the jaw. He fell back onto the ground and rubbed the spot I hit. It was already starting to bruise.
“For someone so small you can hit really hard, you made my vision blur for a second there. You don’t smell like a normal human.” Spencer said.
“Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel nice. I smell like fish because I fell in the ocean, and I didn’t get to take a shower. That still didn’t give you a reason to sniff me, that’s just wrong.” I said.
He was getting up and I kicked him in the leg. “Ow! Stop hitting me it hurts! I was just trying to figure out what that scent was.”
“Sniffing my neck was not the way to do it you idiot. The way you were talking to me was not you trying to find out what that scent was.” I snapped.
I stomped off into the house. Rick tried to stop me, but I just ignored him and sat on the couch. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in through my nose. It didn’t help me calm down that much, but it did help a very little bit. The front door opened, and Spencer came limping in.
“Whoa, dude what happened to you? Your face it seriously messed up. Wait that came out wrong.” Rick said.
“Your little friend punched me in the jaw and kicked me in the leg.” Spencer said.
Rick gave me a look I couldn’t decipher. “That’s only after he sniffed my neck, and told me how bad I smell. I would have taken a shower if I could have, but Rosie’s shower wasn’t working.” I snapped.
“I’m glad I’m kind if on your good side. You have some power behind your punch.” Rick laughed.
“If you want to take a shower you can use mine. I don’t feel like getting punched again for cringing at your smell.” Spencer teased.
I grabbed a pen off of the table sitting by the couch and chucked it Right at Spencer. The pen hit him right in the middle of his forehead. I turned around and went towards the bathroom. The cloths I was wearing were still clean, so I would just wear them after my shower. I took off my cloths and hopped in the shower. I let the water trickle down my back for a little while before washing up. The shower felt good and refreshing. I brushed through my hair, and walked out of the bathroom.
I was walking down the hall when I heard the guys all talking in a whisper. They didn’t realize I had come out of the bathroom. I tiptoed closer so I could hear them clearer. They were talking about me, that much was clear.
“You said she didn’t smell human, do you think that means she is-” Rick started to say, but Spencer cut him off.
“I don’t know, Rick, it might be what she said. It could have just been the ocean I smelled. If it wasn’t I can find out after she gets out of her shower. She should be getting out soon I’ll go check.” Spencer said.
I turned around and darted for the bathroom. I got in shut the door and locked it before Spencer could even get there. I slid down and sat on the floor. I heard Spencer knock on the door. I kept my mouth shut, and didn’t say anything.
“Hey, Alice, are you almost done in there?” Spencer asked.
“Yeah, sorry the knots in my hair are ridiculous.” I lied. “I’m coming out now.”
I walked out of the bathroom and past Spencer. I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch by Rick. Spencer came and sat down beside me, so I scooted closer to Rick. My arm was almost touching Ricks arm, and my leg was almost touching his leg. I didn’t want to be anywhere close to Spencer, but here I was sitting next to him.
“So, Alice, where you adopted by chance?” Spencer asked.
“No not that I know of. My parents never told me I was adopted, so I don’t think I was.” I said.
“Are you sure about that?” Spencer asked.
“I’m almost positive that I’m not adopted.” I said. “Why are you even asking me this?”
“O no reason once so ever. I just thought I would ask.” Spencer said.
“Well you asked and I told, so is that all you wanted to ask me. Your jaw is really bruised, Spencer, you should put some ice on that.” I teased.
“Well it wouldn’t be bruised if you didn’t punch me you idiot.” Spencer said.
“Do you really want to bring that up again, I was just telling you that you should put ice on it so it didn’t get worse.” I snapped.
“Well I doubt that will help it now.” He snapped back.
“This doesn’t seem like this is going to turn out well, maybe we should go stay in a hotel or something. By the end of the night one of you is going to end up in the hospital.” Rick said.
“No, don’t go. You just got here and I haven’t seen you in forever, I can try to get along with her.” Spencer begged.
“Do you think you could do that, Alice?” Rick asked me rudely.
“I can try, but I can’t make any promises. If he tries to sniff me ever again I will knock him out.” I warned.
“You might have a hard punch, but I doubt you could knock me out.” Spencer teased.
“My dad didn’t put me in karate for no reason. I know how to kick some butt big time.” I teased right back.
“Karate you say, why did your dad put you in tie jitsu?” Spencer asked.
“My dad was way over protective of me for some reason, so he had me join so I could protect myself if it were necessary. It wasn’t of course, but my dad had to put me in it. I was his little girl. I started it when I was three and went until a year ago; I was the teacher’s assistant.” I explained.
“Teachers assistant, so you got a black belt?” Spencer asked.
“No I got a red and white belt, that’s one more higher than a black belt. Actually that’s the highest ranking belt you can get in karate.” I told Spencer.
“Wow, why didn’t you keep doing it?” he asked.
“My parents couldn’t pay for it anymore, and I ran away.” I said.
“Why did you run away?” He asked.
“That’s not a story I’m willing to tell you about.” I hissed.
I ended the conversation right there and turned my head. I didn’t like Spencer one little bit, but I would try to be nice to him for the time that I’m here for Rick. They haven’t seen each other in a long time, and I’m not about to take that chance away from them. I, of all people, can understand what it’s like not to see your family in a really long time. I’m still waiting to see my family again. It will probably be many years from now, and after I have a family of my own, but until then I can be as nice as possible to other people that haven’t seen their families in a while. I could feel m eyes getting droopy.
The next thing I knew my head was on Ricks shoulder and I was asleep. In my dream I was standing in a dark building filled with empty cells. There was only one cell that was occupied and that was at the very end of the room. I started to walk towards it at a slow pace. I could hardly see where I was going, so I had to make sure I didn’t trip over anything. Over the cage was a dime, red, light. I could hear deep breathing coming from the cell when I got closer. I was a few inches away from the cell, and getting closer. I stepped up to the cell and peered in, but couldn’t see anyone. I was turning away when something reached out and grabbed my shirt. They yanked me up against the cell bar, and I could see the face clearly. It was blood read, and had a moth full of sharp teeth. Its nails were digging into my flesh.
***
I woke up screaming in a bed that I didn’t remember being in. I felt around my body for scratches, but didn’t find any. I sat up in the bed and put my knees to my chin I started to rock back and forth. I had never had a dream like that before and it freaked me out. Rick came running into the bedroom and right behind him came the others. I kept in my fetal position.
“What happened, Alice, are you ok?” Rick asked.
I opened my mouth to talk, but I couldn’t say anything because I was too scared. I thought what I wanted to say instead. ‘Yeah I’m fine I just had a bad dream.’
“What made it so bad that you had to scream?” Rick asked.
‘Nothing that you should be concerned about.’ I thought.
“You can’t even talk because of it; I think that’s a reason for me to be concerned.” Rick snapped.
‘I’ll tell you later go back to bed. Sorry for waking you up.’ I thought.
“I’m already awake, so why don’t you tell me now.” Rick said.
“Just go to bed you idiot!” I snapped.
“Wait, Rick, why didn’t you tell me you could read her mind?” Spencer asked.
“I didn’t think it was of importance, but I can tell you about it later if you want me to.” Rick said.
“You better, I would really like you to explain how long this has been going on. I can’t believe you didn’t tell your favorite cousin about this.” Spencer scolded.
Everyone filed out of the room and left me to my thoughts. All I could think about was that nightmare. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep again, so I just sat in bed and thought until it was time for everyone to wake up for good.
***
I got out of bed when I heard movement out in the kitchen. When I got out there I tried to go back to my room when I saw Spencer was the only one awake. He saw me before I could leave and stopped me.
“Just the person I needed. Do you like French toast? I know the guys like it, but I didn’t know if you did. Would you rather have chocolate chip pancakes?” Spencer asked.
“French toast is good enough for me it’s the only food selection I can eat that you named off. I’m allergic to chocolate.” I said.
“You’re allergic to chocolate? Man that sucks, chocolate is awesome.” Spencer said.
I managed to crack a small smile before answering him. “Well there is nothing I can do about it. I can find other things that can replace chocolate.”
He let out a small laugh. “I guess you could try.”
“It looks like you two are starting to get along.” Rick said. I didn’t notice he had come in, so I jumped when he talked.
“Ah, Rick, you’re awake we’re having French toast.” Spencer told Rick.
“Cool. Hey, Alice, can I talk to you alone for a moment?” Rick asked.
I nodded my head and got up off of the couch. He took me outside and around to the back of the house. He looked at me for a while.
After a little while he finally spoke. “Are you doing ok?”
“I’m fine, why do you ask?” I asked.
“It’s just when you woke up last night you looked completely petrified. What was your nightmare about that made you look like that?” Rick asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said.
“I know you know what I’m talking about, Alice, I heard you scream. You said you would tell me about it later, well it’s later.” Rick said.
“O that, it’s nothing of importance.” I told him.
“Yes it is, Alice, you woke up screaming at the top of your lungs. That’s not a good thing.” Rick said.
“I’m fine; really it’s nothing to be worried about. Besides I don’t have to tell you about my nightmare.” I said.
“I want you to tell me about your nightmare, so I can help or something.” Rick begged.
“I don’t need help over a stupid nightmare.” I snapped.
“Really, you got up four times to go to the bathroom after that nightmare. My bet is you didn’t even go back to sleep.”
“I wasn’t tired.” I lied.
“Can’t you just tell me? Please, Alice, don’t you trust me yet?” Rick cried.
“I’m doing it again aren’t I? Guarding myself, and not letting anyone in. I do trust you to a point. I guess old habits die hard. The truth is the dream freaked me out so much that I’m afraid to talk about it. When I’m ready to talk about it I’ll tell you.”
“Do you promise?”
“What?”
“Do you promise to tell me about it when you’re ready?”
“Yes, Rick, I promise.”
“Thank you, Alice. Let’s get inside and eat some breakfast.”
“Sounds good to me, I’m starving.”
We went inside after our talk and breakfast wasn’t done just yet. I sat down on the couch and rested my head on my fist. My stomach was yelling at me to hurry up and eat something. Dinner was just finishing when there was an exploding sound outside. Everyone got up and ran to see what it was. I couldn’t see anything out of the window because sand was flying everywhere. There was another exploding sound and it made me jump back. I almost fell over the coffee table. Everyone ran outside and Spencer made a sign that told me to stay here and don’t go outside. I didn’t want to listen to a thing Spencer said, so I waited for a minute and I went outside.