Shadow Dweller Series Book One Purgatory

Chapter 4

 “You died on me for fifteen minutes, but yes you are alive Ms. Knight.” He said helping the other medic get her into the ambulance. “Now please relax, I don’t want to lose you again.”

           Closing her eyes, she wanted this to be real. She wanted to be alive, she had to be. The pain in her body reminded her of what just happened, remembering the medic said she only died for fifteen minutes, so whatever she experienced was just a dream. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes.

           “Can you give me something for the pain, I feel like this has been an eternity.” She complained. Anabel looked down at her body, there was blood everywhere. She had cuts on her arms, a cut on her head, and a bad concussion.

           The medic did as she asked, injecting some pain medicine in her IV. Closing her eyes again, she felt better. The high from the medicine sent her into her mind again. What happened to Carlos, was he okay?

           Shaking her head, “did you find a guy named Carlos?” she said opening her eyes, she wanted to know if he was alright.

           “I’m not sure, there were a lot of victims, just relax we’re almost there.” He said looking at her, and then at the monitors. “At least you have a strong heartbeat; you scared me for a few minutes.” He half-smiled at her.

           Anabel shook her head; she knew she was going to be okay. She had a heartbeat and still felt alive. “I’m going to be okay right?” she asked again.

           “As far as I know Ma’am.” He said half smiling at her.

           They arrived at the hospital; wheeling Anabel in the Doctor came in right away looking over her chart, then her vitals. “Do you remember what happened during your accident Ms. Knight?” he asked shining a light into her eyes

           Thinking real hard for a moment, the only thing that she could remember being in purgatory. “Um no, I don’t remember anything.” She said shaking her head. She did remember everything; well everything but what caused the accident.

           “I want a CT of her head, X-ray her entire body I want results A.S.A.P!” he growled at the staff. “Alright Ms. Knight, I’ll be back once all the tests have results.”

           The hospital did all their tests, finding only short-term memory loss, and some cuts and bruises; they admitted her for two days. The two days went quickly; she didn’t have anything seriously wrong with her. She still had a headache, but the Doctor told her it would take a few days because she did take a pretty nasty hit when the man hit her.

           Anabel’s boyfriend Mike came and picked her up from the hospital. “When they called and told me they had you and you’d been in a serious accident I almost went crazy,” Mike said helping her into the car. Mike had been away for a business trip, he had to fly in so it took him a few days to get to the hospital and to get Anabel, and it also took the hospital a while to get a hold of him.

           “I know, I didn’t know I was hurt until I woke up here.” She lied, she didn’t want him to know she’d died and got to see what it was like to be dead. “I’m just glad I’m alive.” She said looking out the window. Images of the man standing over her scared her again. She didn’t want to meet him; in fact, she prayed it was all just a bad dream.

           Mike didn’t say anything; he’d only been back in town a couple of hours. He rushed to the hospital, “Look I’m sorry I didn’t come right away, you know my work is busy.”

           “I know babe, don’t worry about it,” Anabel said looking back at him. “They took good care of me, I’m just glad you’re here now.” She said patting his hand.

           The car ride seemed to take forever, Mike pulled the car into the apartment complex, and he helped Anabel get out of the car. She looked around, this all looked real. “I just hope this is real.” She said.

           “What honey?” Mike said grabbing onto her arm. Helping her onto the sidewalk.

           “I just hope this is real.” She repeated.

           “Why wouldn’t it be real? I’m real, are you okay?” he said stopping by their apartment door. “Did they give you medicine?” he said looking her in her eyes. He was concerned, but the Doctor also told him that she took a pretty bad blow to her head.

           “Yeah, yeah I’m okay.” She said turning to face him. “I’m just tired.”

           Walking into her apartment she felt home. Nothing was out of place, and everything was hers. She walked around the apartment for a few minutes before she joined Mike back in the living room.

           Sitting down on the couch, Mike went to the kitchen. “Do you want something to drink?” he called.

           “Um yeah, make me something strong.” She said sitting back and turning on the TV. “Bring some water in here for the plants; they haven’t been watered for two days.”

           Mike came back into the living room, handing Anabel a drink, and watering her plants as she wanted. “They seem okay.” He said pouring some extra water in both plants. “Hey I have to go back out of town tonight, you want me to call someone to come and stay the night with you?” he said looking at her. “Maybe your best friend or your Mom?”

           Anabel shook her head, the last thing she wanted was someone over her constantly asking her if she needed anything, or how she was feeling. “No I’ll be okay, I’m just going to relax, then take a shower and hopefully get a good night’s sleep.” She half-smiled at him. “When will you get some time off?”

           Mike shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, it’s a busy time of year.” He said taking a drink of his drink. “But I will see if I can get some time off if you need me here?”

           She half-smiled. She didn’t want to be alone, but she didn’t want to be bothered either. She wanted to think about everything that happened in Purgatory. She wondered if anyone else escaped as she did. “No, it’s okay.” She said taking a drink of hers.

           Mike continued walking around the apartment, Anabel watched a little bit of TV. She wanted to tell him about her experience, but she still wasn’t sure what it was. “Alright I need to get going, I have to pack some of my clothes for the trip, and hopefully I’ll be back in a few days,” Mike said setting his drink down. “I’ll call you when I get to Dallas.” He kissed her and left her sitting there.

           Lying down on the couch, Anabel just wanted to rest. Closing her eyes, she was afraid to go to sleep, but her eyes were heavy. Drifting off to sleep, she felt at peace. A knock on the door startled Anabel awake. “Coming, give me a minute.” She called struggling to get up. Her body ached more now than it did in the hospital. Getting to her feet, she moved slowly to the door. “Hold on.” She called.

           “Opening the door two men in dark gray robes stood there. “Um, no thanks.” She said before trying to close the door. One of the two men stopped the door from closing. “Excuse me; I’ll call the police if you don’t move your hand from my door.” She growled.

           “Hello, Ms. Knight.” He growled at her, pushing her into her apartment, and closing the door behind him. “We’ve come to collect your soul. You see when we attacked, you got away. Don’t you remember?” he said as he struggled to keep control of her.

           Pushing her down on the floor, he summoned a dagger. “I’m going to rip your soul out of your body, and enjoy tormenting it until you submit to me.” He said taunting her with it. She looked him dead in the eyes, they were silver and black swirling around.

           “What, what are you?” she cried, still struggling with him. “I am sure, you cannot have me.” She said trying to get him off of her. “Who are you!” she said shaking her head at him.

           “Ha, ha, ha. I am your worst nightmare. The name is Dremis.” He said pressing the dagger towards her. “I can take any soul I want.”

           “No! You can’t have my soul.” She yelled over and over, struggling in his grip. She shook her head. “No! Please let me go, I made it back, I made it back!” Closing her eyes, and quickly opening them, she was back in her apartment, alone.

           “Oh thank God!” she said sitting up, her heart still racing, her body shaking. “That was too real.” She said looking at the front door, the locks were in place. She felt better knowing it was just a dream.