Sunday, July 1, 2012

Tales Of The Amulet VI: Trapped

William's life had become ceaseless torrent of bad news. One day, he was gliding high above the clouds; no worries, a happy family, and a comfortable life style. Things looked good on the horizon, and the storm clouds that built into towering, thundering maelstroms were safely in the distance. But then Hell came to William's life, and everything around him fell to pieces.

William Michaels had a lovely wife, Elizabeth, and three amazing children: Marcus, Luke, and, and Olivia. They were never wealthy, but they were happy. The lived in a small house in the outskirts of town just across from a lovely wooded area where they would always see deer, woodchucks, blue jays, and many other animals out in all the seasons. It was beautiful, and they very much enjoyed their lives.

Elizabeth always had the better job -or at least the better paying job- but this fact did little to take away from the love and complacency among them. They were happily married, despite Elizabeth's belief that William had often given up and only taken jobs that would just get them buy rather than improve their situation. But the very much loved each other, and the kids lived relatively stress-free lives as well. In fact, by all accounts, they were as typical an American family as you're likely to ever see.

But Elizabeth had a very dark, and very sinister secret.

William arrived home one day, distraught and very upset. Elizabeth glanced up from the table, past the vegetables she was chopping, and noticed right away that her husband a look of sorrow on his face. She had a cooler sensibility about her -which was quite typical and though it looked snarky and uncaring, it was just her look- and arced an eyebrow with a modicum of concern. William pulled out a chair, and sat heavily with a sigh. He looked at his wife past tear-blurred eyes and explained to her that the job he had grown to love was gone. She set down her knife, wiped her hands on her towel that dangled from the oven door, and walked to William with a mixed look of consternation and concern playing across her face. William sat slumped over in his chair, resting his head on unclenched fists, and breathed worried breaths. Elizabeth knew he needed comfort, but another side of her fought the urge to just melt into him and give him the satisfaction that everything was going to be okay. It wasn't, but she couldn't let him see that. She had to play it safer, and so she tousled his hair, kissed his cheek gently, and told him she lived him. William nodded, replied his love in kind, and shed a tear.

Elizabeth retired to the bedroom after dinner. She said she ad a headache and needed to lie down, and William was more than happy to assist the children with homework and bedtime stories. And soon, as the evening settled in, the house noise ebbed to a dull roar, and the only noise was the family room television. Elizabeth sat up from her bed and looked around at the looming shadows. The moonlight pierced through a thin slat of the window blinds and played a white stripe on Elizabeth's dresser. It was in that top drawer, under her underwear and bras, where she kept it. Secure -she always hoped- and nestled in an old brooch box. But tonight, the calling was as strong as it had ever been... and even stronger. She knew what was inside, and she knew what it could do, but tonight was not a night she wanted it. But it wanted her.

It was 2002. William and Elizabeth had been married for three years and things were getting better every day. In fact, just six months previous, they had welcomed little Marcus into the world. The pregnancy had gone by surprisingly issue-free, especially considering that Elizabeth was predisposed to potential problems. Strangely, it was almost as if that very predisposition was erased completely, and though they worried quite often, nothing ever came of it and the nine-months sped by just as they do for thousands of others. 
But Elizabeth knew something she was told never to let on to her husband.
Four months into her pregnancy, she began experiencing terrible shooting pains up her legs, across her abdomen, and around her lower back. Something inside her told her that these were the precursors to premature and a potentially still birth. She had to do something, but she couldn't tell William. He was far too busy attempting to secure a job, and that, coupled with fearing for Elizabeth far too often would only cause a panic. She had to talk to someone.

-To Be Continued-