Chapter Sixteen

Through the circular opening of her entrapment, Paige gazed at the full moon perched high above. The bright orb fought to escape its own imprisonment as it peeked through a blanket of clouds sweeping across the sky. Sympathetic to its cause, she rallied for the moon but suffered the loss when a brave beam, which had shone down directly upon her, surrendered to the clouds.

She awoke upon impact when the frigid water disturbed her uninvited sleep. Frozen in place, Paige knew she couldn’t escape the high walls without help. Her body felt bruised and broken, but the dark concrete pit in which she found herself prevented a proper assessment. She waited. Paralyzed, shocked, delusional — she waited for rescue. Her shallow breath sent a cloud of fog into the air as she stared at the opening, out of reach and drifting farther away. She couldn’t move. The cold knee-deep water numbed her feet and rocked against her legs, slight and barely noticeable, the unknown disturbance slid between her ankles. She refused to move. Her shallow breath punctured her chest, but Paige stood lock-kneed with balled fists, watching the moon disappear and reappear as the disturbance splashed in the water behind her. The old magnolia tree swayed in the wind and scraped its twisted branches against her prison cell. Whispers stole the air. Paige held her breath as the low murmur echoed throughout the high walls, stirring the water and growing louder, the whispers climaxed into a chorus of distant voices. Louder than a breath underwater, the ritualistic chant flooded the damp air:

Snakes be with you, have no fear, swallow the moon when evil’s near, snakes be with you, have no fear, swallow the moon when evil’s near…

Panic set in. Paige screamed and pounded the walls, silencing the whispers as her feet scraped against the concrete pit, her fingertips raw from scratching and clawing the tall prison cell. She screamed for help, her voice foreign and weak as the thick walls muted her plea. She cried out again with more force and conviction, and again, louder and more urgent, she kept yelling, finally becoming used to the sound of her own panicked voice. A train rattled by, its piercing horn joined by the cries of a shrieking infant, but the whispers, faster and out of synch, the whispers silenced her outburst. They knew her fear, and they knew what disturbed the murky water. The voices lived and died inside the circular walls of the concrete prison. They too gazed at the moon. Paige held her shallowed breath and calmed herself as thunder rolled in the distance.

Storm clouds swallowed the moon and ushered in nightfall with the threat of a downpour. Paige saw it as a lifeline or a death sentence, but knew it would take a flood to swim her way out. Wind howled through the concrete walls and a light appeared at the end of the black hole. Thrashing from side to side, the tree glowed in the all-consuming darkness. Paige stood on her toes and craned her neck as a pale pink light illuminated the opening of her cell, casting a sunset tint upon the cold gray walls. A voice called out her name.

“Paige? You down there?”

“I’m here!” she cried. “Please! I’m down here!”

“Paige?”

“Please, help me! I’m down here!”

“I wish I could… I’ll see what I can do.”

She waited, and for the first time, Paige took note of her surroundings. A snapping turtle rested on a halfway-submerged tree branch, but she flinched and cupped her mouth upon looking closer. Intertwined and draped across each other, water moccasins shared the turtle’s perch. She laughed, trembling and glossy-eyed, Paige laughed and scanned the perimeter. A small ripple disturbed the murky water and the turtle slowly turned its head as a snake slid off the branch, dipped into the water and disappeared. Forcing her limbs into compliance, Paige refused to breathe until something brushed against her shoulder. She shrieked and whipped around as a thick rope landed against the wall, stopping just above her waist. Grabbing hold of the lifeline, she pulled up her feet and began climbing.

“I felt you,” the male voice said. “You called out to me… I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”

Paige slid down the rope when her foot hit a patch of moss. A clap of thunder vibrated the walls and the pale pink light grew brighter. Her clammy hands tightened their grip.

“I put you in danger, but you and I, we never backed down from fear.”

One hand above the other, she found her rhythm climbing faster to the top, the pale pink light waiting just over the rim.

“Remember what you told me? If I live a thousand lives, I’ll find you in each one. Looks like I found you instead.”

One hand above the other, she climbed, the smell of sandalwood guiding her along. One hand above the other, she pulled herself over the threshold.

“Gabriel!” she shouted.

Standing on a small wooden platform, she yelled his name again but darkness replaced the pale light. The rope dangled from a ladder attached to the side of the platform. The cold wind cut through her wet clothes. If I live a thousand lives, she thought, and crawled down the ladder.

The courtyard lights flickered on when her feet hit the ground. She backed against the wall and peeked around the structure, horrified to see a handful of people peering back at her. Hiding behind trees and crouching around the winged fountain, the Doucet siblings watched her with expressionless faces. Paige counted five, two females and three males, one too many. She watched them as they watched her, motionless, frozen like the winged statue; they held their positions and watched. Paige ducked behind her concrete prison and stared at her double-knotted shoes–wet and painted green with moss.

She charged full speed ahead. Away from the cottage, the main house and the van with the keys under the seat, she raced for the fields. Unsure if the watchers pursued and unwilling to look back, Paige escaped into the tall wispy sugarcane, shielding her face from the leafy whips and tripping over fallen stalks until a sharp pain slowed her pace. She grabbed her side and fell to the ground. Out of breath and sick to her stomach, she crouched between the tall rows and wiped away her tears. Sprays of lightning lit up the sky and a low rumble persisted as the moon disappeared and reappeared through the thick clouds. She silenced her heavy breathing and listened. Deep guttural croaks and high-pitched chirps permeated the air as frogs and crickets welcomed nightfall’s arrival. She dusted off her hands and kept moving. Her feet sank into the soft ground with each step, but Paige crept deeper into the fields and further away from the white plantation house. She couldn’t go back. Michael was dead. She watched him collapse and take his last breath, and Ashley shot Alain, killing him without warning, and her professor, the healer held at gunpoint–she told herself he’d be fine. Miles away from civilization, Paige trudged forward and followed the peek-a-boo moon, resigning herself to walk through the night until she found the highway.

The tall stalks of sugarcane rustled in the wind as lightning flashed through the clouds. She shivered and pulled her arms closer. Weighed down by her wet clothes and weak with exhaustion, Paige stopped, stood in place, and reconsidered her decision to flee. She lifted her head, aroused by the sweet scent of sugar and sandalwood; she tasted the ocean in the air. Thunder shook the wet ground as a pale pink light shot across the field ahead of her. Ducking and weaving between the tall rows, the light moved through the cane stalks and headed for the white plantation house. She followed. Brushing the foliage away from her face and cutting through the overgrown rows, she closed the gap to about fifteen feet until the pale glow stopped. Crouching down, she shielded her eyes as it strengthened and erupted into a blinding flash of white light. The necklace burned against her chest and when she looked up, a human figure walked amongst the tall stalks of cane, solid and moving closer.

“Paige, you need to go back.”

She recognized the soft male voice. A flash of lightning lit up the sky and she caught a quick glimpse of his face. She backed away.

“These fields won’t take you anywhere, nowhere you need to be. You’re far away from where you need to be.”

This isn’t real, she said under her breath. “You’re not real!”

“Sure I am.”

“No, you’re a hologram, an illusion!”

“A hologram?” he asked, stepping closer. “Paige, I went through a lot of trouble to be here, the least you could do is acknowledge me.”

The continuous strobe-light flashes exposed his tender face. His smooth olive complexion, his penetrating eyes and out-of-control hair, she knew his character well. He resembled Abbey except more tarnished and raw, a beautiful mess his friends often described him, a beautiful mess who died twenty-seven years ago.

“I don’t believe in ghosts,” she said.

“I’m not a ghost. I’m energy, like you.”

Paige rubbed her eyes and stepped closer, “Why did you leave?” she asked. “I called out your name when I reached the top but you were gone.”

“I come and go when I can.”

Streaks of lightning traced across the sky and she fought to keep her balance. Her twin brother stood before her, speaking and moving and breathing as though his rough night on Bourbon Street had been only a dream–a reoccurring dream that Paige couldn’t shake. She blinked away her tears.

“You haunt me,” she said, “your face, your voice, your death, you.”

“You have to go back, Paige.”

“I’m not going back!” She wiped her face and turned her back to him. She waited for the rain. She waited for the storm to wash him out. “I’m not who you think I am,” she said. “I’m not one of you, I’m just, me.”

“You’ve got it backwards,” he said, “you’re not who you think you are, you’re just like me. Turn around, Paige.”

She held up her hand and slowly ran her fingers across his smooth face. His warm flesh sent tingles through her fingertips and she pulled away, burdened by a sequence of lost memories. If I live a thousand lives, I’ll find you in each one. She collapsed onto the wet ground and absorbed him. Nature’s lightshow cut through the clouds as the wind tousled his dark hair. He closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky, his smile turning to a scowl as he slumped his shoulders and sat down beside her. Picking up a dead strand of sugarcane, he drew a circle in the dirt.

“I’m supposed to instruct you to go back,” he said. “Truth be known, I think you should keep heading for the highway, you’ll hit it eventually.”

Paige stared in disbelief. The nightmares flashed through her head, the fragmented memories, the long days spent alone in her room, her father’s tapping leg; she felt the nagging persistence of time. She watched him trace the ground and draw twelve question marks around the circle. His eyes met her gaze as he tore the strand in half and placed the two pieces on his sketch.

“What time is it?” he asked. With a smirk, he answered, “time to get a new watch.”

Paige smiled and shook her head, “I don’t understand.”

“Yes you do.”

“No, I really don’t. A clock? I’m supposed to understand that?”

“Sho nuff,” he nodded, “but it better be gold. Gold makes duh winds blow and duh tides flow.”

Paige dropped her eyes and stared at the drawing. “The gold pocket watch,” she whispered, “I’m a slave to time.” An infant wailed in the distance and the courtyard light flickered on and off as the wind rustled the overgrown crops. She gazed into his electric green eyes. “Why do I have memories of us together?”

“What’s my name, Paige? I want to hear you say it.”

“But I never knew you,” she said. “You were before my time.”

His eyes bore into her as he leaned in closer. “You were a force to be reckoned with when I knew you,” he said, “but now, you’re tainted with fear and denial.”

Paige frowned and pulled away from him, “You never knew me.”

“You can’t even say it,” he said, shaking his head. “You stood on that platform and screamed it out, but now, you’ve backtracked. You’re right, you’re not who I think you are.”

Paige stood from the ground and folded her arms. “It’s Gabriel,” she said softly. “I haven’t backtracked. I just, I see it, I just can’t grasp it.”

“What year were you born?” he asked, running his fingers through the dirt.

“What difference does it make?”

“Tell me.”

“What difference does it make,” she said again, throwing her arms down.

Gabriel scooped up a handful of dirt and stood next to her, “Here, watch this, hold out your hands.”

“Why?” she asked, holding out her palms.

“Just watch.” Gabriel released the dirt from his cupped hands and Paige gasped as it disappeared in mid-air. Wiping his hands clean, he took her by the wrists and gently coaxed her back down on the ground.

“Understand?” he asked.

Paige glanced at his drawing of the clock and nodded. The thunder rolled away and the wind played out, but lightning continued tracing across the sky like silent fingers on a blackboard. She fell into his green eyes.

“It’s you,” she said. “Michael said there’s something I need to see to believe, and it’s you.”

The sugarcane glimmered against the sky as the moon peeked through the thinning clouds and winked. Paige wiped her eyes and freed the dragonfly thumping against the screen door. She silenced her father’s tapping foot. Gabriel spread out his arms as a peaceful grin fell upon his lips; she almost didn’t recognize him. The boy she remembered was never content. The boy she remembered tested boundaries and carried his heart on his sleeve. She remembered a Gabriel who never sat idle, never backed down and always had a cause. His eyes exposed his anger and depth and sadness when she knew him, but now, in the light of the brilliantly full moon, they’ve lost something, she thought.

“Did Alain poison you?” she asked. “Did he serve you the tainted cup?”

Gabriel lowered his arms and nodded, “I think so,” he mumbled. “I remember him being there, and handing me something to drink, then I got sick, but I don’t know for sure.”

“I need to know what happened,” she said, “because it’s not going to happen again.”

Gabriel shook his head and gently grabbed her chin, “No, Paige, you have to let me die.”

“But you did die,” she said. “You died and no one can accept it. I can’t accept it.” Standing up, she folded her arms and turned her back to him. “There are things that I still don’t understand,” she said, “but you saved me more than once, and I plan on returning the favor.”

Gabriel sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder, “You’re playing into Vincent’s web. This is going exactly how he wants it to go.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “There’s no need for any of this. I mean, if we all want the same thing, I should just head back right now and face him.”

“Paige, you’re not listening to me,” he said, kicking dirt over his drawing. “I don’t want to be saved.”

“But that’s absurd,” she said, turning around, “you weren’t supposed to die, Gabriel, and if I can keep that from happening, than what’s the problem?”

“Think about it!” he exclaimed. “Why would he have me killed only to bring me back?” Lightning exploded overhead and Paige noticed that Gabriel wore a green army coat with a patch of the American flag sewn into the arm. His peaceful eyes filled with despair.

“Please, listen to me,” he said. “Think with your brain, not your heart.”

Paige reached over and ran her fingers down the side of his green army coat. The smell of sandalwood captivated her senses and cured her want for home. She stood on her toes, kissed him on the cheek and began walking toward the white plantation house.

“Paige!” Gabriel followed behind and then appeared in front of her with his arms crossed and a scowl upon his face. Paige kept walking.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t listen to you anymore.”

Gabriel attempted to walk with her and then appeared further down the path, “You don’t understand!” he exclaimed.

She stopped when she met him face to face, “You got it wrong,” she said. “You don’t understand. You don’t understand that your dad can’t let you go, that Abbey is expected to be you, and that this world is pointless without you!”

Gabriel sighed and shook his head, “I’m happy where I am, Paige. I made it. I didn’t think I would, but I did. If I go back, I might not be so lucky.”

“Made what,” she asked, “the obituaries?”

“My soul,” he answered. “Paige, please, I’m happy where I am.”

“You’re dead,” she replied, walking again. “You were murdered, Gabriel! You don’t deserve this fate!”

“People die!” he protested.

“Not you!”

“You don’t know what happened, Paige, you can’t even tell me what year you were born.”

“I know enough!” She stopped and crouched down as two people walked across the courtyard and entered the yellow cottage. Gabriel stood in place and then darted off to the edge of the field, his pale pink glow outlining his tall slender frame. He returned as quickly as he left.

“They looked for you in the pits,” he said. “I’m sure Vincent already knows you’re out here. My advice is to hide in the van until the others return. You don’t have to face him. It’s over, just leave.”

Paige stood halfway up and peered through the stalks of sugarcane, “I plan on speaking to Vincent directly,” she said.

Gabriel threw up his arms, “You’re impossible! I think you’re forgetting who you’re dealing with, but then, if you can’t even remember your own birthday, my birthday, how could you remember Vincent?”

Straightening her posture, Paige turned around and looked into his troubled green eyes. “Michael’s dead,” she said. “I watched him die, just like I watched you die. Your other daddy shot Alain in the head. I know exactly who and what I’m dealing with.”

Gabriel dropped his shoulders and shook his head, “No, Michael’s not dead. You’re mistaken.”

“No I’m not,” she said. “He didn’t get his medicine and died.”

“What medicine?”

“Well, well,” she said, resuming her trek, “looks like I know more than you.”

Gabriel appeared in her walkway again crossing his arms and wearing his signature scowl. Paige saw the man/child whose soul she couldn’t let rest, the beautiful mess who was tortured by love and hate, rage and sorrow; she cursed fate for striking him down.

“You’re fading,” she said, reaching out to touch his face.

“I know. My time’s almost up. See Paige? It all goes back to time.”

“Your dad still cries about you,” she said, ignoring his last remark. “Wears your favorite green hat, gets teary at the mention of your name…”

“What do you want from me?” he interrupted. “I can’t change any of that so why even tell me?”

“I thought you’d like to know,” she said. “I thought you’d like to know what’s become of your loved ones since your death.”

Gabriel leaned in closer, “You thought wrong.”

Paige bumped his shoulder and began walking again. The white plantation house loomed in the near distance, and as she approached the edge of the field, she turned to see Gabriel standing about twenty feet behind her. Wiping her face dry, she motioned for him to come closer and crouched down until his tall frame appeared, translucent and illuminated by a pale pink light.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but I have to try. I thought I was supposed to go back and meet with Vincent. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“Yes, but,” he sighed and glanced up at the sky, “me and the man upstairs are in a disagreement. I don’t want to come back, Paige. Just leave the past alone.”

“I can’t.”

“You don’t know what you’re facing,” he said. “You could get yourself killed. What about your parents? They need you.”

“So do yours.”

“I’m not coming back!”

Paige smiled, “There’s that pouty sneer I love so much.”

The moonlight shone through Gabriel’s green army coat and his smooth face slowly faded.

“Please stay,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Please, just keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll go find the others, and you can see your dad and Prof–”

“Stop it.”

“Why? If I can see you, than why not let Ash–”

“Because I don’t belong here, that’s why.”

“You belong with me and Ashley!” she cried.

Lightning exploded above him and the wet air glistened around his pale pink frame. “I love you,” he said. “Please know that I love and miss everyone.” Gabriel stretched out his arms and faded away into the moonlight. A gentle breeze rustled the stalks of sugarcane as the necklace grew cold against her chest. Gabriel was gone, a fact that Ashley had endured for twenty-seven long years. Paige wondered how he lived with such inescapable sadness. She didn’t plan on finding out.