Chapter Three: James

Finally! Chapter Three is here!

James

Present Day

         She hadn't changed. Well, her hair was now a rather nauseating artificial black, except for about an inch that had grown in and was glinting in the sunlight like polished gold. Everything else about her was true to my memory. Her eyes were wide and hopeful, one a soft golden color, the other mossy green. A few sun freckles danced across her nose. Her perfect lips curved into a cautious, unbelieving smile. She resembled a flower in bloom, her cheeks slightly sunburned but her face still tilted to be in the light.

            "James?"

            I was at a loss for words.

            Before I could concoct a mixture of sounds that made sense together, Thea threw her arms around my neck and hugged me fiercely. The force of her hug threw me off balance for a moment, and I stumbled backwards, bringing her into the sun. When I regained my balance, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back with all my might.

            After quite a few minutes of this hugging, she loosened her grip so she could look at me. We were now both on the doorstep, barely acknowledging the world around us.   

            "It's been quite a while." Thea observed, raising her eyebrows at the word quite.

            "Centuries."

            We held each other's gaze for a moment.

            "How... how have you been?" She seemed unsure of the question, as if it wouldn’t justify our time apart.

            "Terrible, until you popped out of that door like some wonderful jack-in-the-box," I proclaimed, lifting her up so I could carry her. She yelped in surprise as I swung her into my arms.

            Laughing, Thea held onto me as I swung her in a circle. Becoming dizzy, I slowed down to a stop. Breathless, I stared at Thea, at every familiar crease and curve of her face. Her eyes were glowing, her lips curved into a smile. I pushed back a strand of her now hideously jet black hair and tucked it behind her ear.

A spark of a memory reminded me of a heart-shaped birthmark beneath her jaw. Taking her chin, I gently tilted her head to test my recollection. The little brown mark was there, just as I remembered.

            "What are you looking at?" Thea questioned in a cryptic tone.

            "You have a birthmark right under your jaw, here," I released her chin and placed my finger on the mark.

            "Oh," Thea self-consciously rubbed the spot, looking away. I immediately wished I had added that it was an elegant beauty mark. I so hated to see her unhappy.

            "Thea, it's like Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark. It's very classy," I reassured her. She smiled, a little less sincerely this time. I began to smile back, but my eyes were drawn to the dull, monochromatic curtains of hair that framed her face. I guess I wore a disapproving expression as I stared at it, because she rolled her eyes and sighed, “It was a moment of weakness; I instantly regretted it. It appeared as though I needed a fresh start and a new look, so I went with the first idea I had. Big mistake.”

            “I’ll say,” I mused, gently lifting a strand of her hair and letting it flutter back down into place on her shoulder. “What do you say to going inside and chopping this mess off?” There were hints of hilarity as well as sincerity in my tone. I intended both.

            “Excellent,” Thea clapped her hands and spun around, whipping her hair into my face a little. I couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not.

            I blinked rapidly for a few moments before grinning and dashing inside to follow her. I could already see her fumbling with the light switch down the hall when I felt an eerie presence. A cold shiver ran down my spine and my stomach turned over. An awful, indescribable feeling of fear and repulsion overcame me, chilling me to the core. I barely felt the corners of my mouth turn down into a frown through the grotesque mixture of feelings.

            Thea’s exuberant expression quickly sank into one of concern when she saw me frozen in the hallway. Some part of me said that the feeling was foreshadowing, a sign, a harbinger of what was to come.

            The corners of my vision began to blur and I stumbled forward. A nauseating sensation started in the pit of my stomach, and bile rose in my throat.

            “James!” Thea screamed, dashing towards me as I crumpled to the floor. My hearing dulled, as if I had been plunged into water. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. A shard of icy hot pain prickled in my brain, and I cried out in pain. Holding my head, I could feel nothing but the excruciating sensation as my senses were shrouded in another wave of agony.

             The room dimmed as I began to lose consciousness. A malicious, eerie laugh reverberated in my skull as a final, triumphant display of victory.

            The world went black with the sound of laughter echoing in my mind.