Day 106 - My Song for You

 My Song for You

 Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

Gary ran as fast as he could.

Helena sang her strongest, most passionate note.

Irene began to cry on stage, in front of a full audience.

 

 

Irene woke in her hotel room. She couldn’t remember finishing the concert. Her mouth was pasty and dry and throat was tender and sore. She wondered if she were sick, perhaps with some sort of lymph node problem. There were no notes. No one waiting in her room. No medical personal. Nothing to indicate that anything was wrong. Why, then, did she fear the worst?

Suddenly her memory was full of nightmares. Old friends, dead. Her mother walking out the door. Her home turned to sand. She wasn’t one for fears or anxiety. Having nightmares, remembering them, was a strange and new occurrence. Her heartbeat too strong, too quickly. This was new too, bringing her sleep into her new day. The worst dreams were the ones that seemed so real, you had to question reality.

Irene walked the room, looking for a note, a sign anything. Then there came a knock on the door. She was scared, but couldn’t tell why.

To her surprise, a familiar face was at the door – a man she was sure she knew, but couldn’t quite place.

He hugged her and they spoke quickly and tried to say too much. She couldn’t understand it all, but mostly she didn’t know why he seemed to know her and she had no idea who he was.

He said his name was Gary and they were old friends. He said he had learned of her fame and traveled cross country to find her. It was imperative as he had some foreboding sense that she was in danger.

It seemed crazy, but he was so serious. Of that Irene could be sure. Everything else, not so much. She could see the sadness in her eyes when she said she didn’t remember him. She wondered what else she couldn’t remember and why.

 

 

Elsewhere, Helena slumped down into her bed, exhausted, drained. She felt she could sleep for a week. She hummed a little tune to try and calm her spirits and help herself heal. She had won, for now. She was sure she had. But she also knew that she hadn’t finished the battle or closed off the dangers that still lay ahead. She knew that for as powerful as she was, Irene was naturally more so and it would take every ounce of Helena’s ability to put and end to things.

But she was tired. She almost passed out on the way here. She could feel her legs grow weak and nearly buckle out from underneath her. She fought to stay awake long enough to get somewhere remotely safe. Anyone with any formal training might still be a threat. Anyone who knew the secrets would have figured out they were being attacked and would have found a way to tack Helena down. But she was sure that Irene didn’t have any of those skills yet. Helena had time to rest and regroup. The others would come. They could plan together. There was still time. There had to be.

 

 

Irene stared at Gary. He had such kind eyes. She felt comfortable with him, at ease. She stared at him and could feel her headache going away and her mind fog clearing. Something was in the air, and she wasn’t quite sure what, but it made her want to sing. Which song, she didn’t know, but there was that nervous buzz in her mind that made her think she was going to figure out something new and that it would be glorious.