Power by Theresa Jones Read Free Book Online

whole body convulsing in agony.
    I heard someone scream, only to realize later that scream was my own. I was up off the ground now, running to Alex’s side, feeling more like I was watching it happen than making it happen. I felt the strength of my power surge up through my every limb and out to Alex. I had to try to save him – if only I knew how.
    I heard myself screeching, “Stop! Please!” I heard a half chuckle-half snarl come from my right, where, as far as I was concerned, the devil himself stood. The pain from my own power started to grow. It was almost as bad as Damien’s, the anguish it inflicted on me was indescribable. I reached out protectively towards Alex and threw my other hand defensively between him and Damien.
    “God, please help him!” I pleaded, throwing my head up to the sky as everything around me went black again. No sight. No smell. Nothing to hear, taste, or feel. Just black.
     

    Chapter 4
Hospital
    Everything was dark. I started to panic until I realized all my other senses had returned. I was lying on something soft and there was a rotten taste in my mouth, like I hadn’t brushed my teeth in days. I could smell the distinct odor of disinfectant and I could hear people talking. I tried harder to listen to what they were saying.
    A man that I had never heard before said, “She will be fine, I promise. She’s all patched up.”
    A second man took in a deep breath as if he was finally calming down, and said, “That is good. Obviously I knew she would be fine, it is just nice to hear.” Then he chuckled. I knew the sound of this man’s voice. Only Rick talks like that, proper and precise. I tried to make my body show that I was awake, but nothing would respond. “And what of the other, the man she called Alex?” he said.
    Alex? What had happened? I tried hard to remember. I met him in the park right after talking to Rick. We had argued briefly, and I had started to cry, which had seriously angered me. I hate crying in front of people, especially Alex.
    I tried to hold back the flood of memories that followed, but once they started, I couldn’t make them stop. Damien had shown up, chased me down, and seriously injured me – well at least my insides. I wasn’t sure if I was physically harmed in any way. But Alex….Tears started streaming down my face; I could feel them as they etched crevasses down my cheeks – Damien had hurt Alex.
    “I am sorry, Rick, he was dead before I got there,” the first man said. His voice was oozing with compassion, sincerely upset about his last statement.
    I tried to scream, I tried to yell or ask for help, but nothing came out. My lips barely separated from each other. I heard a deep gurgling sound, a sound of true loss, just before I started sobbing so loudly it had both men running closer to me. Between sobs I heard Rick call out to me, “Allison? Are you in pain?”
    But I could not answer him. I knew, of course, that he meant physical pain, and in that case, no I was not in any pain. However, there was a pain, deep in my chest. A pain I could not explain. They said that Alex was dead. My fiancé, the father of my daughter, dead. And Sam, what was I going to tell her? The sobs grew louder, and I heard footsteps leaving the room.
    ***
    This time it was the sun that woke me, its bright yellow light beat down on me and warmed me all over. I caught a distinct whiff of antiseptic and assumed I was still most likely in a hospital. I could hear people talking far away, but the only noise close by was a radio program reconfirming that the world was still on the brink of war.
    I felt like I had been lying in the same position for days. Despite my protesting body, I pushed myself onto my side, desperate to find out one thing – Samantha – how was she? Was she okay? Did she know about Alex yet? How could I ever tell her what happened?
    I threw my legs over the side of the bed and forced my arms to push me up into a sitting position. Once I was sitting, I