When Lights Collide Chapter 9

As Daniel entered through the sliding glass door, his dark vision sharpened and he had to blink a few times to be sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing.

He felt like he had somehow entered a whole new dimension in just the two steps it took to get in from outside.

A calm and strong sense of peace overcame Daniel and the only physical response he had was to just relax, that there was absolutely nothing to worry about, he needed to simply and freely relax.

Daniel closed his eyes, thinking perhaps he wasn’t seeing correctly…. but when he re-opened his eyes, he realized that he saw right the first time he’d looked…

He was standing in an oversized closet.

No doors to exit out of, no windows to climb through, it was just a square box of a small room.

Daniel looked to his assumed rescuer in confusion…. “What the f–”

His rescuer cut him off… “What were you expecting?” She asked as she tipped her head to the right, almost daring him to respond.

Daniel looked back to the room while stating  “Well, I was expect—” he stopped talking, and looking around the room, he saw that he was actually in a sitting room.

A sitting room from his childhood, the memory tickling at the edge of his mind, it was his Grams’ sitting room…. Or at least one just like it...

Navy blue recliner armchairs flanked a green and floral print sofa.  Vine looking plants hung in the corners arranged around windows , a side table with a radio sat to the right against a wall.  The coffee table, well worn from Daniel running his cars across it, sat atop a braided rug, still stained with the red juice he’d spilled…

As memories from his childhood came flooding back into his mind, Daniel began to back away, trying to get back to the sliding door through which he had entered.

“What is going on?!” he demanded in fear and frustration of the woman who had brought him here.

“You are awakening Daniel,” she said softly.

“What?” Daniel gaped at her with nothing but sheer confusion now running through every ounce of his being…..”How…what?!” He stammered as he stared at his supposed rescuer.

She merely smiled and waved her arm around the room, “Come, sit and let’s us talk Daniel, you’ve had a busy night.”

“I must be losing my mind, is this what insanity feels like?” Daniel wondered to himself.

As he turned from staring at his rescuer, he again looked at the room to where she gestured, and just stood, gawking….

The room had changed again.  There was a table and 3 chairs in the middle of the room.  A lit candle sat in the middle of the table.

Daniel was shaking his head as he stepped back to find his way out.  He was done, ready to call it a day, head back to the clubhouse, grab a stiff drink and be done with this leg of his adventure, and go on with his life as though none of this had happened, and that Cara and the woman who led him here didn’t exist.

He reached the sliding glass doors, had his hand on the door handle, and was ready to run, when she spoke to him “Daniel, if you leave now, you will never underst—”

Daniel turned and looked at her, ready to tell her where to go and how to get there, when he realized she was holding onto the chair back for dear life, all hunched over and pale.

Daniel went to her, worried that she would collapse.  As he reached her side, he heard her mumbling.  Daniel moved closer, trying to hear what she said and was ready to take her by the arm to help her sit down when she turned her face to him and said “Cara will be here soon, please, have a seat, I’ll make coffee.”

Daniel had reached his limit and was ready to let her have it….  “Listen lady, I do not know who you are, I do not know why you showed up tonight, I do not care that Cara is on her way, I have no idea what is going on here, and I don’t care, so, if you don’t mind, I’m outta here!”  Daniel turned and was ready to storm out the back door and get on with his life when his would be rescuer spoke….

“My name is Estelle.” she spoke with such strength in her voice that Daniel could not move.

Daniel had only ever heard that tone, that voice, in his childhood, he snapped his head around and stared at the woman in the room with him.

“What!?” Daniel demanded as he stepped toward her.

“My name is Estelle.”  Then she smirked, “Don’t tell me you’re hard of hearing too?”

Daniel just stood, gaping.  His mind blank but confused, his words refused to leave his body.

“Well, don’t just stand there child, come, fill the kettle, and I’ll grab the mugs.” Estelle said as she stepped through a doorway.  

Not knowing what else to do and feeling compelled to stay, Daniel followed Estelle through the doorway and into the kitchen.

He just stood watching her move about the kitchen, like she was some kind of magical being and his eyes could not believe what they were seeing.

Finally Estelle turned and looked at him, “are you going to fill the kettle, or should it fill itself?”

Daniel giggled, then began to full out laugh…he tried to say something to Estelle, but he could not stop laughing long enough to get the words out.

“Well, now, that’s better!” Estelle declared, smiling at Daniel and giggling along with his laughter.

She grabbed the kettle, swung it under the faucet and was ready to turn on the water, when Estelle froze and dropped the kettle into the sink with a bang and a clatter that stopped Daniel’s laughter in an instant.

Estelle was hanging onto the counter, doubled over, her face almost in the sink.

Daniel felt a wave of panic wash over his body as goosebumps ran down his arms and made the hair on his neck stand on end.  He moved toward Estelle and was reaching out to her when she turned her pale face to him and said words that moved Daniel into action.

“Front door, Cara, danger!” was all that Estelle could say as she turned and ran to the front of the house with Daniel close behind her.

Daniel wanted desperately to ask for more information, to ask Estelle what was going on and what she meant about ‘Cara danger’, but for the moment, he felt only that he needed to follow and to help.

As Estelle reached the front door, she grabbed the handle and paused, as though waiting for something.  She looked behind her and noted where Daniel was, she then chuckled and said “I wouldn't stand there if I were you.”

Daniel was about to ask her what she was talking about when suddenly Estelle threw the door open and moved aside.  Daniel~ being two steps behind her~ finally caught on, he was in the line of fire from the doorway and yet he still wasn’t quick enough to move to the side of the entrance.  

So, for the second time tonight Daniel was about to come face to face with Cara, and this time was going to hurt.

Not that she would know about it… Daniel noticed that Cara had her eyes closed at about the same time he realized that he was going to have to break her run.

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With the sound of the door opening, Cara knew instantly that Estelle had gotten the message, and that knowledge seemed to give Cara the extra push she needed to get into the house safely.

She decided to keep her eyes closed, “no point in getting distracted now” she joked with herself and her Guardians.

Cara had been in Estelle’s home numerous times before, and knew that there was a wall just across the foyer, she also knew that at this pace she’d not get stopped in time and would have to let the wall stop her.

Bracing for impact, expecting to hit the wall at any second, Cara noticed the difference in the sound of her footfalls, she knew she was in the house, and reminded herself about the wall.…. 

“And the wall shou… Ouff” her sentence was cut off with a sudden impact at the same time she heard the door slam shut and the lock latch securely behind her.

Cara was instantly aware that it wasn’t the wall that she’d run into, though she noted that it might as well have been, since whatever she crashed into felt like a rock and she was quite aware that that same rock now had its arms wrapped around her, protecting her as she began to fall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Dammit!” Daniel exclaimed as Cara slammed into his chest, hitting him hard, knocking him off balance and tipping him over.  He instinctively wrapped his arms around Cara as they fell to the floor, again the surprise of his actions distracting him.

Somewhere in the background, Daniel faintly heard Estelle slam the door and flick the bolt, locking them in. 

They landed with a bang that Daniel was certain had shaken the whole house as he closed his eyes and worked to catch the breath that had been lost in the sudden landing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With Cara now inside, Estelle quickly slammed the door and locked the deadbolt.  She then placed her hands upon the door, and shared a prayer of protection, blessing and peace over her doorway and her home.

As she stepped away from the door, she noticed that neither Cara nor Daniel were moving from where they’d crash landed on the floor.  At first she worried that one or both of them might have been hurt, but as she assessed the scene, she knew they were both just fine, a little winded perhaps, but fine nonetheless.

To keep reading, CLICK HERE for chapter 10!