Desolate

C
opyright © 2015 Amanda Berberich
. All rights reserved.

© Desolate. All rights reserved. Except as permitted by U.S. Copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the author.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

This book is intended for 18+ due to language.

E
ditor
: Silla Webb

Cover Photographer: Cassy Roop

Cover Designer: Pink Ink Designs

F
or my Mom
, the bravest, strongest woman I know.

A
fun filled
day at the fair was in order. My parents’, my best friend Jessica, and I were all headed down to the local county fair, and I honestly couldn’t wait. It was the first year they were going to let us walk around by ourselves. We were fourteen and my parents’ had relented on us being by ourselves in the park full of people. If you asked me, we could’ve done this last year, but they hadn’t seen it that way. According to them, it was too dangerous.

As soon as we’d gotten to the park, Jessica and I told my mom and dad that we’d meet them back at the front gate in a couple of hours and set off to go ride some rides.

I didn’t want to ruin my parents’ trust, so we did what we told them we would do. We rode the Ferris wheel, numerous other rides, ate junk food, and now we were just walking around the park. It was amazing the amount of freedom I felt at that moment. Just the two of us getting to enjoy the park and do what we wanted, when we wanted was amazing.

The second Jessica saw the sign she immediately begged to go inside. I was skeptical because I didn’t believe in that sort of thing, but I relented because it did sound like fun.

Fortune Teller.

The space felt magical the moment we walked through the curtain. There was a sign in the corner listing all the types of things that she could do. I’d never heard of any, but they sounded interesting. There’s no way that someone could read your future from your hand or a card, but I’d play along for Jessica’s sake at least.

“How can I help you young ladies today?” the Fortune Teller asked.

“We would both like our palm read,” Jessica replied with a giggle.

She walked up to the lady first while I stayed back due to nerves. There was just something about the lady that gave me the heebie jeebies. She looked ordinary enough while dressed in a white top and a multicolored gypsy style skirt. Numerous amounts of bangles donned her wrists and both ears were pierced all the way to the top. None of that fazed me. It was the look in her eyes. They were black and soulless. Everything about her screamed evil to me, but I pushed it down. After all, what could it hurt? Fortune Tellers were all fake anyways.

“Let’s see what we have here,” she replied while taking ahold of Jessica’s outreached hand.

She gazed down at her hand for a second or two then back up at Jessica, concern written all over her face. Only it didn’t appear genuine. I could smell the gimmick from here.

“It looks like you will have a short life, my young friend,” the Fortune Teller responded.

What? Was she for real?

This lady was nuts. Jessica did nothing but laugh and motioned for me to go next.

“Come on Magdalena. You know you want to,” she whined as she placed her hands on her hips. This girl knew how to get me to do anything that she wanted since we became friends.

Reluctantly, I reached out my hand and the second I touched her it felt like a current went through my arm and I wanted to pull away from her, but she held on tight.

She traced the lines of my palm over and over again with great concentration for what seemed like forever.

When she looked up at me, she had the same look of concern. Only I knew better. There was no way I was falling for her crap.

“You my dear, young friend, have a long road ahead of you. You will live out your life alone. I know you felt it when we touched. Everyone will be taken from you when you least expect it,” she replied and then she turned and walked away, heading through a curtain I wouldn’t dare enter.

I wanted to laugh. I did. But I couldn’t because part of me wondered if she could possibly be telling the truth. Could she really see all that by looking at the jumbled mess of lines on my palm?

I looked up at Jessica, put a fake smile on my face, and pulled her to walk out of the creepy tent.

We arrived back to my house and went straight to my room, the words of the fortune teller still weighing heavily on my mind. I shut the door and locked it after Jessica followed me into the room.

She flopped down on my bed and looked up at me like I was crazy.

“What’s the matter, Maggie?” she asked as she let out a frustrated sigh.

“That woman gave me the creeps, Jess. I can’t get her words out of my head. I mean, who wants to hear that they’re going to die or that everyone around them is going to die. Especially from a person like her,” I confessed and fell back on the bed beside her. I really didn’t want to admit how much that woman got to me, but I had to tell someone and it wasn’t like I could tell my mom or dad.

“You don’t really believe anything that woman said, do you? She was just trying to scare us since we were underage. Plus, how would she know something that detailed just by looking at our hands. She wouldn’t. It was just for fun, Maggie. Lighten up,” she replied as she grabbed the pillow from beneath her and smacked me across the face with it. I knew she was probably right, but something in the back of my mind nagged at me, telling me that I needed to heed what that woman had said.

Instead of allowing me to dwell on it she started to make jokes about the way she talked and we laughed about it for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, as much as I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling that that fortune teller was right. That I was actually cursed to live out my life alone.

Two months later, I got the phone call that I feared the most. Jessica drowned in the one place that she loved so much. The lake that she grew up swimming in. That was the moment I knew the fortune teller was right. Jessica lived a short life just like that creepy woman had said and that was the beginning of the curse where everyone that I loved started to get taken away from me.

T
oday had been
one of those days. You know the kind that starts out bad and continually gets worse as the day drudges by. First, I woke up late and that always makes for a bad day. Then, I realized that I left my briefcase at home which held important packets for my classes of the day. However, my middle school band students were extremely thrilled about that revelation. And the icing that topped the cake was the fact that I got a flat tire on the way home. Thankfully, a really nice gentleman stopped on the side of the road shortly after it happened and helped me. Changing a tire in a skirt and heels would’ve been a nightmare. Only after I had to fight the two-year-old terror I call my son to take a bath, was I finally able to crawl into bed to my awaiting husband.

“You are the most beautiful, amazing woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Andrew confessed as his hand trailed up my side causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.

“Are you sure about that? I think you’re full of yourself, Mr. DeLuca,” I goaded, knowing damn well how he’d react to that.

“You’re not getting what you want tonight my dear, sweet wife,” he responded as he teeth nipped my earlobe.

“And why is that?” I groaned, hoping that he’d change his mind and give me what I needed to take away the day’s frustrations.

“Because tonight I just want to hold you in my arms. We can make love tomorrow. Tonight we just bask in the glow that is us. I love you, Mags. Never doubt, question or forget that,” he whispered as his lips found my neck. The tears threatened to spill over, but I didn’t let them. Now wasn’t the time to cry. The sweetness of my husband got to me each and every time something like this came from his mouth, reminding me just how lucky I truly was.

“Like I ever could, Mr. DeLuca. You’d never allow me to forget or question anything pertaining to you. Better yet, I’d never want to. You’re too perfect for me. You know that right?” I replied with a grin as I pulled his arms closer around me.

“I’m far from perfect, but I will admit this. We’re too perfect for each other. You’re my strength and my weakness all wrapped into one,” he replied as he lay his head down on the pillow we were currently sharing. It was funny how we had a king sized bed, but we always met in the middle to be closer to one another. Even in our sleep, we sought out each other, needing to be as close to each other as possible.

“Good night, my perfect, handsome husband.”

“Sweet dreams, my beautiful, perfect wife,” he whispered as he wrapped his arm tighter around my waist. Without giving anything a second thought, I allowed my brain to shut off and slip into dream land.

The next morning started just like any other. With the pitter patter of little feet running across the floor. I loved that sound more than anything in this world. It meant that today was a new day and it was one more day that I had the loves of my life in it. Since that day at the fair, I hadn’t taken a single moment or memory for granted. It’s helped me see everything clearer and cling to the life that I was meant to live.

I had hope since my life stopped spiraling out of control. My parents’ deaths were a hard time for me, but since I met Andrew, everything had been looking up. I managed to finish college somehow with a decent GPA and we hadn’t stopped since graduation. We both landed jobs fairly quick, his at a high-end security firm and mine at a middle school. Our careers took over, but through it all we managed to always find time to just be us without the hassles of the day to day chaos taking over. Within the past three years, we’d brought a beautiful home and were blessed with an amazing son. How I managed to get so lucky through all of the sadness I had no clue, but I didn’t question it. I knew I was blessed, and I didn’t take a second of it for granted. I always made sure that the two men in my life knew what they meant to me, and I expressed that love every single chance I got. Liam just turned two, and he’s been on the go since he learned how to walk. I wouldn’t change anything though. The sounds of his footsteps help me to see the gifts that were given to me. He was my saving grace along with Andrew. They both helped me see the light of it all even when the darkness sometimes crept in. When that happened, I took a moment to see all of the blessings in my life, and I tucked it away for another day and time. Andrew knew my fears, and he helped me through them every single time. Most men would laugh at what I feared the most, but not him. He held me and told me that as long as he had anything to do with it, we’d make it through anything.

As much as I wanted to continue laying there listening to my son roam the house, I knew that I needed to get up and get a move on. Today we were having a lazy day around the house. I looked forward to these times because we were always on the go. Always doing something. I couldn’t wait to just be here with them. Play with our son in the yard and do the normal things that most people didn’t even think were important. To me every memory was important. No matter how small. Because I knew just how soon something could be taken from you when you least expected it. Me, however, I always knew to expect the unexpected. I knew that one day they would both be taken from me, but for now, I wouldn’t live my life waiting for that day to come. I’d live it like there wasn’t going to be a tomorrow and when the day came for them to leave me, I would have every single memory that we’d shared to hold me together. I didn’t want to picture a life without them and I definitely didn’t want to live it, but I’d have to face that someday. For now, I was going to go get my son and let his smile light up my day.

I rounded the corner to walk into the kitchen and noticed Andrew and Liam were at the stove stirring something in a bowl. He was so attentive to our son’s needs, and seeing how much he adored his daddy melted my heart.

“See, Liam. You have to make sure all the batter is mixed together or the pancakes won’t turn out right for Mommy,” Andrew explained to him as he helped his tiny fingers hold the spoon.

I was surprised the whole kitchen wasn’t covered in batter at this point, but then again Liam always hung onto every word that Andrew spoke.

When they were done, Andrew sat Liam on the floor and told him his breakfast would be done in just a minute. After he’d poured the first round of batter on the griddle, I’d decided to make my presence known.

“Just what do my two favorite men think they’re doing this morning?” I asked cheerfully as I walked the rest of the way into the kitchen.

“Cakes, Mommy,” Liam gleefully stated as he bounced up and down pointing to where Andrew had the griddle.

“Oh, yeah, buddy,” I replied as I lifted him up off the floor and hugged him into my chest, taking his sweet baby smell in.

“Cakes?” Liam questioned as he continued to point in the direction of the cooking pancakes.

“Yeah, buddy. Daddy’s making the pancakes. Why don’t we go put you in the highchair while daddy finishes making your pancakes?”

He nodded his approval as I walked to the other side of the kitchen and sat him in his seat. I reached behind him and grabbed each strap, buckling him in. I walked to the refrigerator and took out a banana to cut up for him and grabbed the milk to refresh his cup.

“How’s my handsome husband this morning?” I asked Andrew as I kissed him on the cheek.

“A little disappointed, wife. I wanted to make you breakfast in bed, but someone couldn’t manage to sleep in as usual.”

“I’m sorry. It’s my mommy radar. The second I hear his footsteps, I’m wide awake,” I replied with a giggle.

“Well, in that case, I’ll just have to surprise you with something else in bed once this little guy takes his nap,” he insinuated with a wink.

I loved how much we were still in love after all of these years. Our love continued to grow and flourish instead of becoming a routine like I’d heard other married couples describe their relationships. I’d take our loving, playful relationship to theirs any day of the week.

“Oh, really now, Mr. DeLuca,” I replied, knowing good and well what calling him that did to him. He let out a groan as I knew he would, and I couldn’t contain the laughter anymore.

He took the finished pancakes off of the griddle, grabbed me around the waist from behind, and picked me up off the ground.

“You’re gonna pay for calling me that in about three and a half hours, Mrs. DeLuca. You know exactly what you’re doing don’t you?” he growled into my ear.

“Who me?” I giggled, trying to act innocent, but I knew he wasn’t buying it. He kissed me below my ear, a place where he knew got to me, then he let me go so we could get our breakfast to the table. Liam wouldn’t wait much longer without making his demands known.

We gathered everything, walked over to the table, and dished out the meal onto our plates. The normalcy of this day was what I’d needed after such a long week. Spending the day with these two was going to be one of the best days of my life.

Picking up the utensils, I cut up Liam’s pancakes, added a touch of syrup, and placed them on the tray of his highchair. Instantly he began clapping, showing his excitement for the food before him.

“Cakes, Mommy,” he squealed as he picked up the first piece between his fingers and placed it in his mouth.

“Are they good, buddy?” I asked through the biggest smile. It was amazing how something so simple could bring him such joy.

He nodded his head as he shoved another piece in his mouth. There was nothing better to see than my son happy. It made all the bad in the world disappear for the moment. Refusing to even remotely think about anything bad, I picked up my fork and began eating, too. Today was going to be perfect. I wouldn’t settle for anything less.