Wild Empath Chronicles protection part 2

She smiles when she thinks of her best friend. Debbie has been with her more years than she wants to admit. Aging isn’t a good topic for her. There is still so much more to do. Debbie is the one person that was up for anything. Debbie’s birthday is three days after hers, maybe that is why they were so good at having fun. When they turned 50 it was no surprise to those that knew them when they went skydiving for the first time. Adrenalin was their drug of choice.

She had lost her job. The boss hit on her, and she didn’t play along. It upset her greatly as she had done it all right. Went to school, got good grades, applied and was accepted in the job of her dreams. Then that ugly married man backed her to a wall and strongly suggested the unmentionable. It wasn’t right. She played by the rules. But the rules didn’t play by her, and she sunk to new lows. She had done things wrong and was hurt. She did things right and was hurt. Life just wasn’t working out for her, so what the hell, time to float and see what happens.

She had tried to get a job and failed, so it was time to leave her new friends. The bikers had taught her many things, how to shield, honor, and internal justice. She gave what she could, but it was time to go. She bought the biggest bottle of Jack Daniels she could afford, wrote a note of thanks and goodbye, packed her stuff and left. She never saw any of them again, her life had shifted, time for a new one.

She moved to where Debbie lived, knowing she would put her up until she could get back on her feet. She took cash paying odd jobs, as she was getting unemployment. Debbie worked at a restaurant in the small farming community. The restaurant was quite fine for the podunk town, the food excellent and the staff well trained. Debbie loved working there and made friends with the owner.

He was an interesting man. Not but a few years older than their 19 years, but he held an aura of power and control. His friends looked to him for guidance it seemed. They all worked together and she assumed it was because he was the boss and owner of the place. They were all well groomed, dressed in expensive yet tasteful clothes, had nice jewelry and cars. They were young, but carried themselves rather worldly. They moved from their home country, and spoke English broken but understandable. But most important at the time, they loved to party, and they had honor, they would protect them if need be. Never did they make unkind advancements, it almost seemed wrong. They were polite and always gentlemen. They would drive to the bay area to party. These guys knew all the fun places to go, and as the owner walked into any establishment they frequented, the people stood a little straighter, and where always accommodating to him.

She noticed it all, but didn’t think to worry about it. They were well protected and having a blast. Going to concerts, getting high, dancing, whatever came up. They spent the night at a friend’s house, both of the girls in the same room. As they undressed for bed there was a knock at the door. The girls looked at each other with knowing looks. They had been waiting for this. To their surprise there was a quiet “excuse me”, and one of the guys walked in. He smiled nervously and reached under the pillow and pulled out a rather large hand gun. He smiled and backed out of the room. Things were starting to make sense, but still they didn’t care. She knew the protection was there, she could feel it. But now she started paying closer attention. She was worried the gift had left her that it was not working right. They got up early that morning, hearing talking in the kitchen, as she rounded the corner, there was a table cloth quickly thrown over what looked like army type guns. She looked away as though she hadn’t seen anything, but now it was clear, they had to get out of there.

There was no problem as the guys seemed in a hurry to get them home. There was tension in the air, it was thick. But the weed was plentiful and they were laughing and joking around in no time. Seeing them safely home, the guys sped off but not towards work, back to the freeway. She was just happy to be home, away from them. Debbie wasn’t as aware yet to what was going on and although they discussed it Debbie thought she was being paranoid. Perhaps she was. It was on the news that night. Several gun men had shot up a bay area restaurant. The same type of cuisine that Debbie’s boss served. Still Debbie refused to see it.

She felt the danger now, upset she couldn’t before. She was nearly out of cash. She paid her rent, and was counting quarters to do laundry. She walked down to the Laundromat loaded the machines and walked over to buy soap. The machine gave her back her money and the soap. She had an extra dollar. She started the clothes and walked next door to the taco place and treated herself to a burrito. There was a man sitting at an outside table, he smiled and offered her a place to sit. He looked like a mountain man, thick build but not fat, longish hair and beard. She sat at his table and they made small talk. He was on his way to Death Valley for work. He was moving from Oregon making a new start. They chatted, she left to put her clothes in the dryer, and looked out the window, he was still there. She walked back over and they talked some more. He offered to take her with him. What the hell, she thought, here is the answer. She had her clothes and a quarter in her pocket, got in the man’s truck and stared down the freeway. He told her he would take care of her if she took care of him. Seemed like a fair deal at the time.

She was on full blown self destruct at this time and was looking for a change. Besides she had a quarter, she could call someone if she needed help. It seemed that fate had lead her to him, if the machine hadn’t given her back her money, should never would have bought the burrito and never would have met this guy. This was supposed to happen.

But what she didn’t know then, is that when you throw your life to the wind, you never know which way its going to blow. Not all things happen for a good reason. Fluttering in a breeze with no faith, no love makes you vulnerable to all things, not just the good ones.

Things went well for about a week. She was bored and took a job in the concession stand for the national part. The mountain man got jealous of her talking to other guys. She worked in a restaurant, she had to be friendly, and besides it was her nature. But he got uglier and meaner. They had employee housing there, and her plan was to get a room as soon as one was available. There were a group of employees that traveled from nation park to park working the seasons. She thought she could get a ride to the next one as she had made a few friends. A room came up, and the plan was set. She would move in the next morning. She didn’t tell him, there was fear to his reaction, but he was acting worse, somehow she felt he knew.

That night she had what she thought was a strange dream. He was choking her, both hands around her neck. She couldn’t figure it out. She was not awake, but not asleep either. Things were going dark, the panic set it. He was killing her. She started to struggle. Then it came, it was loud, it was persuasive. Do Not Move, the voice said, Be Still. He will not kill you. Just Be Still. She listened. She had heard this voice before, long before, before the dream, during the dream, it was the dream. The thought barely finished and she passed out.

She woke the next morning, threw her stuff together and ran down the road to the concession area. She had been crying, her neck was bruised, and she looked like crap. But her heart wasn’t as heavy as it should be. The gift was still there, her protector still cared. Perhaps it was now time she do the same. Perhaps.