THE TERROR ZONE

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Paul pressed his naked body against mine and kissed me on the lips. “Good morning sweetheart,” I sighed. “Thank you for last night darling. I still feel good and I slept like a baby.”

“I’ve got something else for you honey,” said Paul, with a silly grin on his face.

“You dog you,” I said, giggling.

“No, baby, not that. Get up and get dressed. We’re going for a ride,” said Paul.

“Where to?” I asked.

“Just hurry up.”

“Don’t you want me to cook you something for breakfast?” I asked.

“We can stop for something on the way,” said Paul.

“All right. I’m going to jump in the shower quick.”

“No.” Just jump into some jeans and let’s go,” he insisted.

“Paul,” I whined.

“Come on, Susan. Don’t make me ruin the surprise,” said Paul.

“Okay. I’m ready, but if I see anyone I know, I’ll die. No, better yet, I’ll tell them I look like this because of you,” I said.

“You look marvelous, baby. Good enough to eat,” said Paul.

“Where are we going?” I asked, while Paul drove east towards the Ocean.

“We’re almost there. Please be patient for just a few more minutes.”

We drove up to a shopping area. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. There was a breakfast shoppe, a Target, a few clothes stores, and a real-estate place. Paul pulled up in front of the real-estate place.

“I know this isn’t where you wanted to stop,” I said with attitude.

“Just come with me, honey. I want to introduce you to someone.”

We headed for the door. A woman came out to meet us. “Paul, I thought you weren’t going to make it.” Paul hugged this woman.

“Susan, I’d like you to meet my ex-wife, Brendi,” said Paul.

“How do you do?” I said.

As I held out my hand, Brendi looked at it and grabbed me and gave me a big hug. “Paul has said nothing but good things about you,” said Brendi. He must really have it bad,” she said, as she hit me in the arm.

“Ha,” I said, as I rubbed my shoulder.

“Well, what are we waiting for, shall we?” said Brendi, opening the car door and gesturing we get in.

“Go ahead honey,” said Paul.

We drove for a while, heading towards the ocean. “Close your eyes Susan,” said Paul.

“Paul,” I said, embarrassed.

“If you don’t close your eyes, I’m going to have to blind fold you. What’s it going to be honey?" asked Paul.

I closed my eyes. “I saw that,” said Paul. “No peeking!”

The car stopped. “Now, keep your eyes closed, and I will lead you,” said Paul. Paul helped me out of the car and walked a ways. “Okay, open your eyes.”

“I see a house overlooking the beach, on a small hill. This is very surprising, Paul. Can we go now?” I asked.

“Walk with me honey,” said Paul.

Brendi unlocked the door to the house, and we walked in. “Oh my god, Paul, you’re not thinking we can afford this?” I exclaimed.

“I already put the money down, baby, all Brendi needs is our signature and we can move in.”

Paul followed, as I walked further into the house.

“I’ll be in here if you need me. I can see by the look on the little lady’s face, she needs some time,” said Brendi.

“What about your house, baby? What about my office? What about my clients?” I said.

“I sold my house a month ago. I was just waiting for escrow to go through. We aren’t that far away from your office to commute until you find something closer that you prefer. One more thing, Kerry notified all your clients before she” – Paul cleared his throat – “before she passed, and let them know that you were possibly moving, and you would let them know where. Sweetheart, don’t cry. I’m sorry. Look, there’s a stipulation in the contract that if you don’t want the house, Brendi will reimburse me. See, nothing lost, nothing gained!” exclaimed Paul.

I started to laugh. I could hardly stop. “It’s not that at all Paul. It’s just, this is so much!”

“Not really, honey. I have my income, and I used the money I got from my house for the down, and I have $25,000 left over in case we need it, and most of your money can go for whatever you want,” said Paul.

“No, darling. I mean it’s such a huge, generous proposition. What’s the word I am looking for? Oh yeah, you are the best,” I said with tears flowing down my face. I wrapped my arms around Paul and held him tight. “This is just the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“I love you Susan. Nothing is too good for you,” said Paul.

“Brendi,” I shouted. I stared at her for a minute, rubbed my hands together, smiled a big smile, and said, “Where do we sign?”

Paul picked me up and twisted me around. “Paul, Paul, put me down, you’re making me dizzy.” He smiled, and we kissed to seal the deal.

Brendi drove us back to town, and I signed on the dotted line. “Thank you, brendi. It was really nice to meet you,” I said.

“Likewise, little missy. It was worth it, just to see Paul smile again,” she said. “I’ve got to get back to work. Keep in touch,” she said as she punched Paul in the arm.

Paul and I said our good-byes, and we headed back to Okeechobee to pick up Paul’s already-packed boxes. “It almost looks like you knew I was going to say yes, Paul,” I teased.

“I had to move out of here, either way, since I sold it, so I packed up and decided, if nothing else, I’d rent an apartment or something,” said Paul.

“Before we head to West Palm Beach, I’d like to take one more look at my house, sweetheart,” I said.

When we arrived at what used to be my house, I looked around for anything that might have survived. Like some pictures of Lindsey, or anything to remind me of what used to be, before the disaster. Everything was crispy fried; and again, I started to blubber.

“It’s Sunday, sweetheart, let’s go back to our new house, fix dinner on our new stove or grill, drink to our new purchase, and celebrate. We can’t really even do anything about anything until tomorrow anyway,” said Paul.

“Okay. I would love to go through the house one more time so I can choose which rooms will be used for what.”

The house seemed more beautiful the second time than the first, because now it was ours. All the rooms had windows galore, but the windows facing the ocean were wall-to-wall. There were five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a guesthouse on the side, a balcony off the master bedroom, with fireplaces in four bedrooms, and one between the living room and the den. The second floor had one bedroom, a pool room over the den, and a studio overlooking the living room and the ocean, all with cathedral ceilings. I chose a room for Lindsey, separate rooms for my office and Paul’s, a computer room and a playroom or child’s office.

“We have a lot of decorating to do,” I said to Paul.

“I’m going to leave most of that, up to you, sweetheart. I’ll try to help, but you saw my house. I’m no Chateau de Versailles!”

“Ooh, Paul, I love it when you speak French.”

“Would you like me to pour you another glass of wine, mi amour?”

“Stop it, you’re killing me.” I said, fanning my face. “Ouch,” I screamed, as I backed up a few steps and then fell backward while screaming in pain.

Holding my head with both hands, I heard, “Mommy, help me. Come and get me, Mommy!”

“Lindsey, where are you baby?” I yelled. Lindsey, don’t leave me! Lindsey!”

I stopped screaming and realized Paul was holding me in his arms. Wine and broken glass were everywhere. All of a sudden, my body was pulled out of Paul’s arms, picked up off the floor, and thrown against the wall making a loud thud. It took my breath away. For a few seconds, I couldn’t breathe, and then my body went limp and I slid to the floor.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

Paul, what time is it? How long have I been lying here?”

“About three hours. How are you feeling? I didn’t want to move you, in case you broke something, so I just covered you up,” said Paul. “Holy cow, baby, I’ve never seen anything like it! It was like the movie, The Exorcist. Something very strong pulled you out of my arms, lifted you off the floor, and flung you into the wall. You tell me what’s wrong. You’re the psychiatrist.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that? Have you ever heard of telekinesis?” I asked.

“Sure, but I always thought it was a myth.”

“But, how could you just all of a sudden have telekinesis?” asked Paul.

“No silly, not me! Listen to me very carefully, sweetheart and please don’t interrupt, because you’re going to find what I’m about to tell you, truly bizarre. For the last few weeks, someone has been entering my subconscious and putting thoughts and emotions into my head!”

Paul put one arm around my shoulder and said, “If this is really happening, honey, and I can’t believe I am saying this, he mumbled, who do you think is doing it?”

“There’s no if, sweetheart. As for who it is, I can only take a guess and say it’s Alex and George’s third brother. Think about it, honey, Alex sees things when he touches people. You had a glance at that when he saved your life. George dreams things that really happen. So why couldn’t their brother have developed telekinesis? What are you looking at me like that for, Paul? You’re thinking I’m crazy, aren’t you?”

“I don’t think you’re crazy. To tell you the truth, I was actually thinking about your safety. The only reason I am not freaking out right now or signing the papers to have you committed is because I witnessed you flying across the room. I cannot even believe I am even saying that! From what I’ve seen, we aren’t even sure what this guy is capable of. We need to call the cops,” said Paul.

“Tomorrow, sweetie, right now I think we should lay down our sleeping bags and get a good night’s sleep.” As I lay on the floor, snuggled betweem a warm sleeping bag and cuddling with Paul, I started to giggle.

“What’s up?” asked Paul.

“Why do you think something’s up?” I asked.

“Usually, when you giggle like that, you’ve got something mischievous on your mind,” said Paul.

“I was just excited, because I get to start decorating this mansion. It could take a long time, and you know how I love to decorate,” I said.

“I can see you are in heaven right now,” said Paul, turning on his side and falling asleep.