Cold & Alone

The blood dripped down to my boots and the cold started to sink in, as I lay in it's icy embrace I thought to myself; "This can't be it, I have to survive, I have to make it home to my beautiful Amber and sweet little Gracie." I crawled in the dirt field grasping at the dead earth, a voice echoed in my ears like the sound of faint wind chimes, "Reigns I got you brother stay with me now. You're gonna make it home to your wife and little girl." I look up with my glazing heavy eyes to a silhouette of my brother in arms but his face... was... not him. Eyes as black as night peered into my soul and the feeling of emptiness surrounded me as I fought to fill my lungs with air, claws and a foggy darkness pulled me through the blood soaked dirt. As I struggle helplessly trying to break free, I see Amber in the distance and she slowly turns her back on me taking my daughter with her. I cried out for Gracie as she disappeared into the fog and darkness.

Suddenly, I was awoken from a heavy object knocking against my head with a sharp corner that grazed my scalp. As I sprung up to investigate what was happening I noticed a very luxurious limo speed pass across the alley with a man in a suit and slick black hair. A little black book with a unique crest lay in front of my water filled socks along with a very odd looking pen. Glancing at my bottle of Jack I picked it up to get the very last drop, then tossed it into shatters while rubbing my bruised head. Pushing my soaked coat against the graffiti stained building I sunk back into my corner and picked up the book. Flipping through the pages revealing nothing but blank canvases of white. Placing the book and pen in my pocket I stood up to make my usual journey to Barney's Liquor for my favorite, Jack Daniels Honey and swisher sweets.

Barney's was a quiet little liquor store that was unfortunately placed next to a trendy obnoxious club known as, "The Vibe" As I drug my feet down the block a group of two drunk women and a well dressed man passed next to me, the man came staggering by and bumped into me causing the book to fall out of my pocket. The illumination of the black light from the club lit up the pages of the book revealing a crimson text that wasn't there before. Reaching for the book I quickly grabbed the pen and copied down the text that revealed, "You're quick to hold onto what breaks you, try grasping for thorn straws in the fields of blood petals to unveil a potential of mending the wilted rose." "A riddle? How odd, I bet this is at the Rose Test Garden. Something must be there for me to discover. What else am I going to do?" I thought to myself as I put the book and pen back into my pocket while entering Barney's. In a rush I grabbed my Jack and Swishers and took the route to the roses.

A dirty old blanket hanging outside of a trash can became my cover as I pushed through the raging winds of Portland to my destination. "Red rose petals, red rose petals and thorned straws? That's right, stems." muttering to myself under my breath. An excessive amount of rose petals seemed to be randomly placed under the fully abundant bulb of perfect petaled roses. "Jack you always got my back!" I exclaimed, chugging down a few shots. "Well, let's get to it. Got nothing left to lose now. I miss you so much baby girl." Tears dripped down my dirty sweat greased face as I yanked bare handed at the stems of the perfectly bloomed red roses. Blood ran down my hands as I emotionally tugged and purposely brutalized my hands. The pain helped me repress the feelings of wanting to end it all in hopes of maybe, just maybe seeing Gracie again someday.

Deep inside the dark brown earth mixed with my blood was something that felt of heavy material. I pulled and pulled but it felt like a pile of bricks. After what seemed like hours well into the night I finally uncovered a black duffle bag. Slowly I unzipped the top to discover fifty stacks of $100 bills freshly printed and uniformly placed perfectly. A piece of paper that looked as if it was pulled from my book was of course bare again. This time I put it into my book for safe keeping, for I knew something was special about blank paper now. "The story has only just begun." I laughed hysterically to myself, assuming I was insane at this point and just seeing what I wanted to see. "Absolutely impossible, I don't believe this." I said, shaking my head and smiling. "A piece of old tattered story like me couldn't possibly have more empty pages to fill before this moment." Thoughts flooded my brain as I quickly threw the bag over my shoulder and headed back to the club for the source of black light before the sun decided to rise.

Under the light shined a second riddle which stated, "Congratulations, you've solved my riddle and found the $500k but can you seal your fate of a fresh start for yourself and others? Travel in the marble tunnels of dark and close quarters. First you must acquire a token of entrance to go inside. Not everything is what it appears to be. Safe travels on windy roads to a better future my brother in arms." "Interesting. What could this mean? A tunnel of dark? I better just get this money put into the bank before someone notices a homeless man with a clean large bag on his shoulder." I pondered while heading to the nearest bank. As I signed the check-in roster people in nice business attire stared or looked down as I passed them in disgust. Sitting in the waiting area I was called to a desk with a snooty young lady. "Grab a seat, Please." She said, trying very hard to not sound as judgemental as her face led on. "What brings you here today Sir?" She asked. "I need to open a checking and savings account." I calmly announced. "ID, please." She spoke while looking at her computer avoiding eye contact. She picked up my Veterans ID card and did a double take as I opened the duffle bag. "Could we speed this up, please?" In a surprised dumbfounded look she said, "I do apologize for my behavior, thank you for your service. Right away Staff Sergeant Reigns.

A new pair of Levi's, a t-shirt and new socks replaced my tattered soggy clothes. Transportation became a new used Toyota Tacoma instead of my tired legs. My business idea was in the works with my newly acquired lawyer, now I just had one last thing to do on my list. Discover the next riddle so that I may stand a fair shot at getting my daughter away from a toxic woman. Set out on my newly found journey, I researched until my eyes felt heavy and I rested my head on a fluffy new pillow at my comfy little home. I would stop at nothing to free her from a world of torment and despair if it was the last thing I did on this earth. Careful examination convinced me the next duffle bag of cash would be at the Oregon Caves. A purchased pass and google maps on my new phone would surely be my ticket to salvation. As I curved the windy roads to the future of paradise I felt a whole new feeling of hope for not only myself but for who I could help with this money. My plans were set, I was destined to open a sanctuary for suffering veterans.

"Alright, we will be entering the marble filled gorgeous caves right now guys follow me!" Our tour guide said in a preppy happy voice. We all climbed stairs and ducked under low clearances. My eyes peered in all directions desperately seeking clues, but I saw nothing. We neared the possible end of the tour and I started to lose hope that I was in the right place until suddenly I noticed an odd glistening plastic looking rock. I slowly lingered away from the group to find that this rock was a literal piece of fake foam like material. Pushing the large light fake rock uncovered a beautiful passageway to a secret area, with a crack at the top of the cave releasing a ray of sunlight on another duffle bag! Something came over me and I remembered I couldn't exit with the group because they didn't allow bags of any sort so I ran towards the opposite direction with only my phone light.

"Hey! Get back here that's the wrong way, I'm calling security!" the tour guide shouted. I ran and turned off my phone light for a second, the cave was pitch black and I used my memory, touch, and sound to navigate through the cave. This triggered a flashback of when Isis radicals chased us through dark tunnels. I started to freak out and quiver and suddenly I lost my balance. I felt a tug at the bag and it fell off my shoulder. It dropped into the abyss of darkness. I turned my phone light back on and jumped off the guided path onto the rock formations to attempt to make it down. Crackling sounds of feet scampering above getting louder and closer. Turning off my phone light again I see the face of an illusion of Isis followers and I start to lose my footing and fall to the next rock, pebbles drop causing the security to shine their lights down the dark path below. I hug the side of the cave until they give up and shrug it off. "No way he was crazy enough to go down there must have been some bats." Finally after what felt like miles down, I picked up the bag and this time I put it across my body so if it's pulled, I'm going with it. I climbed the rock like cave structure to the top and back to the path of righteousness.

"Damon Reigns, Please rise to the stand." the judge commanded. "Mr. Reigns, after careful review of your testimony the court has decided to give you full custody of your daughter, Gracie Reigns. This court session is now concluded, court dismissed." the judge concluded as he pounded his gavel. I had done it, I had won my daughter back and now I had to fulfill my last duty. Brothers in Arms Sanctuary was now established and ready to help support the veterans who lost their way and came back to nothing. "No matter what the situation, if you need help Brother's in Arm's Sanctuary will help you get back on your feet again by providing you with housing, meals, job sources, and mental health. You are not alone." The TV relayed as our official commercial played in my office. A unique man with a crested ring and slick black hair appeared in my lobby. I got up out of my chair and rushed over to him to greet him and said, "Hey, I know you! You threw that little black book at me!" The man slowly turns around, "Hello brother, you've really done well for yourself I see." "No way, Master Sergeant Eric Deckard?! I haven't seen you since you saved me back in Afghanistan. It was you!" Eric looked me dead in the eyes, smirked and said, "I told you that you were going to make it home to your little girl, didn't I?"