Chapter 50

Sweat began to beat down on Lucas's head as he was trying to screw in a light bulb to a ceiling fan. He didn't mind doing this, but the fear of falling off the ladder he was on and breaking his neck terrified him. The moment the ladder slightly moved caused him to grip it tight and began to take deep breaths. "Amay, can you please don't move the ladder." he asked her while looking straight up. He was too afraid to look down at the pinkish red haired girl.

"Sorry. I just got caught up in something." Amay said as her nose began to twitch from the delicious smell that filled it. She could smell the black pepper along with the fresh sausage blended with the fried cabbage fill the whole house and nearly kidnap her senses. "My senses are being bombarded by that wonderful meal that's being cooked."

"I don't blame you, but I don't want to fall to my death." Lucas reminded her as he finished screwing in the light bulb. With a deep breath, Lucas slowly began to make his way down off of the ladder. "Alrighty. That's the last one." He said outloud as he was relieved to be touching ground again.

Lucas could handle a lot of things, but heights were still a weak point for him. It also didn't help this light fixture was the hardest one to reach without a ladder. His eyes then looked over to Amay, who had her eyes closed as she allowed the smell to flow into her body. "It does smell good," he admitted to himself with a sigh.

"Oh. You two got it done?" Gloria said as she came from the kitchen with a bowl in her hand. "I do apologize for that, but it would have been a nightmare to do it on my own. Especially without any help." She explained to them while coming to a stop in front of Amay.

"Oh. What's this?" Amay asked as Gloria raised a fork with a piece of cabbage on it.

"I need you to taste it for me." Gloria said with a soft smile.

"Oh...Okay." Amay cautiously answered. She nervously opened her mouth and allow for the cabbage to enter. Her eyes immediately went wide as she could taste all the flavors and seasoning in it. With each bite a savoring wave covered her taste buds, until she swallowed. With a few coughs, Amay tried to clear her throat from the after taste. "It's very spicy."

"I might have used little too much of the pepper. But it is alright?" She asked pulling the bowl and fork back. Her heavy eyes filled with wonder and curiosity as she waited for Amay's answer.

Amay's face turned slightly red as she avoided eye contact with the older woman. "It taste fantastic, ma'am. The pepper after taste makes it even better." She confessed.

"Why, thank you." Gloria said giving her guest a soft smile. "It's always good to have someone that's never had it before try it out. Would you like to help me in the kitchen with the meal? It's the least I can do for you all coming over to visit, and helping me out." She said looking at both of them.

"Uhm." Amay let out as she looked at Lucas for an answer or help. Before she could get a response from Lucas, Gloria placed a hand on her arm. She then began to gently pull her with her. "Oh. Okay then."

"Uh. What do you want me to do Miss. Gloria?" Lucas asked trying not to snicker at the embarrassed face on Amay being dragged off.

"Would you kindly put it up for me," She asked Lucas as her and Amay went into the kitchen.

"Gotcha." He responded with a soft smile as his attention was drawn to the ladder. "How am I going to do this?" He quietly asked himself.

In the kitchen, Gloria made Amay wash her hands, and then gave her a knife to help her out. She first made Amay start cutting up some bell peppers for her pork steak. As Amay cut, Gloria placed a lead over the fried cabbage to allow them to simmer, and turn her attention to her guest.

"You know. You remind me of myself when I was younger." Gloria said as she allowed the water to run over her hands. "I was young, independent, sassy, and wanting to enjoy life." She said remembering her youth fondly and even let out a rough giggle.

"Oh?" Amay said. She was curious to hear what this elderly human had to say. Part of her felt insult that this human would compare herself to her, but she wanted to play nice for now.

"But, I always felt like the world was against me. That I couldn't trust my friends, family, or people who cared about me. That there was this giant weight on my shoulders." She exhaled looking at a picture of her younger self and her family. Her words caused Amay to stop and look at her with mix emotions. She could tell she was wondering how she knew. "It's in your eyes."

She said getting closer to Amay.

"When I first saw you, I could see it in your eyes. I had them. My daughter has them and even he has them." She continued and point out in the hallway to Lucas. She then placed a warm hand on Amay's. "I don't know how you feel or what you are dealing with, but I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone."

"I....but...how do you know?" Amay said in a confused yet sorrow voice.

"I don't know myself. I sorta have this gift, that let's me know at times." Gloria confessed to her. "But it doesn't take a fancy degree to know something is eating you up on the inside."

"I didn't know it was that obvious," Amay said in a low voice avoiding the woman's eye contact. "I'm.. just trying to process things, and trying to bury and deal with my past.... I don't want to talk about it anymore then that, if that's alright with you?" Amay said pulling back from the woman.

"Child that's fine. I will tell you like I tell my own children. When you feel strong enough to talk then talk, but a closed mouth don't get fed." Gloria said giving Amay a small nod, before taking the bell peppers and placing them on the meat. "Now, I'm made enough food. Would you and your boyfriend stay as a reward for helping all of today."

Amay's face immediately turned a bright red as she felt so embarrassed about the assumption. "Bu..Bu.. Boyfriend!?...No. No. No. No. We are not that. He's not my boyfriend?" Amay began to ramble and stutter as her face kept getting red.

Gloria tittered at the red face girl. "Sweetheart, I'm only playing." She couldn't help but shake her head at how fast the girl got defensive. It did remind her a lot of her younger days.

7:58 pm

"Thank you kids again for the help today." Gloria said from her porch.

"Anytime. And thank you for the meal." Lucas said while waving back towards their neighbor.

"Thank you, Miss. Gloria. " Amay said with a soft smile towards the woman. She was mainly thanking her for the advice.

With a final wave, they started their walk back home before it became dark. As the sun continued to fall they began to talk about their experience.

"So what did you think of her?" Lucas asked Amay as he remembered their conversation from earlier today.

"She's alright." Amay said trying to play it off. "Would it be alright, if we comeback and visit her again?"

"I'll be fine with that. I just hope she doesn't have me change out those light bulbs again." Lucas sighed as he shock off his fear. He was relieved that Martha actually did come over to help their neighbor out when she got the chance. "It would only be appropriate if I picked up the slack, since I'm home most of the time," He thought to himself. His attention then went to Amay.

He had noticed that she was looking more towards the sky. His mind wonder if she was going to be alright as it would be dark soon. Before he knew it, his eyes went down towards her dress. It was almost similar to the ones Martha would wear around the house, yet her's seemed more simpler.

"Staring won't make my clothes come off," Amay told Lucas as she could feel his eyes on her.

"Shit. Sorry." He said while pulling his eyes away. "I was just taken back that you're wearing a dress. I barely seen you in any of them before." He sheepishly explained while scratching his head.

Amay felt her face go red as her eyes dilated a little becoming bigger. "I just wanted to try something a little different. Does it not look well?" She said looking away from him for a moment.

"No. No. It looks wonderful, but I was sorta expecting you to dress above and beyond. Yet you dressing like this brings out your..."He found himself speaking before the light from the setting sun hit Amay at the right moment, and caused her hair and appearance to become more defined. Out of all the times, he stand next to Amay he never seen her look this beautiful. It was so much that, he had to avoid her gaze.

"My what?" Amay said visibly wanting to know what he was about to say.

"You...you...you look nice." He said not able to look her in the eyes. He then grabbed her hand pulling her a little further as he picked up the pace. "Come on it's going to get really dark soon."

Amay slightly blushed as he took her hand, and lead the way. "O..kay."

Not even 15 minutes had passed, and it was completely dark out. The moon wasn't visible on this night. While the stars were out, they were being overtaken by the trees that made the path nearly pitch black. The only light that lead there path and worked as their only guide was Lucas's phone light.

"Damn it." He said kicking himself for having the stay out too late. If only he would have turned down the meal, but he didn't want to be rude. He could feel his hand being squeeze tightly as Amay began to tremble. "Don't worry. We are almost there," Lucas said in a calmly lied to her. They still had a long way to go, but the last thing he needed was for her to panic even further.

"O...Kay." Amay said as she could feel both of her hands began to shake. She was trying to keep herself together, but she was becoming more agitated as they walked. She could feel chest beat faster as her breathing began more shallow. It felt as if her throat was become more tighter. Chills went down her spine as if someone cold hands were slowly going down her spine. "How far are we?" She said with a tremble in her voice.

Lucas swallowed hard as his he looked back at Amay with a soft smile from his phone brightness on full max. With that light, he could see Amay. He saw that she was visible trembling with sweat covering her head. Her hair was a mess and she was pale as a ghost. He could see her now small pupils looking back and forward as she was trying to focus.

"It's okay. We are..." Lucas was about to say but his phone suddenly went completely dark. A unnerving chill went down his own spine as he realized why it happened. "It died."

As the darkness engulfed both of them, Amay's body went completely still as she heard a voice call to her. The voice said only one word, and it send chills through out her body.

"Amay," the voice said in a seductive and very sing-song voice.

Tears fell from Amay's eyes as she could fell her hands go numb and slip out of Lucas's hand. The forest went earlier silent as if it was only her and the voice. Her body began to tremble all over as she felt weak and nausea at the same time. Her breathing became more of a gasp for air as if something was strangling her. Her heart began to beat at an abnormal pace at the same time her fears began to set in.

"Amay," the voice song again in a sinister tone. "I've finally found you again, sweet girl. Wont you embrace me?" The voice said as it wrapped its hands around Amay from behind. Their touch sent chills all down Amay's spine and back as if they were pressed against her.

Amay could feel every single ice touch of the figure. She badly wanted to scream and run for her life, but her body was frozen in place. She wanted to scream out for Lucas or anyone, but it felt as if she was being cooked. She never felt so helpless like she did now. All she could do was pray that someone will save her from the grasp of this being that torment her.

"Will you not embrace me, child?" The voice whispered in Amay's ear causing an icing feeling to run along the side of her face. "All you have to do is let me in." She voice spoke again.

Amay watched as a black arm much darker then the darkness around her slowly crept from behind her and reached for the scar on her chest. Amay couldn't close her eyes, but only watched in horror as it closer and closer to it. She could feel a sharp pain in her scar. It was like someone was cutting into it and pulling it open.

"Help me," She began to beg. "Someone..anyone please help me."

As if her prayers had been answered a warm light blue light engulfed her. The light caused the voice to fade away and all the darkness to fade away from Amay. A pair of warm hands touched her face as she felt something warm meet her lips. This sent relaxing and warm sensation throughout her whole body and worked as a way of grounding her. She opened her eyes to see it was Lucas who was bring her back.

Lucas pulled away for a moment to look Amay in her eyes as he hugged her tightly. "Don't say anything and just focus on my heart." He said in a very concerned voice for her.

Amay didn't say anything, but did as he said. She felt her whole entire body still shaking from the whole experience. Her warm tears soaked into his shirt. She listened to his heart and his calm breathing and tried to make his own.

"His aura is warm," She thought to herself as she buried her face deeper into his chest.

After a few silent moments, Lucas was the one to speak. He spoke in a calm and low voice. "Are you alright?"

"I...think so." she answered in a unsure voice. Although she had calmed she was still visible shaking.

"Okay. Amay, do you want me to carry you?" He asked her.

Amay slowly thought about what he asked, and thought about it. Her legs felt weak and she really wanted to get out of the dark. "Please." She said in a broken voice. "I don't want to be here anymore.

"Alright." Lucas reassured her. He carefully lifted Amay up with both hands as she held onto his shoulder. He wasn't sure if this would work, but he took off.

"Before I did this training, I could barely pick up someone else. Especially as light as someone like Amay. I would also never be able to run like this," Lucas remarked to himself as his aura worked like a light source for him. He thought about how much different he felt compared before he went down this path. His shirt and shoulder tightened as Amay held on to him. "Right. My first priority is to get her out of the dark." He told himself as he looked forward.

"We will be there soon."