Faithful Deceptions

Faithful Deceptions
Copyright © 2011 by Melissa Ohnoutka

Prologue

“Hailey. Open your eyes, sweetheart.”
A burning sensation ripped through her insides. Where am I? Why is it so dark?
Precious seconds passed as she tried the simple action of just swallowing. Why
couldn’t' she move, speak?
And oh, the pain.
No matter how hard she tried, Hailey's efforts to focus and lift her eyelids fell short.
It felt as if she was being pulled though an opening much too small. Jagged pieces, pointed, razor sharp, scraping and cutting at her tender flesh as she tried to regain
consciousness.
Oh, no. What’s happening to me?
Death’s icy fingers laced around her heart as the empty void expanded further and
tormented her soul. A part of her wanted to quit, to give in and find the peace she knew
was just beyond her reach. But somewhere, somewhere deep within, the will to live grew
stronger. Wouldn't let her cross over.
“Hailey?”
In the deep recesses of her mind, a glimmer of hope flickered. Someone was calling her name. She could hear them, sense their presence. But they sounded so far away. Their voice drifted in and out, the way the ocean flows beyond all boundaries of time and space on a solitary seashore.
Oh, dear God. Why couldn't she think straight?
I’m here. I can hear you. Alarm spread over her as she tried to lift a finger to alert
them she was still alive. Not one tiny muscle even flinched. She may be able to hear
them, but the person made no indication they knew of her receptiveness.
This isn’t happening, she thought, feeling her chest rise and fall with rapid repetitions. Don’t panic. Not yet.
Focus already. Just focus.
This reminded her way too much of those nights back in high school when she’d ended up at home in her own bed, unclear about how she had made it back at all. So much defiance, so many wild parties, so much pain. She cringed at the memory of her brother’s smiling face, of how he’d always been there to rescue her from those irresponsible intoxicated messes.
A sob tightened her throat.
Oh, Eric. The horrible truth tore through her chest like a feral beast. She let him down in the worst possible way when the time came for him to need her in return.
Flashes of disturbing images filtered through the murkiness and sent her heart racing with dread. These experiences were from her troubled teens. All disappointing memories she’d tried so hard to forget for so many years.
Well isn’t this just perfect. Not one single clue significant enough to explain the dilemma facing her now surfaced. But she could vividly picture the twisted metal, the branches of that blasted tree, and all the blood from that horrifying night so long ago.
What the heck was causing her selective memory? She had no idea where she was or how she ended up this way. The last thing Hailey recalled before being plunged into the depths of darkness was a huge Christmas party given by one of her best clients. But she wasn’t even sure why she had changed her mind and decided to go after all.
Especially since Delaney… Oh, what the heck had Delaney done again? This was getting old way too quick. Days were missing. A lot of them. She could picture herself descending the winding staircase into an extravagantly decorated ballroom and hear the joyful Christmas music floating in the air around her, but after that her memory grew hazy. There was some sort of blinding light she couldn't quite identify and then, nothing at all as her brain spiraled into unresponsiveness.
She now lay counting eternal seconds of panic-stricken weightlessness. Her head throbbed in rhythm with each heartbeat, a tight heaviness in her chest threatening to collapse her ribcage with the next breath she dared inhale.
Summoning all her strength and courage, she fought off the urge to scamper away and hide like an injured animal. It would be so easy.