5 Chapter Five

Adriel didn't know how long she stood there over the tombstone in the rain. Her hair was matted to her face. Her heart was in turmoil and she didn't know how to make it stop.

She sniffed.

"Everything's gone to hell since you left. Nothing's the same." She whispered.

She stared at the marble which had her brother's name engraved on it.

'In loving memory of son, brother, and friend, Luke Richard Dawson'

Her lips quivered as she remembered that day. The day her nightmares began.

"Hey Adriel, still sulking 'cause I got the last slice of pizza?" Adriel grumbled at her brother's taunt.

"It was the last one. You know how much I love pepperoni pizza."

"Yeah, yeah I know. Don't worry I'll make it up to you." Luke flashed her a playful grin. It was the first time he was taking his Mustang out and she'd decided to tag along for a spin.

"Where's Alex? I thought you said we'd meet up like an hour ago." She said. She saw her brother raise a teasing eyebrow.

"Still have a massive crush on my best friend? I love Alex, I really do, but the boy's a player and I don't want my little sister getting hurt." Luke said. Adriel scoffed.

"I'm not so little anymore, am I?" She stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled.

"You'll always be my little Adri." He tapped her nose with his finger.

"Cut it out." She pushed his hand away. That momentarily made him lose control of the car. A truck from the left lane honked aggressively at them as they veered haphazardly off their lane to his.

"Luke, look out!" Adriel shouted eyes wide. He steered hard right and punched the brakes. A few seconds later, the car came to a screeching stop.

Nobody moved for a second, their chests heaving. Luke chuckled, still trying to catch his breath.

"That was close Adri." She looked up at him about to answer when she saw another truck coming from behind them in the rearview mirror. Her blood froze.

"Luke!" He didn't look back. He saw the panic in her eyes and immediately knew what it meant. But instead of panicking, he leaned over and shielded her at the last second with his body.

She gripped on to him, closing her eyes.

"It's okay Adri. It's okay." Those were his last words to her before the truck hit.

The truck had hit with a ferociousness that sent the yellow Mustang flying six feet into the air. All she heard was her screams as the car somersaulted. A few seconds later, she saw herself by the side of the road static feeling her ears as her eyes tried to adjust to her surroundings.

She smelled smoke and that was when she panicked.

"L-Luke?" Her eyes widened when she saw what was left of the Mustang. It'd been crushed to half its size but she could still see him, she could still see her brother.

She tried to move but everywhere hurt. She gasped out in pain. She noticed she was in a pool of her blood and that the blood was spreading at a fast rate around her but she ignored the pain and began crawling to her brother.

"Luke." He wasn't responding and she tried to ignore the odd way his head hung and continued dragging herself towards the car.

"It's going to be alright. It's going to be okay." She said. In the background, cars had stopped. Someone was already dialing 911 but they all faded out when she saw the back of the car catch fire.

"No. No!" She felt hands holding her, stopping her movements but even as she felt them carry her, she couldn't tear her eyes from the car that was already halfway engulfed in flames. Someone pulled her head back to put the oxygen mask over her head.

"No, L-Luke." She was slipping away. The last she heard before she faded into oblivion was the ear-deafening explosion beside her. Her eyes fluttered close as a tear escaped them before everything turned to black.

The rain was deafening but the sound of her heart drowned it out.

One hand rested on the tombstone while the other held the cross tightly on her neck.

"You weren't there for him, even though he loved you." She whispered.

"God." She sobbed.

"Why weren't you there for him? Why weren't you there for me?" Luke and her mother had been the most spiritual in the family. She had always been jealous of Luke's love for God, as he always put Him above all else even before her.

She'd envied the relationship between them and if ever there was a perfect description of a Christian, he'd be it.

It was the love he showed others that won her over. She'd wanted to feel what he felt, she wanted to know what was so special about God.

Luke taught her about the word, about the Holy Spirit. Heck, slowly but surely she'd accepted him into her heart.

So, why? Why had God abandoned them?

"I trusted you." She sniffed, her hold on the necklace tightening in a vice-like grip. Her brother had given it to her on her seventeenth birthday.

"I loved you." She had. Once upon a time she'd loved God with everything she had and that was why Luke's death had hurt so much.

She hated the pain. It was crushing.

Adriel began sobbing, screaming into the pounding rain until she lost her voice before crouching down. She sobbed slouching over the tombstone.

Adriel.

She heard the soft voice of the Holy Spirit like a soft caress from the wind. It only brought more tears to her eyes. She knew whose voice it was. She'd been that familiar with it. She shook her head sealing her heart.

"I don't want to hear what you have to say." Her voice cracked.

The winds blew around her and the rain suddenly stopped. She didn't stand up from her crouched position.

"Hello there." Adriel didn't reply.

A man in a white suit appeared behind her. She looked at him. She didn't know who the guy was. Her brow creased, she couldn't find a drop of rain on his suit jacket.

He was a man in his forty's and he looked like he belonged in an office rather than out there

.

"Who are you?" The handsome man came directly beside her and she stood up.

"Sucks doesn't it?" He ignored her question looking directly at her brother's tombstone. She didn't like the vibe she was getting from him. She was sensing, getting massive headaches.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm gonna go." She quickly excused herself. The man was creeping her out.

"He has a knack of letting people down, telling you He loves you only to allow us to have our wicked way." He said emotionlessly. She turned to him.

When she said Luke had been spiritual, she'd meant that he'd been very acquainted with God and had been blessed with multiple spiritual gifts-discernment being one of them.

The man smirked when he saw the realization dawning on her.

Adriel could have sworn his eyes flashed a deep red before she took a step back.

"What are you?" She asked perplexed.

"We have you in our grasps already." He stated pointedly. She hated the goosebumps that immediately rose her arms.

Who was this man?

"We won't disappoint you as he did. We actually hold up our end of the deal." A voice in her head kept whispering words to her to agree.

Say yes, it's harmless. We'll be there for you. We'll protect you.

Adriel looked at the handsome man in the white suit. He looked compelling, without knowing what she was doing.

She was walking towards him, frozen by his gaze.

"Come to me Adriel." He whispered.

"Come to me." He reached out to her and she held out a hand. They were so close to touching.

"Adriel!" As if a haze had been lifted over her, she blinked.

What just happened?

She looked behind her. It was her mum. She'd found her.

By the time she'd turned back, the man was gone and she wondered if she'd imagined it all in the first place.

{¶{¶{¶{¶{¶}

"Why would you run away like that? Your father was worried sick." Her mother chastised as she parked the car in front of the house.

Adriel couldn't help the eye roll.

"I doubt he was worried about me mum." All the while thoughts of the man in the white suit still plagued her mind. Had she really imagined it all?

Adriel unhooked her seatbelt and walked into the house leaving her mother to stare sadly after her.

Her mother didn't know what to do. She knew her daughter was hurting but she didn't know how to get through without opening her wounds.

Adriel's mum sighed.

Everything had been fine before the accident. The devil had meant to tear her family apart and he was succeeding.

"God I need your strength." Her voice trembled as she leaned against the steering wheel. The worst loss a person could ever suffer was that of a child and she'd lost her baby.

"Daddy I know Luke's in heaven singing your praise. We miss him, Lord. I miss him. But nothing could ever separate me from you, not death, not sickness, and not even the devil. I ask that you watch over my Adriel and heal her heart just like you're healing mine. I love you, Lord."

{¶{¶{¶{¶{¶}

Adriel closed the door to her room, crashing into her bed. Well, coming home had been a disaster. She was no better off than how she came she felt even worse. From her father ignoring her to the strange encounter, she'd had at the cemetery.

She heard a knock on her door

"Adriel, Adriel honey. You know you can always talk to me." Adriel heard her mother's voice from the other side of the door.

She glanced up at the door. Indeed, she could always tell her mother anything.

There was an oval window right above her head and she lifted her fingers to catch the rays. Why can't everything just be normal, like the sun shining?

She was almost tempted to accept, to talk about everything. The words were just at the tip of her tongue.

Suddenly she felt her phone ring. She gasped, she'd left it on her bed.

"Okay, mum. I'll talk to you later." She quickly said. She checked her phone. It was Jayden.

He'd called her five times already and she couldn't even count the number of texts he'd sent. She felt her heart tug.

Jayden was the only one that had been there for her. He was the only one she felt safe with. She picked his call.

"Hey, Jay. I'm sorry, I left my phone in my room. Just got in. How are you?" She heard him exhale in relief?

"Dri I was so worried. How are you? How are your parents?" She couldn't help the tears that gathered at the corner of her eyes at the sound of his voice. He was home.

When she didn't say anything he continued.

"Dri are you okay? Do you need me over?"He asked worriedly. He paused.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes." He finally said. She heard him take his keys off the table.

"I'll come pick you up." She found herself nodding but she realized he couldn't see her.

"Okay." She answered her voice cracking.

"I'm coming Dri. It's gonna be okay."