ONE

Gunshots were heard all over the place, people were screaming, running for their lives and so many lives were lost too. I looked up to dark sky that bears no star then I felt the foreign object passing through my flesh and coming out of the other side as blood gushed out everywhere.

I fell down still looking up as my eyes closed slowly.

...

Beep, beep, beep...

I heard the machine beeped and I opened my eyes to realised that I was in a hospital. I sat upright to get a good view of where I was and it's almost as if I was a hotel room. I looked at my hand, it was okay, it's still me, I touched my face, I can feel myself but how is this possible? I died, I watched myself die, or am I dead?

The door opened and an average woman with skin fair as the sun, dressed in a nurses uniform walked in.

"Oh, you're awake mister," she said as she came to run some tests, she sat down beside me holding my left hand taking my pulse of course, then she smiled at me "and what's your name handsome?"

"Erm... Sam" I said then she left my hand and recorded my pulse beat and went over to the machine

"Funny, you know my brothers name is Sam too"

"And you are?" I asked

She turned to face me cupping her blonde hair by her ear and I can't help but notice her beautiful grey eyes and her smallish pink lips she kept biting then she replied with a smile, "call me Tesla"

Wow, I got to admit, she is kinda cute and too young for a nurse.

"So... Tesla," I called and she smiled a reply "how long have I been here"

"Approximately six month" She said turning back to the machine, I think shes taking the readings or whatever nurses do.

"So, I was in a coma for six months" I asked surprised

"Yep" she replied

Gosh, six month in one place, now this is bad, I've got to get out of here or this people could all be in danger.

"Is something wrong?" She asked staring at me "you look... Uncomfortable, is there something I can get you, perhaps a cup of water"

"No, not at all," I quickly replied "but when will I be discharged"

"I'm not sure, we still have very few tests to run so make yourself comfortable" she said and was about to leave

"Hey, Tes." I called and she turned back smiling "is it okay if i called you Tes." She nodded, "kay, I was wondering..."

"Yes, I would totally grab a coffee with you when you're discharged" she chimmed in beaming with excitement as I stared at her surprised, what the f***

"Isn't that what you were gonna ask me?" She asked when she saw my expression "oh, I'm such an idiot"

"No, No, it'll be nice" I said and she lit up her face

"It's just that, erm... Are you a nurse or an intel"

"Both," she answered, "I'll tell you about it when we grab that drink" then she opened the door, "looking forward to it though" and she left closing the door behind her

She seems nice but I don't want to get involved in anybody's life. In the meantime, I should be figuring out how to get away from here, far far away.

I got up removing all the medical wires on my body and went towards the window, the view is nice and it's pretty high, could this be the VIP lounge? I mean, what would I be doing at the VIP lounge? Well, it doesn't matter after all, all that matters is me going out of this place before things gets ugly.

I opened the window and looked out calculating how I'm going to get out of here without dieing, that's if I'm not dead already. As I was about to go out through the window, the door opened and a huge nurse, Slightly taller than Tesla came in with a man.

"What's going on here?" She asked in a deep manly voice thay shocked the room and i seriously do not want to mess with this one.

"Erm... The room is a bit hot so I..." I tried to come up with an excuse real quick

"The ACs are on" she said

"Well..." I scratched my head for another excuse

"Son?" The man at her back came out staring at me almost in tears "you're awake?"

I starred back at him trying to recall his face, that's when it occurred to me

"Dad!" I exclaimed as he came towards me and we hugged each other.

.

.

.

After making sure that I was on bed and stable. Dad sat on a stool beside my bed and looked at me smiling

"You don't know how happy I am to see that you're awake" he said

"Yeah, I'm surprised my self Jerry but how is this possible" I asked

"Does it matter, what matters now is that you're alive" Jerry, my dad said taking my hands in his

"You don't understand dad, if I'm alive, i can't stay here, she'd find me" I said "and everyone here could be in danger including you"

"No, you're the one who doesn't understand, she's gone okay, we locked her up in Nazi, she's never coming back" Jerry said in an assuring tone "you and I both know that no one can escape from Nazi."

I gasped, could this be true? She's finally gone? I looked at him and saw truth in his eyes

"There's no need to run again son, you're finally free from Zhebel." He said smiling as tears dripped from his eyes and he hugged me again, but freedom is one thing most people can't define, there's no way its true, it can't be.

I relaxed on my bed, Jerry brought some food so I could eat and he left in evening.

I laid on my bed looking up to the celling, a lot was going to my mind that moments about what happened in the past and now she's in Nazi, its just so hard to believe.

I closed my eyes pretending to be asleep listening to the peace of the place before the door opens and closed then i opened my eyes and sat upright, it was Tesla.

"Hey Tes. What's up" i asked pretending to be interested.

"Well, all analysis are cleared, tests came out fine so hopefully, you'll be discharged tomorrow" she said giggling then sat on a stool beside my bed smiling "I came to deliver the news to you myself, so I guess our date will be here faster than i anticipated"

"Date? Isn't it too soon for that? I mean considering the fact that I'll need plenty of rest" I said trying not to sound uninterested at all.

"Well... I mean, yeah, it's just that i'm so excited" she said then she brought out a piece of paper and pen from her pocket and wrote down her number, she slid it into my jean pocket "call me" she winked.

"O...kay" I replied already getting scared, during my history with women, i have never encountered anyone like her before and I did not intend on starting a relationship with this one.

she smiled, stood up and left. It was creepy, she is creepy. Did Zhebel sent her to get me or what? Whatever the case maybe, I'm not getting Involved.

I laid down back, switched off the lights and closed my eyes, after a while, i fell asleep.

.

.

.

I open my eyes breathing rapidly, I was sweating all over, it was morning already and I was still at the hospital . I breathed in and out to calm myself down then a man dressed in a doctors attire and a nurse walked in.

The man was looking old, he held a book which he used to examine me one last time before discharging me.

"You're all good mister," the doctor said as the nurse shut down the machine and led me out of the room.

I came down to the lobby and saw that Jerry was already waiting for.

"Hey dad, you're here?" I asked excited to see him as we hugged.

"I wanted to be the one to take you home" He said

"Home? I don't have a home," I said in reminder "and you know I can't follow you back to your home, Bia wouldn't allow it."

"You don't have to follow me to that house, I got you a new one where we can both catch up on time" Jerry said smiling as I returned the smile too. On our way out, i saw Tesla coming in, she smiled and waved at me then put her hands in her ears inimating a phone then she mouthed "call me" and went in.

"Wow, you got yourself a chick already," Jerry said as he smiles at me "a hot nurse, men you're lucky"

"I wish, she's... Weird" I said

"Well, i do hope you'll call her and you know start a life" Jerry said

I think he's excited for me but... I'm not, I'm not going to let my guards down and lose the people I care about, especially Jerry.

We took a cab and after a while, we arrived at an apartment, not so fancy but manageable, we got down from the cab, paid the driver and went in.

It was amazing, It's what I've always dreamed of, it's home.

"Wow dad, it's... I don't even know what to say" I said looking around.

"Thank you would do" he said as we both laughed "anyways, make your self at home, I better go catch up with Bia"

"Yeah, you should"

"well, see ya later" he waved and left.

I smiled, this is cool, real cool. I sat down on the coach, turned on the television, took a popcorn from the fridge and began to watch what was playing.

About an hour later, i fell asleep. I heard gunshots, I could also feel the bullet running through my flesh then I woke up panting, it was evening already. I got up, put off the TV and Went to the bedroom.

it wasn't big but I liked it, then I saw a phone pack on top of the bed and scoffed, he do know how to surprise people.

I picked up the phone, laid on the bed and began to set it all through the night,then I remembered the paper in my pocket, I brought it out and saw her number written in bold. I wanted to throw it away but, let me just give it a try, so I input the number on my phone and called it.

"Hey Sam, is that you" she asked in excitement and it was as if she has been waiting for me to call her.

"Yeah" I replied

"Oh goodie! I almost thought you forgot about me" she giggled "hope you're getting better"

"Yeah, I think I am" I said

"Thank goodness because we're going tomorrow"

"Erm... Why tomorrow?" I asked surprised

"I'm free tomorrow, its my day off" she answered "and I know just the perfect place for our first date"

"Where?" I asked not interested at all

"How about the new restaurant in town, Douns' hill" she suggested

"That's... Interesting"

"Good, lets meet up by 8am then"

"How about 4pm"

"Sounds great" she said then I hanged up.

This can't be happening!!!

All night, I spent my time on the internet because I was not feeling sleepy.

Morning came quickly as possible and I was fast asleep then i felt cold water drops on my face which woke me up.

I got up afraid that Zhebel has found me but it was only Jerry.

"Wakie wakie son, its 10am and I've got plans" he said and kept the cup on the reading table near the door.

"You do know I have a name right" I scoffed and he laughed

"I guess I'm just used to calling you son, Zack" he smiled and sat beside me and i sat upright "I got list on our father-son get together" and he handed it over to me

"Wow, that's a really long list" I said when I opened it but didn't even bother reading. "Well, I've got my own plans but if this is so important to you, then I'm gonna have to cancel"

"Whoa men, hold your horses, what plans you've got?" He asked

"Well, I called Tesla last night like you suggested and I'm supposed to meet up with her later for our... Date" I signed

"Well, don't cancel,"

"Why, I mean, I don't want to go, I've been trying to come up with an excuse all night but this seems perfect" I said with a blink of excitement

"Zack, you will go, we can have this another time, or I can assure you that we'll be done before your date time" he said patting my back "now go freshen up, we got alot to do."

I sluggishly went to the bathroom to have my bath, my plans today was to sit back at home and eat popcorn watching TV while coming up with an excuse to bail on Tesla but Jerry just had to intervene. I don't blame him though, he's happy to get back with his son after so many years of unbelievable nonsense.

I finished and came out, Jerry has already picked the clothes I'd wear. When we Were done, we went on our way.

The father-son get together was going pretty well, we did a lot of things kids would love to do with their dads and I had fun. It's nice to spend time with him after all these years.

We were at a game studio playing video games and i was winning before Bia called

"Erm... Men, I've got to go" Jerry said when he hanged up "believe me, it's urgent"

"Okay, another time then" I said as he stood up and gave me some money

"And hey, don't bail on Tesla" he said and left.

When he was far gone, I paid for the games, played for a while before leaving.

I decided to stroll a little since there was still time. As I was walking down to Douns' hill, I began to hear Zhebels voice and some incidenct that happened in the past began to replay in my head, it Was painful, I thought i was going crazy...

It was evening, passed four,Jerry came to my house,

"Zack buddy are you home?" He called then remembered that I had a date.

He went to the kitchen to help himself with something to eat but noticed everywhere was as if someine broke in. He came to my room, it was messed up to, he saw my sword belt on the bed and it was empty.

"Oh no" he gasped and ran out of the house.

The cab he took stopped him at the beach as he came down and ran towards the waterside where I stood holding my dark sword.

The sky became dark as wind blew furiously across the beach almost destroying everything in it. I held my sword firm ready to cut open the door to the shadow realm.

"Zack!" I heard my name, it was Jerry, he called out to me from afar "Zack you don't have to do this"

"I can't stay here anymore father, I'm only putting you all in danger I have to go back" I said with a distorted voice

"I already told you son, Zhebel is in Nazi and she's never coming back" Jerry said but I was still insisting that I go back " here, why don't I show you" he offered as he came towards me and held my hands, he used his hands to clear open a space in the air so I could see Zhebel. She was shriking trying to free her self from what you would describe as a place worst than hell.

"Look," he said "She's all tied up like a beast, she can't get to you anymore, you're free now"

Suddenly, the dark clouds vanished, the space disappeared, I fell on my knees, it is true, she's gone, she's finally gone and... I'm finally free.

"Son, Zack. Zhebel has taken enough from you already, your mom, Thail, don't let her take your life as well. Live it while you still can" Jerry said as we hugged.

"I got to go to Tesla, I think I'm late already" I said as we both laughed.

"I could give you a ride there" Jerry offered as he helped me up. The beach was half destroyed, luckily no one was in it.

We came out of the beach, took a cab and he dropped me off at Douns' hill and went home.

I breathed in and out and went in. The place was surprising not filled up, just few people, i thought places like this usually gets filled up by this time. I look around and found Tesla already packing her stuff to leave, then I check the time, it was almost six, she must have been waiting for me, so I walked up to her.

"Hey Tes." I smiled then she turned to look at me, she wore a simple red dress that will catch the attention of any man that sets his eyes on her. When I looked at her, I couldn't see the excitement in her face anymore.

"I thought you wouldn't make it" she said softly

"Me neither but, I won't bail" I said smiling "I'm sorry I'm late, I lost track of time but if you don't mind, dinners on me"

"Okay" she smiled and sat sat down.

All my life I've been running, running from what you would call the impossible.

When I was born, I was marked for a course I can't understand. My life has been a mess, I've lost a lot but I had my dad by my side all the way even when his wife refused it and still the unknown has a way of getting to me but I don't have to worry about that anymore.

I think I'm finally free, life has given me a second chance and I'm ready to leave it like a normal person without knives at my neck.

I'm going to live in the moment and for the first time in forever see what it's like to be free and I'm not willing to regret anything.