Deja Vu: The Healer

Chapter 2: Beta William's Office

As I got to the lobby I stepped up to the windows in awe as the sunset's colors bloomed through the windows. My lips parted in the beauty that surrounded me and turned back to the receptionist to comment.

But she was gone.

I looked around. I was completely alone. The room was so busy, so hectic only ten minutes ago and now the silence spiraled around me like I was the last person left on the planet.

My eyes darted back to the fifth tapestry. I could just slide around her desk and see if there really was a door there. Realize I was being stupid and no such thing existed.

And as my mind thought of the option it almost became a need. The air changed around me as if it was electrified and I could see and hear better as I focused in.

I had to see that door. I had to. My chest heaved the response.

And I would do it.

Purposefully I stepped around the desk and didn't even look at the doors as I passed through the hall. There was only one place I was going and I was seeing what it was that called me like a siren song.

The tapestry.

I reached to touch it and it felt just as I thought it would. Rough and strongly textured fabric. Heavy. I pushed it to the side and stepped into the darkness. It wasn't so dark I couldn't see though. The sides of the tapestry let in just enough light to let me see as if a full moon night and outside.

The door was nondescript. Just a basic flat wooden door with a brass doorknob which was locked. But another image in my mind showed me that the key was behind me on a hidden shelf tall to my reach. I reached high, but no shelf.

See?  You're being silly.

As my hand came down it hit on a shelf in front of me, throwing a jingle to the ground.  A key.  I reached timidly for it and then opened the door, replacing the key on the small shelf.

The door opened to another hallway. This one brightly lit and white. Much like a hospital hallway. White walls with half height wood paneling. The flooring a white linoleum with speckles of grey. I walked through the halls, staring as the doors passed me. Some with name plaques. Some with fancy patterns painted. But I continued to walk, knowing I wanted the next corridor instead. I turned to the right with the hallway and again déjà vu flooded me. The third door on the right. That's the one.

I walked right to it. A plaque on the door read:

Beta William

I knocked but let myself in.

The room was a basic office. Cherry wood desk with attached shelving unit to one side. A tan leather couch filled a lot of the room that wasn't bookshelves. My mind flashed to the floor. It was the same linoleum as the hall, completely clean, but I could almost see papers and books scattered around, children's drawings of wolves. It was almost as if I was seeing two dimensions. Clean floor flickering to papers. I looked back around the room and my sight caught on a light blue book, randomly stocked in one of the many bookshelves. My heart pounded, each beat hitting my shirt in a real movement. I needed that book. It was meant for me. I reached and grabbed it.

Healer.

Healer was written in a bold golden font at the title. It had no other words on the front or back. I opened to the first page and gasped at the handwritten message.

Kara,

I don't know if this book will make it to you. Benson is adamant that he will take you all away. But I have asked Alpha Samuel if I could give this book to you and he has agreed. Your gifts are needed to this pack. Please, if Benson's plans come to fruition come back home.

Grandfather Ralph

It was my name. Well, the name people called me as a young child. And Benson, my father. And my grandfather Ralph? What kind of coincidence was this?

I heard voices in the hallway and gasped. The confidence I just had felt faded and I made the quick decision to take the book. I didn't know how, but I knew it was supposed to be mine. The inscription even said that the owner gave permission for me to have it. I stuffed it in my purse and waited for the steps to fade outside.

Then I quietly opened the door and peeked out. No one was around, so I ran the hallway to the tapestry door and when I rounded the corner, I hit into a tall extremely built man that wasn't wearing a shirt. He swore loudly and I tumbled backwards to the floor.

"What the eff are you doing?! Who are you! What are you doing down here you little freak!"

I looked up to the giant and cowered. "I'm uh. I'mI'mI'm..."

He mocked me, "I'm-I'm-I'm... You're a little stupid baby that can't speak! Now what the eff are you doing on this floor?" He lifted me by one arm, dangling me like a ragdoll. My feet tiptoeing for balance.

"I don't know," I shrunk.

"You don't know?! You filthy trespasser!" He pushed me away and started shaking, edges around him blurring in rage. I wanted to run in terror, but my body was frozen in fear.

Behind me voices hollered. "Girl! Get away from him!"

I couldn't.

Two sets of footfalls began to run the long hall, echoing around us. A man. "Garrett! Stop it! Calm down!"

A woman's hurried voice, "Girl, move now!"

But the shimmering man's eyes before me turned gold and as I watched the air around me fell into calm and the hollering dulled. I was no longer afraid, and a peace fell over me. I stood up to this Garrett and placed both hands around one of his tight fists. My height only hit to his chin, but my eyes gazed upwards to his and caught his glance.

"Calm." I stated in a soft breath.

His shaking immediately stopped and he focused in on me. His whole body relaxed. The tightness of his fist uncurled from under my touch. His shoulders sagged almost in a trance of fatigue.

Two people stepped toward me on either side and the grip I had on Garrett loosened as I looked to a woman standing on my left. The feel of the world scattered back into view.

"What did you do?" She curiously eyed between me and the bulky sleepy figure.

"I'm sorry," was all I could squeak out and then I twisted around Garrett and ran for the tapestry door. My feet pounded each step, reverberating around as if many people were after me. It heightened the sense of anxiety of whatever that was. I had practically put that man to sleep after he had been ready to kill me. I ran through the tapestry door and out down the other hallway to the lobby.

As my steps were heard by the receptionist she turned lightly and then froze seeing me. I just ran around her and out the door. It was all mere seconds before I was outside. I ran to a tree out front and sagged against the trunk, trying to catch my breath.

Men and women eyed me cautiously as they came in and out of the lodge, but no one said anything. I couldn't tell if they were party guests or community members, but I didn't care. I only cared about remembering how to breathe.

What was that? What did I do to him?

And that office? Why was my grandfather's name in that book? In the book now in my possession. I squeezed my purse to feel if it was just a dream, but it was there. How did a book my grandfather had get three states away and in the middle of nowhere?

Scary.

I tried to center my breath for a few more minutes and then pushed up against the tree, letting myself stand up. My legs still did work, so I started the walk to the parking lot and to the rental car.

The area was darkening now, the stars starting to peek out. I could tell this would be a beautiful place for stargazing and the thought made me smile. It wasn't so dark I couldn't find my way, but a few more minutes was all it needed for the skies to deepen to black, so I pressed my feet forward down the path. Within a few more slow minutes I found the SUV and opened the side pocket on my purse to find the keys when arms caged me from behind. One arm around my midsection lifted me from the ground and another across my mouth. I began to scream a throaty sound in immediate terror.

A deep voice whispered at my ear. "Come along quietly princess. We're just taking you to the Alpha."