Demons From the Past novel Chapter 36

"I know the thought of confronting your past terrifies you.It terrifies every man. But sometimes we don't do it for ourselves. We do it for the people we love more than ourselves." Colleen Hoover, Ugly Love.

****************

|Nate|

I was waking up from a terrible nightmare.

The girl who I loved had left me.

Only, it wasn't a dream.

I knew it was real as soon as I opened my eyes.

"Verena." I mumbled her name incoherently in my half-conscious state, as if it would somehow make her come back.

"Hey, man." Someone spoke up.

It took me a while to recognize my best-friend's voice in my hysteric state.

"Marcus?" I muttered finally. My voice was hoarse.

"You look like crap." He responded.

I tried to chuckle but the stab of pain in my ribs stopped me abruptly.

His hand squeezed my shoulder gently. "I'm sorry, about everything man."

We were enveloped by an awkward silence. Neither one of us was particularly good with expressing emotions.

He cleared his throat. "I need to give you something."

He reached into his pocket and took out an envelope.

My heartbeat sped up.

"Verena, asked me to give this to you."

"You talked to Verena?" I demanded.

"She came to the apartment a few hours ago and gave this letter to me." He answered cautiously.

I quickly sat up, ignoring the protests of my aching body. "Do you know where she is? I need to go to her."

"Look Nate, I think she's doing the right thing. She just lost her brother. She needs some time to mourn, to move on. You guys need to stop using each other as distractions and start facing your pasts. You need to let go of all that guilt holding you down. Yours and Verena's relationship was based on the fact that you both couldn't let go of your pasts. That's not healthy."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about. I didn't ask for your advice I asked you where Verena is!" I spat out.

He sighed, "She's leaving Nate. Her mother came here to take her back home." His gaze flitted towards the clock, "Her plane takes off in twenty minutes. I'm sorry buddy."

I could feel my heart drop to my stomach.

I struggled to get out of the bed.

My legs gave out as soon as I stepped on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" Marcus snapped as he helped me back up.

My good arm clutched my stomach as wave after wave of pain hit me.

"You can either take me to the airport or I do it myself." I wheezed.

His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Are you serious?" He asked in disbelief.

I started to limp towards the door in response.

I heard his frustrated groan.

I knew I had won.

"Okay, but we need to get you some crutches first." He muttered.

*************

"Drive faster." I ordered.

"If you say that one more time. I swear I'll throw you out of this car." Marcus barked at me.

I continued to glare out of the window.

I was running out of time.

I needed to get there before that plane left.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, we reached the airport.

I jumped out of the car even before Marcus stopped it.

I ditched the crutches that Marcus had forced me to take and limped towards the entrance. I pushed through the thick crowd of people. I ignored the stabbing pain in my leg.

My heart thudded wildly as my eyes searched for her.

She had to be here.

A flash of familiar auburn hair caught my eyes. My heart skipped a beat.

She about to check in.

I knew it was her.

Verena.

"Verena!" I screamed.

I knew she heard me by the way her body suddenly tensed.

She turned around.

Our eyes locked.

Everyone and everything besides us seemed to disappear.

That was her. My Verena.

I started to go to her.

Something wasn't right.

The look on her face made me stop.

Very slowly, she shook her head.