Joseph was standing outside the Lightman’s door. He knocks on it and the step-mother opens the door. She stares him up and down.
“Can I help you?” she said with a nasty attitude. “I’m here to see Annabelle. I took her to Texas with me 3 weeks ago?” Joseph said. “I know who you are. You want to see the spawn of crazy?” She asks him. “Uh, she’s not crazy.” Joseph says almost quietly.
“What’s a cutie like you doing hanging out with the scorned of the town anyhow? You need to get somewhere before you ruin yourself kid.” She barks at him. “I can handle myself. I’m a lot more dangerous than I look. People don’t bother me.” Joseph informs her.
“Whatever. Enter at your own risk. Beware of the crazy!” the step-mother says rolling her hands in the air. She returns to the living room looking at a reality series. Joseph took in a breath to calm himself down. He had just seen real crazy.
He walks on up the stairs and knocks on Annabelle’s door. There was no answer. He goes back down the stairs.
“Um…” “She’s out back cutie.” The step-mother said not even looking to him. Joseph walks out of the backdoor of the kitchen. He sees a small shack in the corner of the yard. He walks to it and knocks on the door.
The door opens slowly. Annabelle sees Joseph and comes out of the shack. Joseph sees a glimmer of something in the shack and he tries to look over her. She shuts the door behind her.
“What was that?” Joseph asks her. “That was personal business Joseph. You want something?” she asks him. “Yeah, I thought maybe we could hang out or something.” Joseph tells her.
“Hang out? Red left?” “Yeah. Maddie had some family matters to look to. So, I’m out here all alone and you’re the closet thing I’ve got to a friend right about now.” Joseph conveys.
“We’re friends Joseph, don’t worry about that.” she says with a soft smile on her features delicate features. “What were you doing there?” Joseph asks her. “Oh, no, you don’t get to know my secrets if you can’t reveal your own.” She tells him.
“You’re not going to let that go are you?” he asks her. “No.” she says staring him in the eyes. “Give me a second to think about it.” Joseph says.
He sits on a can on the ground. Joseph closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath.
Well…you’ve lost a friend, Ron. He was your truly intimate friend. Madison is just as close, if not closer than Ron. Yet Ron could relate to me better. But I need to bring someone else into my life.
The problem is, the person I’m asking, I’m attracted to…that’s a problem to say the least. Still, she seems nice enough to tell. I don’t know if she can handle the truth though. Madison has known since I first made friends with her. She knows how to deal with it. This girl…is …delicate. She’s really pretty…stop looking idiot.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSZs8L7ftn
It’s not like you have much of a choice. She’s more prone to believing me than anyone else. The only other person I can talk to is Natalia…and as anyone can imagine, talking to her is complicated. So…your answer is yes, why, you have no idea. Joseph spoke within the realms of his mind. He knew that there was other issues in his mind on why he was willing to talk, reasons he didn’t want to address.
“Well, I’ve come to a unanimous decision to go ahead and talk to you Annie.” Joseph said. Annabelle snaps a look at him. He slaps his head and she calms quickly.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqyfYP2zRE
“Out with it Jas.” “Well, it all began when I turned 6…I was sent to camp that was not really, a camp….” He started.
They sat outside for the next hour, Joseph telling Annabelle everything…the shortest, and softest version that he could. When he finished she got up and looked at him in surprise.
“You killed Ron? You did that?” she said in shock. “I’m at the mercy of those that have the ability to command me. I didn’t have a choice Annie.” He said. She snapped him another look and he grinded his teeth.
“And this drug, does what to you?” Annabelle asks of him. “Makes me in the crudest term, a beast. I feel it is trying to get loose all the time. You have no idea how much control it’s taking to keep the beast down.” Joseph said.
“I…I believe you.” She finally says sitting in the grass. “I feel sorry for you, that you have to carry all that on you and your own parents won’t listen or believe you.”
“Oh, I’m used to it Annabelle. I always knew that they would not believe me. It was said that it would be foolish to think that we could get through to our parents and break free of IOSTA grips. I’ve always tried to beat the odds though, to no avail.” He tells her.
“You know, that’s sounds so familiar. My mother would whisper that I believe. She was in fear of someone, a powerful organization.” Annabelle said. “If your mother was involved with the IOSTA that would be really bad news for your sake. What’s in the shack by the way?” Joseph says turning his eyes to it.
“Whatever I could find that my mother had touched. We…when I was young and she was alive, we were very close. We did everything together. My mother was a free-spirit and encouraged me to be one as well. I’m not as loose as her, but I’ve learned to be who I am from her. Come on. I’ll show you some things.”
Annabelle gets up and opens the door to the shack. Joseph enters after her. He knew someone was watching but knew they were of no danger. Looking out of the kitchen window was the step-mom. She turns away and disappears.
In the shack, it was clean and well kept. In fact, it was fairly new on the inside. There were shelves of things in the shack. On the table was a diary. Annabelle sat at the table and closed the diary.
“This is all of my mother’s things. A lot of it is in storage. My father…he loved my mother for everything that she was. When she passed, he couldn’t have her things in the house and the witch inside couldn’t agree more. But this is what I’ve managed to sneak out of the house and the storage lockers.”
“What’s this?” Joseph said lifting a small piggy bank. Annabelle takes it from him and puts it on the shelf.
“It’s a piggy bank.” “I know what it is, what’s in it?” “Something.” “Usually…valuables?” “I’m not opening that. Leave it where it is.” “And her diary, what does it say about the IOSTA?” “Her diary says nothing.”
“I’m sure that’s not the truth Anni…Annabelle. If you’re sure that she said the IOSTA in her words, then she certainly wrote it down. What was your mother’s name?” “Scarlett Myers was her maiden name.” “No…she’s not in the IOSTA logs. So she wasn’t a member of the US branch.” Joseph says to himself, “Anyhow, you mind if I take a look.” “Yeah, I do.”
He raises his eyebrow to her. She raises hers back at him. “This is personal. I don’t want you to read my mother’s diary.” “Just a look.” Joseph says.
Annabelle squints at him. She turns to the book and opens it to a page. She points at it. “This is all you…” Joseph grabbed a pencil and skimmed through it. She looks at him circle things with the colored pencils she had.
“What did you do?” she says looking in horror of the defacing of her mother’s diary. “Read it.” Joseph said stepping back.
“I’m feeling like I’m in danger from the IOSTA.” Annabelle reads off. It was one sentence amongst the many, many words that her mother had penned. She looks at him.
“How did you decode that so easily?” “Easy? You do realize that is just a portion of the book that she wants someone to read right? You mother is a genius…when it comes to riddles. That page there is just the beginning of her messages.” Joseph said.
Annabelle looks at him with a raised eyebrow. Joseph looks at her. “You know, that was a basic encoding. From what I see, free spirit, means free writing. She probably made her own encoding system, meaning…well, I won’t be able to find a thing.”
“And what do you suggest I do to find out what my mother was trying to say?” “Nothing. You knew you mother best…you follow her footsteps. You’re the only one that can figure it all out.”
“Okay. Then I will try. Maybe we can find my mother’s greatest secret together…put the piggy bank back.” She says turning around to the moving Joseph. He places it back on the shelf. “I’m telling you to look in this.” “No.”707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkR8GHaQnt
“Okay. I can wait for you to realize the truth.” Joseph said leaning against the wall. Annabelle gets up and touches his quivering hand.
“Your shaking.” “It’s nothing.” He says controlling his breathing. “What’s happening?”
His mind trails off to after he had met Annabelle. He was walking in the park again. Madison was with him this time. She stayed close to him. He was shaking violently…
“Jas! Jas, are you okay?” Madison asked afraid for him. “I can’t…hold it in…” Joseph said. Joseph drops on the ground his irises turn yellow and he screams into the sky. Madison backs up from him.
He clenches his teeth and stares at her. “Maddie…run…the anger…can’t keep it in!” Madison looks at him shaking her head. He hits the ground with his iron fists attack and smashes it. “RUN!” Joseph said blanking out.
Madison disappears from his sight. Joseph starts rampaging towards the town. He sees a man and jumps him. The man tries to hit Joseph off but couldn’t touch him. Joseph was faster and stronger than normal…he was lethal…
He beat the man senseless on the ground… Joseph was inside fighting the beast chemicals running in his veins. He yanked himself back from the finishing blow. He throws himself into a tree and knocks himself unconscious.
When he wakes up, the man was barely holding on to life. He runs to the man. The man was IOSTA…after him. It was fortunate that he was…Joseph knew he couldn’t lose it again. He lifted the man and got him medical care.
Joseph snaps out of the flashback. He knows he was going to lose it. He looks at Annabelle. “You need to leave…you can’t see me this way.” “Hold up Joseph. What’s wrong?” “I’m about to blank out. The formula was defective…can’t control the emotions of a beast…” he said clenching his teeth very hard and sinking his fingers into his hand.
“Calm down Jas…calm down. Come with me.” Annabelle said taking his hand.
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She drove him out to the woods in her 08’ Acura Tl. She helps him out of the car. He was barely containing, only her presence keeping him freaking out. He didn’t want her to see that side of him, didn’t want to hurt her, but she was not going to leave him like he requested her to do. So all he could do was hold it in with all his might.
“Alright… Joseph, just stand still.” She tells him. “I want you to look around you, but not with your eyes. Listen to everything…smell everything, feel the wind brush you…feel everything around you…” she tells him in a soft voice.
Joseph’s mind drifts into her voice. It was a few minutes before she saw his shaking hands stop shaking. He was calm now. She takes his hands into her own.
“What do you feel Joseph?” she said gently. He was lost in the woods hearing and feeling everything as if he was one with nature…
“I feel beau….” Joseph’s eye fly open. She looks at him. “Wolves.” He finishes. “Wolves? Okay? I didn’t know the beast side of you was that serious. But if it calms you.” “No Annie! Wolves! Run!”
Her eyes widen at Annie. She looks at him and slaps his arm. “Are you serious?! How many times do I have to remind you to not say Annie?!” she tells him. “Annabelle, there is no time for this. Come on! We need to run before they get us.” He yells at her.
He picks her up. She was so delicate in his arms. He felt like he would break her if he put too much muscle on her. She looks back and sees the wolves running at them.
“Oh…WOLVES! JAS!” she says panicking. “Calm down! I’ll get us out of this. Hold on.” He tells her reassuringly.
He looks at the surrounding trees and finds what he wants. He dashes at it and leaps on the side of the tree bark. He pushes off with his foot and grabs a branch and spins with her in hand to another. He launches off the branch to the top branch and places her on it.
“Stay here. I’ll come get you.” He says. Annabelle’s eyes widen as he drops from the tree and lands on the ground without breaking his legs. His staff comes out and the wolves circle him.
“You want to eat me…try it.” He says knowing they didn’t understand him. They leap at him and he smashes them all back with his staff. He dug into himself knowing it was a good time to call on the beast within.
His eyes turned yellow and he screams. Wolves from all over started to come out. They all leap at him and all Annabelle could see was Joseph moving with intense and enhanced skill avoiding being harmed. His staff was moving in a blur hitting the wolves and knocking them into submission. A mere 5 minutes later and he had subdued the wolves. They lie scattered everywhere.
Joseph breathes hard and rapidly snarling. He looks at Annabelle. She looks at him… She swallows and stares. She wasn’t sure whether or not to trust him.
Joseph leaps up the tree at her. And raises his staff. She closes her eyes and holds out her hand to try and block if she could.
“Joseph! JOSEPH! It’s me!” she said. Joseph looks at her and tilts his head. “Joseph…it’s Annabelle…Annabelle, remember. You’re in control. You don’t have to be like this. It’s your emotions…your power…you. Control it.”
Joseph stops breathing so hard. His iris return to their normal color and he drops his staff and it falls to the ground. He sits down and places his head in his hands.
“I’m sorry.” Joseph said. She rubs his back. “Joseph, don’t be sorry, you saved me. You didn’t hurt me, because you didn’t want to. You’re in control…emotions don’t control you, you control them.” She whispers to him.
“I’m sorry.” “Shhhh.” It was a while before Joseph completely calmed down. He was about to climb down and he held his hand out for her to get on his back. She refused it.
“I can climb down a tree Joseph. My mom was a free-spirit remember? That involved a lot of tree climbing.” Joseph shrugs and leaps down. She climbs down and when she is almost at the bottom she loses her grip and falls down. She is caught in Joseph’s strong arms.
“Yeah, you’re an excellent tree climber.” “I am. “ “About 85% good.” “Let’s go home Arlington.”
He smiles at her and they leave the woods… As they do, Joseph snatches a hair off the wolves when she was not looking. He knew something was up.707Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPDHg5gNEs
