The Proposed Prophecies
Chapter 13: THE VIRUS-STAGE ONE

Liv opened her eyes and spotted the desk in her room and the picture of her grandfather, Amy and Christopher sitting on it. “Hey.” Amy walked out of Liv’s bathroom, wiping her hand on the small blue towel which used to hang right beside the vanity table.

“How long was I sleeping?” Liv asked and tried to sit up, but her body felt heavy.

“You slept for almost two days. The doctor said you might have experienced a slight shock. Carmen and the police officers told me what had happened at the motel.” Her words suddenly reminded her of the horror all over.

“What exactly happened?” Liv asked. She remembered every single scene, every sound, and the man with bloody eyes but somehow she needed to hear it from someone other than herself.

“A highly wanted thief was hiding in that motel, and he attacked Tiffany and he tried to attack you too but the police got him and they shot him. You girls are extremely lucky nothing worse happened. What were you even doing in that motel anyhow?” Liv realized Amy must have been lied to but she wasn’t sure why Carmen and Tiffany had lied; perhaps they were forced to. That was not what happened and they must have seen the man’s face as well, or at least Carmen must have as she was the one pushing him away. Liv clearly remembered the bloody man and the men in safety suits and masks and the military van. And her father. She started to wonder what had happened to him or if it was even him and if he had been the one to tell them to lie.

“Did you see Christopher?” Liv asked and Amy looked surprised. “Christopher? I haven’t seen my brother in years. Why?” Liv shook her head and placed her hand on her forehead. “No reason. I just thought I saw him.” She placed her hand back next to her body and Amy looked at her. “You poor thing,” she said and sat right next to her on the bed.

“Amy? Could you tell me what other stories Jason told you?”

“Oh Liv. Not this again and not now. They were all made up. He was sick. I told you that already.” Amy exhaled loudly. She placed her hand over Liv’s head as she tried to examine if she had a fever.

“Did he ever tell you something about sick people? Like maybe some type of a mutation or virus?”

Amy was quiet for a while and she appeared like she was searching deep inside her memories.

“Yes, he was convinced that the main part of the destruction process of the human race included three stages of a virus. Stage one caused bleeding eyes, nose and a lack of oxygen to the brain. Stage two was supposed to cause some type of a mutation in human DNA that would lead to aggression and stage three came with a hunger that if wasn’t satisfied would kill the person.” She gave long pauses between each sentence, like she did not believe what she was saying, as if it sounded crazy just talking about it.

Liv realized the man from the motel had bleeding eyes but he did not appear mutated or aggressive. She remembered his desperate voice when he ran closer and asked for help.

“What other stories were there?”

Amy seemed like she was about to say again how crazy those stories were and how it was just a bunch of nonsense when a light knock on the door interrupted her.

Evan walked in and politely asked if it was alright for him to be there. Amy got up quickly, as if she was relieved he had come and the conversation was finally over. She walked out of Liv’s room and shut the door behind her.

Liv felt suddenly angry as she looked at Evan. His presence reminded her of Tiffany’s beaten up face, McAlister and the bills on his desk. He slid the chair against the dark marble floor from the desk closer to her bed and sat on it. His deep brown eyes seemed worried and his hand was approaching hers. But she pulled hers back and he looked surprised.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the financial issues?” she asked with tears in her eyes as Tiffany’s face and the whole incident after just kept appearing right in front of her.

“I told you, its fine. There are economic crises all over Florida. Besides, that’s not why I came here, to talk about money.” He exhaled and looked slightly annoyed.

“Did you know Tiffany was sleeping with McAlister for money, so he would save your parents company? She was all beaten up in that dirty motel when we found her.” Liv’s tears rolled down her cheeks as she remembered. Evan looked sad but not surprised and he kept quiet, as always. He brushed his fingers through his hair like he always did when he was nervous.

“What is going on? Why are you so quiet? Say something!” Liv raised her voice even more and Evan stood up from the chair.

“I am glad you are alright and nothing worse happened, but I think we need some time apart right now. This is just not the right time for our relationship.” He said this quickly and appeared like he was fighting against his own emotions. His face looked serious but Liv felt like that wasn’t all.

“Wait… What?” Liv was slightly shocked. That was the last thing she had expected him to say.

“Evan!” She yelled as he rushed out of her room and she ran after him. Suddenly it felt like all her energy had come back again but her heart was shattering into pieces. She didn’t want to break up, she just wanted an explanation. She couldn’t understand why Evan was choosing the easy way out and why he thought this was better than opening up to her to tell her what was going on in his life. He got into his black car and didn’t look back at her. She felt betrayed and disappointed as all those nights they had spent together and all those laughs they had shared were shattered into pieces. She stood by the front door in her pink pajama shorts and tank top with bare feet and messy hair. Her eyes were flooding with tears.

As his car left the property she noticed a for sale sign at the end of the driveway. She wondered if Amy was selling the house and if she was, then why. Maybe she had financial problems too but Liv had never realized it until that moment. She had been so preoccupied with school and had spent most of the time with Evan that she hadn’t noticed what was going on around her. Suddenly she felt selfish and disappointed in herself.

She walked by the room where Ashley slept and spotted the nurse walking out. Her hair was red with some orange in it and her eyes were green as emeralds. She introduced herself as Joann.

“She is sleeping but you are more than welcome to go in. I’ll be in my room if you need something,” Said Joann, with a polite voice. Liv had never realized that Joann had actually moved in there. Her room was right next to Ashley’s and she appeared nice and Liv thought she must be somewhere around the same age as her. Suddenly she felt ashamed, as Joann had probably heard her yelling after Evan. But even if she had, it didn’t feel like she was judging at all. She walked quietly into her own room and left the door slightly open.

As Liv walked into Ashley’s room, there was the typical depressing sound of the machines and the room was warm from them, lacking fresh air. She sat down on the sofa next to Ashley’s bed. Suddenly a soft sound called her name. Ashley was awake but she looked like she was fighting to be awake with each second.

“He will be back,” she said and Liv smiled. She knew Ashley was implying Evan. Liv had told her previously about him and Ashley appeared to like him without even knowing him. Liv walked closer and grabbed Ashley’s skinny and bony white hand.

“I saw you” she suddenly said with a crying voice. “I saw you in my dreams. Your eyes were bleeding.” Liv kissed her on her forehead.

“That’s ok, Ashley. It was just a dream,” Liv whispered but could not hold her tears back as Ashley looked like each attempt to speak was slowly killing her. “I am scared” said Ashley.

“You don’t have to be scared. I am here, and your mom, Jake, Joann and Tommy.”

“I am not scared for myself. I am scared for all of you. I saw it in my dreams.” She tried to gasp for some air.

“We all are going to be ok, I promise.” Liv tried to calm her down as Ashley’s breathing was becoming worse and she didn’t want her to talk anymore. But she wasn’t so sure about what she had just promised her. There was surely something very wrong going on. The man with the bleeding eyes was hard to wipe from her memory and the fact that Ashley had a dream about it was strange too. “It is all going to be ok.” Liv wiped her tears away and smiled at her. Ashley appeared to become calmer as Liv kept holding her hand. Ashley slowly closed her eyes again and Liv put her hand down on top of the yellow sheets. Liv couldn’t stop thinking about the motel incident and the strange migraine she had got that day. She wished she had at least one of Jason’s diaries to read. She sat on the sofa in Ashley’s room and exhaled. She wondered if she was getting ill too, just like her grandfather had. Though of course, perhaps she hallucinated and imagined everything bad that had happened in the past. She thought of Evan and his sudden break up. She wished she had imagined that too and would finally wake up and see him again in her room. The machines monitoring Ashley’s heart continued to beep. This suggested that this was not a dream or hallucination, no matter how much she wished it to be.

Liv got up early the next day. It was hard to sleep after the incident at the motel and the situation with Evan. She glanced at her phone and it was only seven in the morning. She had a missed call from her mom and a text message from Tiffany asking to meet at the coffee place underneath Carmen’s apartment. Liv thought they probably wanted to talk about what had happened at the motel.

Liv wanted to call Evan and apologize for the blame she had put on him with the financial issue and Tiffany. She felt bad about the fight and she thought that Evan must have a reason why he had never mentioned the financial issues. Maybe he was embarrassed or simply didn’t want to involve her.

She walked out to the terrace with a cup of coffee and looked at the blue ocean. Some sea birds flied above the waves and the morning breeze felt a little colder than a week ago. She sat down onto the outdoor sofa and logged on to Skype. Her mother picked up with her usual greeting of “Can you hear me?”

“Hey mom,” Liv said and Helena smiled into the camera.

“I tried to call you yesterday but your phone was off and Amy wasn’t picking up either. Is everything alright?”

Liv hesitated at first but told her about the incident at the motel and about the man with the bleeding eyes.

“Oh honey. That’s horrible.” Helena moved closer to her screen. She seemed to be worried, which was the last thing Liv wanted but she needed to talk to someone who would believe her. And her mom always did. She tried to calm her mom down as Helena’s breathing was faster and louder than usual. “I am still alive, no one hurt me,” Liv added with a small amount of sarcasm. She wanted her mom to believe she was fine and not to worry about it anymore, despite the fact that she still was.

Suddenly she spilled a little coffee on the table as she reached out to it and realized there was no more Carlotta who always used to appear when something spilled or broke. Liv remembered the for sale sign up front. Amy must have let her maid go, she probably could not afford her service anymore. But at least Joann remained for Ashley. Liv could not remember when she had last seen Carlotta.

She grabbed a napkin from the kitchen and wiped the table.

“They showed a woman on the news two days ago who had bleeding eyes. I think it was somewhere in Spain. Let me try to find the footage or the article,” said Liv’s mother. “Maybe there is a sickness going around,” she added and looked like she was already searching for the footage as she wasn’t looking into her camera on the computer anymore.

Liv remembered what Amy had said about one of Jason’s stories, about the three types of viruses that were proposed as one of the tools for depopulation. She felt scared deep down and wondered if it truly was a virus and if it was, how long it would be until it started spreading more rapidly.

“By the way, your father showed up a week ago. He wanted to talk to you and Becky.” Liv felt an anger in her guts and at the same time it felt strange to hear this because she had, possibly, imagined him at the motel. Helena said he needed to talk to her but he was unaware that Liv was in Miami. “I don’t want to talk to Christopher,” Liv said, clenching her mouth in hatred as she said his name. “I know honey. You don’t have to. Becky went to see him today, maybe she can call you after she gets back and tell you what he wanted.” Liv had always thought her mom was the most forgiving person on earth. Even after such a bad relationship full of fighting with Christopher she never spoke negatively about him. “Whatever. I don’t really care what he wants,” said Liv and thought it could not have been him in the motel. If Becky went to see him today that meant he was not in the States but in Europe. But then the motel incident was two days ago. She remembered how the man in the safety suit and mask had called her by her name. That could not have been an accident, Liv thought.

Suddenly a link popped up sent by her mom. “I found the article about the woman with the bloody eyes.” Liv opened it. The woman looked exactly as the man from two days ago; her eyes and nose bled down to her chin. Her skin was pale white with blue vessels. The article said that was the tenth incident in the past week reported. Liv had a bad feeling about this.

She dialed Evan’s phone number shortly after her mom ended the call but he was not responding. She thought she would go to his place before school to see if he was there. Maybe he would talk to her if they were face to face, she thought. She drank the remaining coffee from her cup, stacked her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and rushed out of the entry door.

As she walked to her car, she spotted Amy walking to the entrance with Tommy holding some boxes with purses in her hands. “Where are you going? You are supposed to be resting.” Her voice was slightly raised but weak at the same time. She looked pale and tired. “Are you ok?” Liv asked and Amy nodded that it was probably just flu. Liv could not help the feeling of fear spreading through her as she saw Amy sneeze.. She was feeling paranoid after the incident at the motel and the article about the ten same exact incidents.

“Are you leaving to go to school? The doctor said you should rest,” Amy asked and Liv felt a flush of embarrassment. There was no way Amy hadn’t heard the fight between her and Evan yesterday, either. “I am going to stop by at Evan’s place and then from there I will go to school. I feel better, I promise.” Amy smiled. “Good. Evan seems like a good guy. He was very worried about you”. Amy then squeezed past her and her nose started to bleed. “Amy! Your nose!” The thing Liv thought of was the bleeding man again.

“Liv, stop it! It’s just a nose bleed.” Amy raised her voice as she put her head back and rolled her eyes. Tommy giggled. “It’s just some blood Liv,” Tommy said and explained how his nose used to bleed too when he was younger.”

Liv helped Amy get out a napkin from the box in her hand and Amy held it against her nose and looked at Liv. “Could you please stop staring at me like this?” Amy’s voice was hardly acknowledgeable as Liv’s mind was preoccupied by the scene from the motel and she felt an urge to stare at Amy.

Amy walked inside the house and Liv walked right after her. “I think you should go to a hospital.”

Amy started to laugh. “For what? For a bleeding nose?”

Liv’s could feel tears forming. She couldn’t help it. She felt like she didn’t know what was going on with Amy and it was frightening. “I know you probably still feel a little freaked out about the guy at the motel and all that. But honestly, I am fine.” Amy mumbled, whilst keeping the napkin against her nose. She looked calm. Liv thought she would not be so calm if she had seen what Liv had seen at the motel. But who would believe her story, especially after the police had covered it up with a highly wanted thief story.

“What happened?” Jake asked as he walked through the front door and Tommy yelled his name and jumped into his arms. Liv realized she can’t have imagined him when he’d carried her into her room at the day of the motel incident. Suddenly the spacious hallway didn’t look so big as Amy, Liv, Jake and Tommy stood in the middle.

“Nothing. Liv is a little paranoid, that’s all.” Amy walked upstairs, followed by Tommy.

It was only Jake and Liv left in the hallway.

“Please tell me I am really paranoid and I have nothing to worry about.” Liv whispered and kept staring at Tommy who as always looked like he was putting so much energy into walking up those big stairs. But Jake was not responding.. He was looking at Tommy too and then suddenly turned to her. “Don’t you have a class or something?” He asked but did not wait for an answer. His voice sounded arrogant and cold, not like the voice she had heard on the day of the motel incident. He walked into Ashley’s room and Liv walked out of the house. Her chest felt heavy and the migraine was coming back.

She got inside her car and drove to Evan’s place, despite still feeling dizzy. She kept breathing in and out and convincing herself it was going to be alright and Amy only had flu, which still didn’t justify the blood coming out of her nose.

She parked in front of Evan’s apartment building circle entrance. She let her car run, since she wasn’t really supposed to park there, but she felt too dizzy to look for a parking spot in the always overcrowded downtown and the building’s private parking inside the building was only allowed with a pass, which she didn’t have. They used to let her in only after Evan had given her permission, and she wasn’t so sure if he would do it now too. She walked inside through the glass automatic door and spotted the receptionist. He sat behind the counter as always and greeted her. “How is everything with you?” he smiled and stood up from his chair. “Good. I am just going to see Evan” she said and started walking straight to the elevators. “But he moved out this morning.” Liv’s sneakers made a squeaky noise as his words stopped her and shoes rubbed against the white tiles. She looked back at him and walked back. “I am sorry.” He said and he gulped. It suddenly felt awkward. She thought he must have realized by now that the two of them had broken up because she had been coming there to Evan’s apartment every single day for the past few months and now he hadn’t even told her he was moving. “Did he say where he was moving to?” she asked. It was disappointing that she even had to ask. She thought she had meant more to Evan. “No.” He said, and Liv thanked him anyhow. She walked slowly. Every step she made felt a million times heavier. She felt cheap and unwanted. “Wait.” he raised his voice and walked after her. “He said he would come back to return the keys and for some boxes in his apartment later on today.” Liv nodded her head as a thank you and walked outside to her car. She inhaled and exhaled but it did not stop the rolling tears or the pain on her chest. She pulled out and headed towards the cafeteria under Carmen’s apartment, where she spotted Tiffany’s white car parked right in front of it. She parked behind her and walked in. The pleasant smell of a coffee and chocolate desserts hit her nostrils.

She spotted both Carmen and Tiffany sitting next to the window in the back and talking. It was nice to see them being friends.. It was suddenly funny how some good had come of such an awful day at the motel, a day that included rape, assault, a man with bleeding eyes and an image of her father under the safety suit and mask.

“L.” Tiffany got up and ran into her arms.

“I am glad you feel better,” Carmen said, placing her hand onto Liv’s arm.

The coffee place was empty. Only the owner was there watching TV and as always he did not pay any attention to them other than serving their coffee.

They sat next to the window. Outside, it looked like there was a dark cloud approaching and the wind was picking up, like there was about to be a big storm.

“You look sad,” Tiffany said, staring at Liv as she sipped from her coffee. Liv wasn’t sure if Tiffany knew about the fight between her and Evan. “Have you talked to Evan?” Liv asked.

“I talked to him a week ago. He said our parents had extended their stay. And I haven’t talked to him since. He is actually pissing me off by ignoring me all the time.” Liv exhaled as she realized Tiffany didn’t know anything or that Evan had moved out. She sensed that it wasn’t really a good time to bring it up. She turned to Carmen who was sipping from her coffee.

“Why did you lie to Amy about what happened in the motel?” said Liv curiously.

“Well, I had a visit from one of the military men later on that day and he said it would be in my best interest if I don’t tell the truth. And frankly I don’t even know what really happened. I mean the man looked sick but that’s all. I wasn’t really sure what I saw or how to explain it.” Carmen put her coffee cup down and scratched her head. “I had the visit too,” said Tiffany. “And staying silent is fine with me since I can’t tell anyone about McAlister and I can’t have my parents know either.” The news that they had been silenced somehow felt disappointing to Liv; if there was a virus going around then people should know.

“But the lie is not helping either. Something is going on and you both know it. Don’t tell me you hadn’t seen that man’s face. His eyes were bleeding.” Carmen looked down and Tiffany placed her hand on top of Liv’s shoulder. “I think we should listen to the military guy. I don’t need trouble right now. My parents would be mad. L …. Please.”

Suddenly the volume on the owners TV was turned up. On the news they would see infected people in New York City. Apparently there were two thousand infected people recorded already in the city.

“Dear god,” the owner said with a deep voice. New York City has been affected and the news showed sick people with bleeding noses and eyes.

“Oh no. My parents are in New York.” Tiffany got up from her seat and walked slowly towards the TV. “When was the last time you talked to them?” said Liv. Tears were rolling down Tiffany’s cheeks. “I don’t know. About three months ago,” she answered.

“Three month ago! Now, that’s a family bond,” Carmen said. Liv shot her a look to suggest she kept her sarcasm to herself. She knew Carmen knew nothing about Tiffany’s family issues and feelings that she was an outcast. Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“I need to talk to Evan.” Tiffany’s body looked like it was trembling as she searched for her car keys.

“I don’t think he is home now.” Liv said. Tiffany continued to search for her car keys in her purse, but her hands were shaking even more. “Let me drive you,” Liv offered; Tiffany looked too upset to be driving.

Liv and Tiffany got into the car after they had said goodbye to Carmen and Liv drove to Evan’s place. The rain had already started and a heavy storm was passing through Miami. It was hard to see as the wipers on the car could not catch up, the palm trees swung with the high wind and it took twice as long to get to his apartment building as the traffic had become more congested.

Liv parked in the circle in front of Evan’s building, behind a black car. Her heart nearly stopped beating as she spotted Evan walking with a woman from his apartment building. Even through the heavy rain she could still recognize him and his elegant walk. He held an umbrella over their heads and she held on to his arm. Perhaps she was his neighbor or an old friend. He would never cheat on her, she thought, but deep down it felt strange and hurtful. She wasn’t even sure if it would be considered cheating since he had broken up with her.

They were walking to the black car. Liv was sure he hadn’t seen her yet. But once he opened the door to the passenger’s seat for her she realized the woman looked like Amy’s friend, Eve. She had the same blond hair put into a classy bun and polite but confident moves. She could not imagine why those two would be together.

Tiffany got out and ran towards him. Liv watched her as she ran through the rain. Her hair was getting wetter by the second.

He looked towards the car once Tiffany had approached him and Liv saw the look of realization when he realized that she had run from Liv’s car rather than her own. Liv froze for a second as they exchanged eye contact. He kept staring at her, despite Tiffany’s obvious desperation over her parents. Suddenly it felt like the rain was falling down heavier, louder. He held the umbrella above Tiffany’s head and he didn’t seem to be bothered by getting wet.

She wondered how long he had been lying to her or if he had even loved her.

Tiffany ran back into the car and Evan still stared until Liv saw Eve open the car door again and slightly shake Evan’s arm, urging him into the car. And he went into it. She felt betrayed and stupid for trusting him.

“Evan said he has just spoken to our parents and they are alright,” Tiffany said. She didn’t look upset anymore, looked relieved instead.

“I am just wondering what Eve is doing here.” Tiffany added.

“You know Eve?”

“Of course I do. She was Evan’s private teacher at boarding school and she has been a family friend ever since.” Tiffany’s explanation hardly made sense at first.

“This woman doesn’t seem to age at all. I want to know her secret, or at least have her genes. She had always looked the same age. Amazing.” Liv thought she would surely want to know Eve’s secret too. She wanted to tell Tiffany about Eve and the whole situation but she hardly knew how to. It made little sense to herself and the more she found out about Eve the more of a mystery she had become. She was like a shadow that followed her around.

When Liv arrived home in the evening after she had dropped Tiffany home, she walked slowly upstairs to check on Amy. As she opened the door to her bedroom she spotted some bloody napkins laying around and Amy’s sheets had blood on them too. The room was dark but the TV made it somehow lighter. The news was on, showing that more infected people had been found in the state of California and Texas.

“Please don’t come in.” Amy’s voice cried out from her private bathroom and the door shut straight away. Liv walked to the bathroom door and heard Amy turning the facet of water.

“How are you feeling?” Liv asked. The blood in the room was not a good indicator. Amy’s clothes were all over the place, along with some of her designer bags and some old photos of her kids on the bed.

Suddenly she heard the water stop running and there was a slight push on the door. It sounded like Amy had sat down on the floor and was resting her back against the bathroom door. Liv did the same, sitting down on the dark marble floor that still looked like a mirror when she looked at it. She placed her back against the door.

“I am sorry. I fought so hard against believing you about Eve and the diaries. I just didn’t want history to repeat itself.”

“What do you mean?” Liv asked.

“I loved my father Liv. I truly did. He was so kind and the way he spoke those stories was so evocative, even if they were too much sometimes.” Amy’s voice started to croak, like she was about to cry.

“You have the same exact blue eyes as he did. You just reminding me of him so much. The way you laugh, the way you write. Everything. And I was afraid you would become delusional like him and I wouldn’t be able to help you just like I was unable to help him.” Amy sounded like she was properly crying now. Liv wanted nothing more than to go in to hug her.

“There is something I haven’t told you. The day he committed suicide, I told him he should just disappear out of my life. That he was crazy and that I was ashamed of him. Those were my last words! No matter how hard I have tried to forgive myself every single day I just can’t.” Maybe this was why Amy had never liked to talk about him, thought Liv. It wasn’t because he was abusive or a careless workaholic as she had initially imagined he would be. But because she hated herself for not being able to believe or to help him and she felt responsible for his death.

“And now here I am. With bleeding eyes and nose and my body feels weaker each second. Each breath I take feels like it will be my last, just like his stories said about the virus.”

Liv turned around and placed her forehead against the door. “Please let me in.” She suddenly couldn’t help herself from crying. She imagined Amy’s beautiful hazel eyes crying out blood and tears at the same time.

“I can’t. I need you to stay strong and be here for Tommy and Ashley. God, I love them so much and I am scared to die.” Her voice kept cracking and she was unable to take a proper breath in between sobs.

“I promise you I will never leave them, no matter what happens.” Liv placed her hand next to her head on the door. Even behind the solid piece of wood she felt an energy of some sort as Amy did the same and the energy of their hands met somewhere in between. “I love you Amy,” she whispered.

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