Free Metanoia by Angela Schiavone Page A

or this land or what are supposed to be my people. I was
rude to Fheyrhil and now I’m being rude to you. I’m losing my
sanity. I know I’m hurting those around me by my actions and now by
my words, but I can’t stop. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.
Leyance…” She just cried. That’s all she could do. Leyance leaned
over and pulled her towards him.
    “ Shh. It’s okay, Gina. You
aren’t hurting anyone, and, now that you’ve gotten this off your
chest, I don’t think you will hurt as much either.” He held her to
him as she sobbed into his shoulder. She threw her arms around his
neck and held him against her.
    “ I’m sorry, Leyance. I’m
sorry. I can’t bear to be by myself anymore,” she sobbed, the sound
muffled by his shoulder.
    “ You don’t have to be. I’m
here. I’ll always be right here.” He held her, rubbing her back and
fingering her hair. She continued to hold on to him and so they
remained until her tear drops dried and she fell asleep in his
arms.

    The sound of birds singing softly awoke Gina.
Opening her eyes, she suddenly remembered where she was, yet
something seemed odd to her. Then, it hit her. Gina had fallen
asleep in Leyance’s arms and he, too, had fallen asleep. Slowly, so
as not to disturb him, she rolled over to gaze upon him. The eyes
that so easily made Gina weak in the knees were closed, but he was
still beautiful all the same.
    He is handsome, she thought. I’ll give
him that, not to mention caring, intelligent, funny – no, stop,
stop! …What’s the use? I can’t help it. She studied his face, his brown loose curls resting on his
head and noticed beads of perspiration on his forehead. His lips
were moving, as well, as if mouthing a word. Gina realized what he
was doing. He was silently calling out for her.
    “ Leyance…” she whispered.
Worry swept over her. “Leyance!”
    Leyance walked through the streets of
Nythagié, Gina’s hand in his. He smiled at her and gently kissed
her head. They were together. Finally, they were together. Finally,
she loved him, remembered loving him. That’s when the sky
blackened. A dark figure stepped into the clearing.
    “ Noquef!” Gina
exclaimed.
    “ I’ve come for you,
Darling, I told you I would. Come with me. Marry me. Give yourself
up to me,” he demanded. Gina quickly pushed Leyance away harshly.
She ran into Noquef’s arms.
    “ Noquef, I knew you’d
come!” She held him close and kissed him hard. “I love you so
much!” she said, speaking in between kisses. Leyance didn’t know
what to do.
    “ Gina…” he
started.
    “ Sorry,” Noquef said
grinning. “She’s mine. She was always meant to be mine.” Again, he
grabbed Gina and kissed her as they started to walk away. Leyance
tried to run after her, tried to yell out, but some invisible hand
stopped him.
    “ Gina!” he said to himself.
“Gina!” Her voice now floated back to him.
    “ Leave me, Leyance! I never
loved you! I love Noquef, not Leyance. Leyance…”
    “ Leyance!” Gina yelled.
“Come on, Leyance, wake up!” He jolted up, still shaking. He looked
surprised at the sight of Gina.
    “ Gina! You’re still
here.”
    “ Of course, I haven’t gone
anywhere. That was some nightmare,” she said, drying his forehead
with her sleeve. “I thought you might be having an epileptic fit or
something. I was kind of worried. Shows how much I know about
nightmares, huh?”
    “ It was nothing. Just a
stupid dream. Nothing to worry about.”
    “ What was it about?” she
inquired. “I mean do you normally call out for me in your
dreams?”
    “ You don’t want to hear
it.”
    “ Sure, I do. Come on, tell
me,” Gina pleaded. After awhile, Leyance gave in.
    “ You and I were a couple,”
he began. Gina jumped slightly at this, but he didn’t notice and
continued. “We were walking and – well Noquef came and took you
away. It was a dream, it wasn’t real.”
    “ Noquef?”
Gina asked. What is
that?
    “ I know, I hate him