Apocalypse Wow! 2! Part 2, Preface

PART TWO: THE YEAR OF HELL

Preface: Hailey’s Dream (A Sign of Things to Come, Part Two…)

Year: 2020

Sixteen-year old Hailey Bellum tried in vain to sleep. She tossed and turned in the single mattress bed that she had made her home for the last ten years since she last saw her parents. When she was asked to look after Faith and Willow, one of the main things she took with her was her father’s words: “Be brave… you’re going to have to be their big sister…”. Those words still resonated with Hailey to this day, as she finally let out a tiring sigh and closed her eyes, hoping to finally get some sleep

An unidentified woman’s voice bellowed “Hailey! Faith! Supper’s almost ready!” Hailey Bellum and Faith Williams, appearing to be the same age as Hailey despite being four years younger than her, worked at making a bed inside a bedroom. The sun shone brightly in the attic bedroom as the two of them worked together.
“The sun is pretty bright today, eh?” Hailey said as she adjusted the top blanket
“Mmm, yes.” Faith said as she looked out the window, almost in a reminiscing way.
“Do you think they will finally come home today?” asked Hailey, as she sat on the now made bed and clutched a teddy bear that sat at the head of the bed.
“I hope so.” Faith laid down on the bed staring at the ceiling. “But at least we’ll be ready for little sister’s arrival.”
“Do you think she really is the way everything to go back to being normal? Willow tried and she failed.”
“Willow tried to do things that would have hurt my little sister.” Faith said “She tried to break the chain in the past.”
“But can we really break the chain without help?” Hailey asked as a sand storm blew through the bedroom. Hailey then found herself in the badlands of Southern Alberta, walking through the hoodoos that her parents took her oh so many years ago. Hailey shielded her eyes from the two suns that shined down on the arid land. Hailey then saw an old woman standing in the middle of the scenery. Hailey approached the woman, who then noticed Hailey walking towards her.
“The chain cannot be broken in the past or your future,” the woman said. “You need to look at the present to stop them!”
“Stop who?” Hailey asked the woman, who then collapsed to the ground. Hailey gasped as she noticed a knife sticking out in the woman’s back. Standing there was Sloane, dressed in leather.
“Do you really think you can stop us anywhere?” Sloane asked Hailey, who backed away in fear. Hailey then felt something behind her. She turned around and was then face to face with Claudia Daring.
“I’m afraid you’re just too late, little girl.” Claudia said with a sinister smirk. Hailey then felt someone grabbing her by the arm and forcing her to turn around. Facing her now was Jason Saxon, brandishing the Lazarus Glove.
“Sorry, game over. You lose. Now, let’s see what’s on your pretty little mind,” Saxon said as he placed his hand onto Hailey’s forehead…

Hailey abruptly woke up screaming. The scream itself echoed throughout the area she was in. Hailey sat up from the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. She knew it was a dream, but it still made her scared. The scream she let out brought Jericho into her room. Jericho did his best to calm down Hailey, who was in near hysterics, “Shh, it’s okay. It’s gonna be all right,” Jericho said as he sat down beside Hailey and gave her a comforting hug. Expressing human emotion had improved greatly over the years for Jericho as Hailey slowly stopped crying. She always seemed to feel the safest in Jericho’s arms.
Hailey tried to speak, but did so hysterically and in between sobs “It was just… Saxon was there… and he… eww!”
Jericho wiped away the tears that ran down Hailey’s cheeks and said “It’s okay, You’re safe here, remember? No one will hurt you. I’ll see to it myself.”
“But… they said… the chain… we’re too late!”
“Look, if it’ll make you feel better, I know someone who can try and help sort out these dreams of yours. We’ll go see her tomorrow, okay?” Jericho said as he gently gave her a kiss on the forehead. Hailey then laid back down and tried to go to sleep, knowing now that she’ll be protected by her Jericho. Jericho then closed the door to her room behind him as he exited down the hall. As he walked, Jericho was met up by Sullivan.
“She isn’t ready, you know that?” Sullivan said defiantly to his superior.
“I’m afraid we’re running out of options,” Jericho said back. “If she isn’t ready now, who knows when she’ll be.”
“From what I heard, you’ve been busy going back and forth in this timeline. Obviously you have a clue what is going to go down. Or are you making sure Willow didn’t try again to throw everything out of place again?”
Jericho paused at the mere mention of Willow Ecstasy Brody-Toroshenko and simply let out a sigh that was mix of disappointment and frustration. “She made her decision and thankfully we were there to stop her before it was too late. She will also come around when the time is right,” Jericho said with a heavy heart.
“And what if all of this doesn’t work out?” Sullivan asked.
“Then maybe we should finally take the advice of her late mother – break some of the rules. Just enough to finally gain a foothold in this losing battle,” Jericho said, reflecting back to the events from he remembered from what had gone down as “The Year of Hell”…