I felt cold. Something cold was pressed against my skin or maybe I was lying on something cold. I tried to move, but my feet and hands were cold and numb. My eyes felt achy and heavy, I blinked them a few times before finally opening them. My eyes adjusted to the dullness, and I realised I was lying on the floor, of some dimly lit room. A candle placed on a table, not too far from where I lied, was the only source of light in the room.
I made an attempt to rise up from the icy cold floor. My body was sore and weak and I stumbled for a second or two before gaining my balance. I walked over, slowly towards the table. With every step I took, I felt like heavy weights were tied to my feet. My legs hurt, my hands were cold, my breathing was laboured and my head was spinning. I felt like all the energy was drained out of me.
Somehow I made it to the table. I raised the candle to look around. Before me was a bookshelf that reached up to the ceiling of the room. I turned around to find bookshelves running along the walls of the room, except for one wall. That one wall was blank, no doors or windows on it. I realised I was in the middle of an enormously huge library, which seemed to have no exit.
The library was dark and gloomy, scary and cold. I turned around again and again, in the hopes of finding an exit but there seemed to be none. I panicked, my firm heartbeat was growing erratic, and my breath was coming out heavy. I did not happen to have claustrophobia, but here in this very moment, I felt the terror, the fear of being trapped inside this dingy room.
Suddenly I heard a scraping sound behind me, I turned, my mind was on full alert. I saw a book sliding out of the shelf on its own, my body froze, the book fell on the floor the next second. I jumped in horror, in fear. How did that happen?
I picked up the book from the floor, something was written on its cover. I brought the candle closer to the book. 'Sasha Marie Grayson' my mother's name, was engraved upon it in golden letters. I kept the candle back on the table and held the book in my hands. I opened the book, the first page was blank but suddenly some words in scarlet ink started appearing on the thin paper out of nowhere,
F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L F I N N M A R S H A L L
The scarlet words kept on appearing on the page until it was completely filled. The words looked like it was someone's name. 'Finn Marshall', it read.
I turned the page and same set of scarlet words started appearing on the other page too and then on the next one and it continued. I tossed the book away in horror and took a few steps back.
All of a sudden, the ground began trembling. The rumbling vibrations left the whole library shaking. I lost my balance in that moment and fell on to the floor. The wax from the candle accidentally fell on my skin, scalding it. It hurt, but it wasn't something that bothered me. The ground was still shaking and so were the tall bookshelves along with the books they contained, the whole room was trembling wildly. My heart was pounding faster and harder in my chest. Terror ran through my veins along with blood. I was frightened, my mind was perplexed as to how and why this was happening. Books started to fall out of the shelves and the room still quaked, it felt like the whole room was about to collapse.
I gathered every ounce of strength in me to get on my feet and looked around the whole room, in hopes of finding an exit, when suddenly my eyes landed on that blank wall. A door that wasn't there earlier, stood intact on the wall. A sigh of relief, washed over me, a gush of energy pumped through my veins. I started running towards that door, the room still quivering, books still falling from the bookshelves, but I didn't care, all I focussed on was the door and making out of this room safely. One of the books hit my head and made me stumble a little, but that did not stop me from closing the distance between me and the door. I ran like fury and finally made it to the door. I opened it and walked out of it.
I woke up. Panting and drenched in sweat. My heart was still frenzy. It was a nightmare, an extremely vivid one, the one people wish they never had in their lifetime.
It was still dark outside and here I was wide awake from the nightmare. I tried to sleep again, hoping I would fall asleep soon, but I didn't. Fragments of the nightmare kept flashing behind my eyes. But somewhere between recalling the nightmare and focussing on my sleep, I felt asleep.
* * *
The next morning, after breakfast Grace was waiting for her cab. Her hair hung down her shoulders, slightly curled at the ends. She was dressed in a white turtle neck sweater, black pants and a pastel pink trench coat over it, along with the black heeled boots.
"Kat" Grace broke the silence as she dug into her bag, "I want you to have this." She took out a black casket out from her handbag and gave it to me.
My mother's initials were inscribed in gold on the casket. I opened it, it had a silver chain tucked inside it.
"It's beautiful" I said, examining the chain in my hand.
"It's your mother's bracelet." Grace said, "You should have it."
"Is that a parting gift?" I giggled.
Grace smiled, "Sort of."
She took it from my hands and wrapped it around my left wrist. It was a plain and thin silver chain bracelet that shone against my pale skin.
"You should wear it all the time ..." She paused, "It goes with everything." She adviced.
"It's beautiful Grace. Thanks for this." I said as I admired it. It was really matching with the black denim jacket I was wearing today.
"I'm afraid, I'll lose it?" A thought brushed my mind and I blurted out.
"Well... You don't lose it." She said, "It's your mother's and you wouldn't want to ever lose it, would you?" She looked me straight in the eye. To me it felt like she was serious about this one, like she wanted me to wear it everytime while she is gone, like my whole existence depended on that thin sliver on my wrist.
"Of course not." I said.
"Call me everyday, ok" She said and hugged me tightly for a second and then she was gone.