CHAPTER ELEVEN:
There was fire, darkness and blood; the car sped along the highway, I watched it all from the backseat. The man and the woman were clearly injured, the woman grabbed her side, writhing in pain, she was bleeding but her eyes, they weren't normal, they were yellowish and her teeth, they were fangs, the man turned the steering and the car veered and skid along the road, lights blinded my eyes and the horns blared, and all I could see was a man standing over the somersaulted car, I couldn't see his face through the rising flames, his glowing eyes, they were all I could see and they were just like whatever had attacked me at home. He turned and disappeared just as the car erupted in flames and Leah, she lunged towards the car but the flames forced her back. These dreams, nightmares, they haunted my subconscious whenever I closed my eyes, I kept seeing monsters in my sleep, I definitely needed depressants or anything, I took a look at my sheets, I was covered in sweat and gasping for breath. My mind was a flurry of thoughts and my heart was racing, I didn't know where these fears were coming from but all I knew was that I needed them gone; I needed my life back on track.
I smiled as I opened my phone, a text from Vincent popped up in my notifications, "hey, good morning, hope you slept well, so I guess I'll see you at the library at six", the reminder of our tour/date or date/tour got me grinning from ear to ear. I jumped out of bed and went downstairs, "mom! Dad", there was no response, they were gone, the house was empty, supposing they even bothered to come home last night to begin with, I dialed Leah's number again (for the fiftieth time) but my call was sent back to voicemail, there was no need for that (I'd already left like twenty of those since yesterday). Nobody had seen her since she disappeared without a word yesterday and no one knew where she went, from what I heard her grandma hadn't seen her and she wasn't picking any of our calls, I was getting worried about her, I haven't had a friend in a long time and even though I'd only met her just yesterday, she made me feel like I could depend on her and that meant a lot to me.
I had overslept and was running late for my classes so a quick shower, followed by an even quicker scramble for clothes and two slices of toast later, I found myself turning the ignition of our battered, archaic minivan, which surprisingly was left parked in the driveway, the engine sputtered and died again, I tried it again, it sputtered and died again, I grabbed the steering wheel and took a deep breath, I could hear myself breathing in gasps, my body suddenly felt like it had been run through a tenderizer, my stomach churned and I totally dizzy, a surge of adrenaline shot through my body and my heart raced frantically, my body was in a total frenzy, I grabbed the steering wheel even harder and tried to steady my body and my breathing. I couldn't understand what was going on, I'd never felt this way before, I was perfectly fine a just few moments ago, I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker, my ribs and my organs were churning, my body felt like it was collapsing from the inside out, the pain was unbearable, I couldn't take it anymore.
The horn blared in my ears as I slowly broke through the surface and regained consciousness, I felt a whole lot better, I still couldn't understand what was happening to me or what was it that I'd just experienced. Fear gripped my heart, our eyes were locked, the next second, the hooded figure was gone, like it was never there, almost like I'd never seen it in the first place, almost as if it just disappeared into thin air. I jumped out of the car and glanced around, it was totally gone, I checked my phone and the time was past five, it was quite unbelievable; I'd been unconscious for almost the entire day, I checked my phone again, there was five missed calls from Vincent, two missed calls from Leah and two missed calls from my dad. My mind was an ocean of doubts and worries, I'd passed out for over nine hours with no sensible explanation and my body, felt as though it was being crushed, just what was happening to me?
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!" my phone rang, I opened it and saw the words written boldly "Date with Vincent in fifteen minutes, I almost fell over, I was so preoccupied with my problems that I'd forgotten about my date with Vincent. This was just the kind of distraction I needed, there was just too much going on in my life right now, thinking about it all at once wasn't going to do me any good, tonight I'm going to go out, have fun and completely forget all my worries.
Just as planned, I met him sitting on the library steps completely lost in a book as always, "hey, do you ever stop reading?" I teased, but sadly it came out wrong, he chuckled and stood up meeting my eyes, I could feel myself blushing but I couldn't help it, "you look nice" he said pulling a loose strand of hair away from my face, I really hoped he would just lean forward and kiss me but that would be embarrassing besides this place was too crowded. "So what do you want to do first?" he asked as I made the first move and slipped my hand into his, "well, it's a tour, so Mr. Tour guide, where are we off to?" I asked in my most teasing voice, he smiled at me brightly and dragged me along, we started at the town fountain where we tossed coins and made wishes, down to the pier where we got cotton candy and watched the waves and finally the movie theater, he's booked two tickets to see Arcadian fantasy, I'd never seen it before but he seemed enthusiastic and so far I'd come to trust his senses almost better than I'd grown to trust my own.
"two popcorns please" I said bringing out my genuinely exhausted wallet, I'd insisted on paying even though he'd insisted it was his treat but I couldn't let him horse me around and let him foot the bill at the same time, if our relationship was going to work, I wanted it to be one of equal trust and mutual responsibility. We'd arrived ten minutes early so he'd enough time to show me around the theater before we settled into our seats, as the movie started I slid my hand into his and leaned my head on his tough manly shoulder, It felt nice, I felt safe, protected, like all my worries had faded away until it started again, I felt my stomach churn and my ribs, they felt like they were breaking and reconstructing, I bent down and grunted. "Hey are you okay?" asked Vincent, "yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I just need some air" I lied lamely, I dashed out and tried to steady myself against the wall as I approached the exit. I pushed the door when I noticed my reflection, most especially my eyes.