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“Yeah, nice haul.”
My mind raced.
Mom’s antique engagement ring. Dad’s Rolex. Or did he take it with him on the trip? They’re on a trip. Not here. Thank God they’re not here. No one is here but these men and me and the dark.
The relentless dark that felt as smothering as the man on top of me.
The burglar at the door jerked his head. “We gotta go.”
“No shit. You probably woke the entire block.” The burglar lying on me turned his gaze back to mine. “Goodbye, sweetheart.” He leaned in, his breath hot and rancid over my skin, and pressed his pale lips to my cheek where the knife had been. A long, lingering wet kiss before lifting his head to stare intently at me. “I love you.”
The words and the kiss made my skin shiver, and my stomach tightened until I thought I’d vomit. He smiled, satisfied, and then finally the crushing weight lifted as the man rolled off of me and went to the door. I didn’t move but sucked in air through my mouth, watching motionless, terror turning me into a quadriplegic, as one dark shaped joined the other.
“I love you?” The guy at the door laughed at his partner. “You’re sick, man.”
“And you’re a fucking moron. Let’s go.”
I listened, my hands holding the covers up to my chin like a little kid does. Because monsters can’t get you through the covers. They lay on top of you and put a knife to your face and kiss you with their cold wet lips, but that’s all. No more.
They’re gone now and you’re still alive.
Sirens sounded in the distance. A knock on the door and then the neighbor’s voice. Mr. Sheraton. “Miss Watson? Are you all right? I’ve called the police.”
And still I lay there. The police found me on my back in the bed, my fingers aching from clutching the covers, my throat and mouth dry, my eyes stinging from staring at the dark. Monsters had appeared in that relentless dark, materializing in the room while I’d slept, unaware and unguarded.
Never again, I thought, blinking at the beautiful, blinding light when one of the officers flipped on the wall switch, illuminating everything, dispelling the shadows.
Paia, Maui, present day
Never again…
The phone rang, and I blinked out of my nightmare.
Not a nightmare. Call it what it is, a PTSD flashback.
Holy shit, it was amazing how that entire horrifying night could come at me full-blast, in the middle of a sunny afternoon, and I was forced to sit and watch. Like that guy with his eyelids pinned open in A Clockwork Orange.
The phone rang again, and I grabbed for the receiver with shaking hands.
“Maui Reiki and Wellness Center, this is Daisy. How can I help you?”
“Yes, hi, I’d like to order a hex on my best friend,” said a dry, sarcastic voice. “She up and moved to Hawaii a few months ago without giving me a chance to talk her out of it. You do hexes, right? Or maybe there’s a voodoo doll I can special order?”
I rolled my eyes at my best friend, Jordan Sims, through the phone. “No hexes here, ma’am. However, a fresh supply of Smart-Ass Essential oils just came in. Though it sounds like you’re all set.”
“Set for life,” Jordan said with a laugh. “Don’t mean to bother you at work, my dear, but I figure this was the best way to reach you since you never answer my texts.”
“Sorry,” I said, glancing down at the reception desk and straightening the schedule book that didn’t need straightening. “I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah? How’s the job?”
How am I? I’m twenty-two years old and afraid of the dark.
The oppressive terror of the break-in hung over me and wouldn’t let go, even six months later. I tried to run out from under that black cloud, out of San Francisco, all the way to the sunshine of Paia, Hawaii—a rustic little town on Maui’s northern shore. Its beaches were full of turtles, tourists, and clusters of young people hanging out under clouds of pot smoke. A perfect fit for a “kale-eating, yoga-doing, earth goddess,” as Jordan liked to tease me.
I’d found a little apartment above a shave ice shop with ocean views on one side and lush greenery on the other. My parents offered to pay my rent until I got settled, but I refused. Part of recovering from the break-in was reclaiming my sense of self that had been shaken and cracked. I was already too dependent on Keanu. I needed to heal on my own, and the Reiki and Wellness Center had been the perfect place to start.
“It’s great,” I answered Jordan. “Melanie has been wonderful. She’s given me a few sessions between her own clients. She’s even started training me in Reiki. Says I have a real knack for it.”
