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The distant sound of voices calling Damien’s name echoed off the alley walls as black dots blotted across my vision. While they were calling for him, Damien was barking orders to get to me. The creature jerked her head to hiss at someone behind me, face melting back to the horror of the others, like a mask.
My knees buckled beneath me, and her hand loosened from around my neck before she slipped back into the darkness. I teetered for a moment and then gravity shifted as I fell, my vision darkening.
The last thing I remember was Damien desperately calling out my name.
* * *
I shot up in a panic, my skin and clothes drenched in cold sweat. My eyes darted around, mouth bone dry, chest heaving as I gasped for air. The morning light that spilled in through the windows burned my eyes and I blinked as they adjusted.
Where was I? I was in a bed. Whose bed? Whose room was this?
The sound of Kat singing to her music echoed from downstairs. I was in Kat’s room. Safe. I pushed myself over to the edge of the bed, dazed and confused. Somehow, I was alive.
Had it all been a dream? It felt too real. I’d had my share of lucid dreams, and while it’s difficult to tell them apart from reality, this dream was too real. I could still feel the cold touch of that monster’s fingers around my neck, and I shivered thinking about it.
The pounding of feet swiftly coming up the stairs interrupted my thoughts, and the door swung open, revealing Kat. “Ah, you’re awake.”
“Yeah, I’m up,” I yawned, pushing back the fear that still lingered in the back of my mind, and stretched.
She was already dressed, her coppery hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Good morning, sleepyhead. I was wondering when you were finally gonna wake up.”
“Good morning,” I groaned, combing my fingers through my hair. “What happened last night?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did I go for a walk or something?”
She frowned. “No. After the cops left, we went upstairs and passed out. You were so freaked out that I didn’t argue when you said you were turning in. Figured you were exhausted.”
“I must have been, I don’t even remember doing that.”
I looked at the clock on her wall. It was already eleven. Of course, I would oversleep this morning.
“Shit, I’ve gotta get home to get ready for my—”
“Date?” she finished, using the word I couldn’t bring myself to say, looking at me with knowing eyes.
“Y–yeah. That.” It still felt too good to be true. I jumped out of her bed, the old, wood floor creaking under my feet. I grabbed my bag and packed the few things I brought with me before hurrying down the stairs.
Kat called to me as I walked down the road toward my house. “I’ll see you Monday! Call me later or tomorrow and tell me how the date goes!”
“I will,” I yelled back and turned to continue down the side street. The morning air was refreshing and cool, and the wonderful smell of aspen and birch drifted on the breeze from the nearby woods. My eyes scanned the forests that cloaked the mountains, the beautiful tones of orange and red painting the mountainsides surrounding the valley. My mind wandered as I rounded the corner, back to the dream I had last night.
My entire body felt so stiff and sore, as if I’d run a mile. However, I didn’t have any marks or anything that could prove it all really happened. The notion of it was nonsense, though. How could any of that have been real? Monsters weren’t real.
Besides, I didn’t even remember walking out of Kat’s house, and I wasn’t a sleepwalker. I couldn’t have just appeared out on the streets.
The deep thoughts that consumed me made the walk home go by quickly and before I realized it, I was unlocking my front door. I tossed my duffle bag on the floor inside the entry. As I passed my bookshelf, I paused, remembering the too-brief kiss Damien and I had shared. My heart fluttered, and I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. I stopped myself from dilly dallying further and hurried up the stairs to get ready.
The nerves started to build as our agreed time grew closer. Kat kept insisting that it was a date, but I was skeptical to call it that. I was afraid to think it and then be disappointed. Surely, there were more beautiful, more interesting girls on campus Damien would find more appealing. Still, I couldn’t deny the way he looked at me. It was warm, like sunshine on my skin in the summer. He was the first person who’d ever made me feel like that, so nervous and yet so excited.
And for once, there was color in my world of black and white.
I stood next to my bed, scrutinizing two potential outfits, chewing my nail gently as I looked back and forth between the two. Maybe I was overthinking this. Was this too much? We were just going for a walk in the woods. It wasn’t like we were going anywhere fancy.
Unable to decide, I headed for the shower. I had to take a deep breath and calm myself down. I was getting worked up and was still unsure of Damien’s feelings for me. That kiss could have meant nothing, could have just been his way of distracting me.
He was just doing what you asked him to. It was just a kiss. He could have anyone he wanted.
