~8~
Sara
It’s so dark and cold. Where am I? And why can’t I move my arms or legs? I try to open my eyes, but I don’t have the strength. What is happening to me?
Suddenly, I hear a noise above me. An old door screeches open as someone starts to descend down a creaky stairwell. Oh, God! What is happening? I try to open my mouth to scream, but no sound will escape.
Then I feel a cold, clammy hand start to caress my face.
Then nothing.
Silence.
Just when I think I imagined someone else is even here with me, I hear him whisper in my ear, “Sara, we are going to be so happy together. You’ll see.”
~~~~
I was instantly pushed into consciousness, bolting upright and checking my surroundings. I’d been lucky enough not to have that dream in almost five years. Strange it would start up again all of a sudden.
A shower was what I needed, especially since my nightshirt was sticking to me, reminding me no matter how much time passed, I could never fully escape what happened.
I was making my way toward the bathroom when I heard the television on in the living room. I wasn’t fully aware of what time it was, but I knew it was quite late. Usually when Alexa came home, she went straight to bed, so I thought it was a bit odd for her to still be up.
As I walked down the hallway a little bit more, she caught my movement out of the corner of her eye and physically flinched in surprise.
“Jesus, Sara, you scared the shit out of me!” she yelled, looking as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Sorry.”
“Are you okay?” The more she gazed at my disheveled self, the more concerned she appeared.
“Yeah, just had a nightmare.”
“Not the nightmare?” Alexa knew all about what happened to me, never judging me or pitying me, just always being my friend, and my best friend at that. Because of everything, she was very protective over me when it came to guys hitting on me, or even just hanging around. Funny thing was, though, Alek didn’t bring out that side in her—not that I was aware of, anyway.
“Yeah, but I’m not really up to talking about it. The only thing I want to do is take a shower and go back to bed.” I smiled, but it never reached my eyes.
As the hot water rushed over my body, I remembered a time when I was forced to talk about the event. I saw a therapist for about a year after it happened, but all it did was make me relive all the details over and over again. I understood the point of talking to someone when bad things happened, but after a certain point, I was just tired. Tired of dredging up the past, and tired of remembering. So I stopped seeing her long before I moved to Seattle.
Exhausted past the point of thinking anymore, I dried off and made my way toward my bed, curling under the covers and drifting off into a restless sleep.
~~~~
I swear I wasn’t asleep more than a few hours when my phone jarred me awake. I heard Mumford and Sons playing as a ringtone. What the hell? I didn’t put it on there. Reaching over, I snatched my phone from the charger only to reveal the caller.
Alek.
How the hell did he get my number? I never gave it to him. I would have, had he asked, but he never did.
“Hello?” I barely answered, my voice a garbled whisper. What the hell time is it? I glanced at my alarm clock and noticed it was only eight o’clock.
“Hi, sunshine. Did I wake you?” The rasp in his voice instantly roused me, doing delicious things to my nether regions. My brain was instantly flooded with images from the night before, making me clench my thighs together to stop the ache before it became too much.
“Um…yeah. You do realize it’s only eight in the morning, on a Sunday, don’t you? Most people are still sleeping.”
“Sorry. I wanted to make sure I caught you before you made any plans. I was hoping to take you to breakfast. What do you say?”
How about calling me back at noon?
Instead of refusing, I responded with, “What time are you thinking?”
For some reason, I knew he was smiling on the other end of the phone.
“How about I pick you up in an hour? Does that work?”
I tried my best to stifle my yawn, but it escaped anyway. “Fine, see you in an hour. Do you remember the way here?”
“Of course, see you soon.”
Before he hung up, I had one more question for him. “Alek, how did you get my phone number, let alone program yours into my phone with your own ringtone?”
“I have ways of finding out information when I want it.” He chuckled. “And I programmed my number into your cell last night on the way home.”
I didn’t press him further because I knew Alexa gave him my number. I should’ve been mad at her, but I wasn’t.
“I’ll be there in an hour. Be ready.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you out front.”
“No, I’ll come upstairs. Please don’t wait outside, Sara. It’s too early in the morning, and you don’t know who is out there. Promise me you’ll wait for me inside.” There was silence on my end for a short time. “Sara! Promise me.”
Oh, for the love…
“Okay, I’ll wait for you inside. Satisfied?”
“Yes, very. Thank you. See you soon,” he said before disconnecting the call.
I swung out of bed and headed toward the bathroom, ready to take yet another shower.