FicWad

Chapter Thirteen:

It was pitch dark; the only light was coming from the full moon in the sky. The wind howled in the background as thunder cracked from the distance.
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[/I ran, mud splashing onto my bare legs as twigs snapped under my feet. I looked back over my shoulder, never once stopping my pace. I ran until I came into a vacant lot.
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[/I thought I was alone, until I saw a pair of bright purple eyes looking back at me. They moved closer and closer, yet I couldn't see the body. I trembled as the sounds in the forest became louder and louder.
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[/"Don't be afraid," the voice murmured. I looked around blindly; still unable to see where it was coming from. When I looked straight ahead, the purple eyes were extremely close to my face. I felt something breathing on my neck. I screamed and then my body was possessed.

I screamed, flying up into a sitting position. I looked around at my surroundings and saw that I was in my room, not in the dark forest. I trembled in fear as my eyes darted around my room; after a few minutes of searching I figured I was alone.

"It was all a dream," I told myself, my breathing still uneven. My heart pounded inside my chest, my eyes wide and fearful.

I glanced over at my alarm clock, the bright green numbers told me it was about four in the morning. I got up out of my bed, knowing I'd have a heart attack if I was to attempt to go back to sleep.

I went down the stairs slowly, still shaken up by the nightmare. I've had that dream for the past three days, ever since Monday. I went into the kitchen and took a cold pill, even though I didn't have a cold, it would hopefully let me go back to sleep.

I sat down on the sofa in the living room. I grabbed the blanket that was sitting on the edge of the sofa, and wrapped it around my body. A storm was raging outside, thunder and lighting. Storms never scared me but nightmares do.

I never told anyone about that, I'd be teased senseless. It's strange to be terrified of nightmares when you are 18 years old and living alone. That is one of the reasons why I am terrified of them, when I was little I never had anyone there to comfort me when I'd wake up in the middle of the night.

I took a deep, even breath and looked out the window to watch the storm...

A couple hours later, the sun began to rise, giving the sky a reddish glow. I hadn't moved an inch from my spot on the sofa, still scared. The cold pills didn't have any effect on me, since I spent three hours awake.

I sat up, my legs numb from not moving them, and went into the kitchen in search of a phone. When I finally found one, I dialed the school number and waited from the office to pick up.

"Hello?" a tired voice asked, I assumed it was the office worker.

"Hello, my name is Lucille Adams. I can't go to school today," I started to say. "I have caught the flu." I started to cough and tried to sound sick and weak.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. Don't worry; I'll inform your teachers. Get better," she said, her voice still tired.

"Thank you," I said before hanging up. I knew it wasn't right to lie to someone so nice and kind but I couldn't go to school without having a nervous breakdown. I had spent three days jumping in and out of that nightmare; I haven't gotten a good night sleep in forever.

I sat back down on the sofa and started to flip though channels. I settled on a soap opera channel, it usually helped get my mind off of nightmares.

I had been watching soap operas for about two hours when I realized something.

"Damn it," I mumbled. I had forgotten that Ray would probably be a fireball of rage since I wasn't at school. He has been worried about me ever since Tuesday when I came in looking like I just fell off a cliff because of my sleepless night.

There were three angry knocks on my front door, causing me to freeze. I reluctantly got up and made my way to the front door.

"Okay," a very angry Ray said as I opened the door. "Something is wrong with you and you're going to tell me."

"Ray, I'm fine," I said, trying to sound convincing.

"Not from what Mikey has told us," Ray said, walking in.

"Us? As in all of your family?" I asked, cringing at the sight of Gerard's face.

"They can hear you scream in the middle of the night!" Ray said, glaring at me in a protective way. He was like the big brother I never had.

"I'm fine," I stressed, even though it was a total lie.

"Lu," Ray said, using his nickname for me. "Something is wrong with you. Talk to me. Please."

I sighed and took a seat on the sofa. Ray took a seat next to me; his eyes were filled with concern.

"When is he coming back?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"I don't know," Ray said; his voice ever softer than mine.

"I'm not scared of him," I said, looking at my hands. "But the longer he's gone, the more I start to think otherwise."

"What do you mean?" Ray asked; his voice a bit louder.

"What if he is staying away for my safety because he is worse than I could ever imagine? I don't want to be scared of him but he isn't here to tell me not to be scared," I said. My eyes started to water, but tears wouldn’t fall.

"I'm sorry," Ray said, putting an arm around my shoulders. "We all miss him."

"Ray," I said, turning to face him. "Who knows that I know?"

Ray sighed and look away from me. "Just Frankie and me."

"Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Gerard and Mikey didn't want to put you into danger. Donna and Donald would have told me to do what I think is right but I didn't tell them. Mikey would find out quicker than ever," Ray explained, looking out the window.

"Why'd you tell Frankie?" I asked, curious.

"Well..." Ray said. “I felt sorry for him. Frankie is like my brother. And I feel terrible when I keep stuff from him. He’s always the one that people keep things from, he gets tired of it.”