my eyes from the rising sun beaming in my face. How the hell
did I get out here? Do I sleepwalk now?
I rushed back inside, got in bed, and wondered why Bain
had jumped from the lighthouse.
⁓
⁓
s soon I got into bed, someone knocked on my
door. I stared at the leaf ceiling fan spinning
above my bed, wondering what Annialmorts and
Cravers were.
Someone turned the handle and knocked harder.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“Mom, open up.”
I rushed out of bed, unlocked the door, and peeked out.
“What’s wrong?”
Mom pushed her way in. “Why were you screaming
again?”
I gulped and rubbed my eyes. “What time is it?”
She ripped the tangles out of her hair with a brush. “It’s
7:30 in the morning. Now, stop changing the subject. Did
you have another nightmare?”
I exhaled sharply and sat at my desk. “Yes, I did. But it
wasn’t bad.”
“Why did you scream then?”
“I stepped on something in my dream.”
“You look like you’ve been awake all night. Are you
eating late?”
“What?” I said, confused.
“Eating before bed can cause nightmares.”
“Mom, I eat early. You know that.”
“Well, something’s triggering them.”
I stared at my feet, remembering Bain wrapping my foot
up and noticed a drop of blood on the top of it. I looked at
the small cut on the bottom of my heel and gasped.
“No way.” He’s real? No, he can’t be.
“What is it?” Mom asked.
“Have I ever sleepwalked before?”
“No, why?”
“Because when I fell asleep in bed last night, I woke up
on the porch. My guess is, I cut my foot while I was
sleepwalking and dreaming at the same time.”
She walked over to me and glanced at the cut. “Huh. It
looks like it’s already healing. Are you sure you didn’t cut it a
few days ago?”
“No, I just cut it.” I wanted to tell her that a strange man
doctored my wound, but I knew she would have given me
the third degree, dream or not.
She sighed. “If you sleepwalk again, let me know, so I
can call the doctor. You could get hurt.”
“I will.”
⁓
⁓
She looked at the clothes on the floor. “Well, your father
and I are off to work. After you get some more rest, unpack
your suitcase. Your room smells like a sweaty locker.”
I sniffed the air. “No, it doesn’t.”
She gave me her evil eye.
“Alright, I will.”
“Good. Oh, I put money on your Apple Pay so you can
get new clothes for school.”
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
When she closed my door, I took my phone off the end
table and got back in bed. I looked up what Annialmorts
were but found nothing, then I looked up what Cravers were.
There was nothing about that either. That’s when I knew it
was only a dream.
I sighed, wishing Bain was real and closed my eyes,
hoping I would dream about him again, but I didn’t. I woke
up late afternoon and took a shower, still thinking about him.
After I got dressed, my ringtone of birds chirping went
off. It was a text from Liam.
Hey, meet us at the café in thirty
minutes.
Okay. I replied.
I put my sunglasses on and drove to the Carriage Café
that was across from St. Augustine High School. That was
where all the seniors hung out. We wanted to check it out
before we started school.
I parked next to Kaylee’s orange Charger. She got out
wearing an outfit I bought for her before I left for Romania.
The blue shirt matched her eyes, and the jean shorts looked
good with her long, tan legs.
⁓
⁓
As she hugged me, a piece of her long black hair went
She giggled and put her hair in a ponytail. “I missed you,
Sis. And I love the dress. Where did you get it?”
“Missed you too. I got it in Romania.” I dug through my
bag for the key chain that had Bran Castle on it. “Here, it’s
nothing big, but I thought you’d like to add it to your
collection.”
She showed off her beautiful teeth. “Thank you.” She
smelled it.
“What are you doing?” I said and giggled.
“Trying to see what Romania smells like.”
I laughed. “It smells like a big forest.”
Liam pulled in next to us in his silver Jeep Wrangler his
mother gave him. He parked on the other side of my car and
joined in, hugging us both.
A couple were staring at us. “Okay, this is getting
weird,” I said.
“Who cares,” Liam said.
Kaylee giggled. “Come on. We need to get a table before
there’s none left.”
We walked inside and found empty horse carriages,
minus the wheels and the horses. Kaylee sat next to me with
Liam across from us.
“So, what’s up?” Kaylee said. “You’ve been hiding since
you got back from Romania.”
“Sorry, I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
Liam eyed me, then Kaylee, then back at the menu.
“What are you two not telling me?” Kaylee asked.
“Do you remember when you slept over for my
birthday, and I woke up screaming from that dream?”
⁓
⁓
“How could I forget? You threw me off the bed, and
when I looked up at you, I thought you were the possessed
girl from the Exorcist movie we just watched. Minus the
green puke.”
Liam chuckled. “Glad I left early.”
Kaylee tossed a napkin at him. “Didn’t you feel like a
dumbass trick-or-treating with all the little kids?”
“Yeah, but it was worth all the quarters and the large
candy bars I collected. You guys should’ve come with me
instead of watching horror movies all night.”
Kaylee shook her head and turned to me. “Continue.”
“I had the same dream when I was on the plane going
to Romania and again last night.”
“How does someone get stabbed more than once and
live to tell about it?” Kaylee asked. “And why didn’t you tell
me this when you got back?”
“You weren’t available, remember?”
“I was camping with my mom. We didn’t have any cell
service on the island. Then when we got back, I had to work
my ass off at Denny’s, trying to make up the days I missed.
You know I hate being broke.”
“You sound like bickering sisters,” Liam said. “Order
something before it’s dinner time.”
We both snickered.
A young waitress came over. “Are you guys ready to
order?”
“Yes,” Liam said, “I’ll have a cheeseburger with fries,
and a Coke.”
“Same,” Kaylee said.
“I’ll
have the same but make mine rare.”
She glanced down at me. “Coke, too?”
⁓
⁓
“No, a sweet tea, please.”
The waitress kept staring at me. “I love your contacts.”
“Thank you.”
She smiled. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
I looked over at a girl my age and frowned. “I’m sick of
telling people I wear contacts just so they don’t ask me a
million questions.” I sighed. “I wish I had blue eyes like
hers.”
“Get some contacts then,” Liam said while texting
someone.
Kaylee reached over the table and plucked his nose.
“She can’t wear them because she goes blind whenever she
puts them in, remember?”
Liam’s eyes watered up. “That stung.” He turned to me
rubbing his nose. “Sorry, I forgot.”
Kaylee handed him a napkin.
He snatched it out of her hand and wiped his eyes.
“It’s okay,” I said.
The waitress came back over with our drinks. “Your
food will be right out.”
“Thanks.” Kaylee turned to me. “Your dream with that
woman sounds like a horror movie.”
“I know.”
“Did anything else happen?” she asked.
I told her about the other weird stuff that took place in
Romania and the dream with Bain.
“He sounds hot, and his name is even hotter,” Kaylee
said. “Is he mean?”
I smiled, thinking about him. “No, but it felt like I’d met
him before. Isn’t that weird?”
⁓
⁓
Liam leaned over the table and brought his face close to
mine. “Maybe you met a vampire in Romania. And he
followed you hear. Let me see your neck.”
I pushed him away and laughed.
While they argued about whether vampires were real, I
tuned their voice’s out, and I could hear Bain’s lyrical accent
as if he was next to me.
Kaylee waved her hand in front of my face. “Hello, are
you still there?”
I snapped out of my trance. “Sorry.”
“Ah-ha, Liam said. “You’re in love with a man who
threw you over the watchtower of the lighthouse like he was
Superman.”
I kicked him under the table. “Shut up.”
Kaylee laughed.
I took a sip of my tea. “Do you want to go to the mall
with us?”
Liam’s forehead crinkled. “Hell, no. I already got my
stuff two weeks ago. You’re the only girls I know that wait
until the last minute.”
The waitress came over with our food and set it down.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. Let me know if you need anything
else.” She walked over to another table.
I ate my food while looking at the pictures of horse
carriages all over the walls. From the corner of my eye, I saw
Kaylee staring at me. I turned to her, and her face was all
puckered up like she had eaten a lemon.
“What?”
“How can you eat that with blood oozing out of it?”
“I like the taste.” I put it close to her face. “Want some?”
⁓ ⁓
She pushed my hand away. “Gross.”
Liam and I ate the rest of our food while Kaylee picked
apart her cheeseburger.
“Are you guys ready for school in a couple of days?” I
asked.
“Not really,” Kaylee said.
Liam eyed two girls our age sitting alone on the other
side of the room. “If I can meet some new hotties like them,
I will be.”
“You look like a dog in heat,” I said.
Kaylee panted, mocking him.
My smile turned into a frown as I glanced out the
window toward the school. The thought of seeing Sara, the
girl who locked me in the dumpster, made my stomach
churn. “Are you guys sure you want to start coming here for
lunch?”
“Yes,” Kaylee said. “We’re seniors now, and we all
agreed that this would be our new hangout.”
I sighed. “I know.”
Kaylee panted like a dog again.
Liam got up. “Let’s go, jerks.”
“Who’s supposed to pay the bill this time?” Kaylee
asked.
I pointed at Liam. “I paid before I went to Romania. It’s
your turn.”
“Fine, but next time, I get to pick where we eat. And I’ll
make sure it’s expensive.”
Kaylee stared Liam down. “I don’t think so.”
“Chill, I was kidding.”
Outside, Kaylee and I said bye to Liam, and I met
Kaylee at the mall. Inside the large mall, we met in front of
⁓
⁓
the carousel, like we always did. After two rides, we got a
pretzel and shared it as we walked around. It made me feel
normal for the first time since I got back from Romania.
While Kaylee was in Abercrombie & Fitch, I went to
Gap and Macy’s. She always had to try every outfit on. I was
much faster. I picked a size three in pants and shorts with a
small top and bought it. After that, we met at Victoria’s
Secret and bought more outfits and undergarments. With
tons of bags in our hands, we walked out to our cars and said
goodbye.
At home, I ate dinner with my parents in the living room
like we did most nights. I got sick of listening to them talk
about their client charged with raping and killing someone,
so I said goodnight and took a hot shower in the downstairs
bathroom. After I dried my hair, I walked into my room and
lay in bed, watching a funny movie, trying to take my mind
off Bain, but it didn’t work.
As soon as I shut my eyes, I saw Bain looking at me
while standing next to a carriage with two white horses. His
medieval wool tunic with matching pants caught my
attention.
“Hi.”
Bain walked over to me and wrapped his arms around
me. His eyes turned amber as his full, soft lips found mine.
As we kept kissing, our surroundings faded into a dark
forest. I looked up at the moon peeking through the trees.
Wolves howling caused me to take refuge behind a large
rock. When they stopped, I lifted the green gown I had on
and stepped over the crunchy twigs. Out of nowhere, a deer
ran past me. I clutched my chest, looking for a place to go,
but there was nothing but heavy brush surrounding me.
⁓
⁓
A woman with long black curly hair wearing a red
medieval gown appeared in the distance.
She walked up to me. “Hi, I’m Savina,” she said in an
Italian accent.
I smiled at her flawless beauty. “Hello.”
“Have we met before?” she asked as she stared me up
and down with her light-green eyes.
“No, I don’t think so.”
Savina folded her arms. “Are you certain?”
“Yes, why would I lie?”
She didn’t look convinced.
“Well, nice meeting you.” I turned to walk away.
Savina grabbed me.
I jerked my arm away and
spun around. “Don’t you
touch me again!”
“Where have you run off to?” Bain said from afar.
Savina twisted her head to see where he was.
“Bain, I’m over here!” I shouted.
Savina turned back to me with fury in her eyes and ran
off faster than I’d ever saw someone run.
I opened my eyes and sat up in bed. Holy crap! That was
the same woman from my dream on the plane who stabbed me with the
dagger. Why wasn’t I afraid of her?
I rushed out of bed, turned the light on, and laid back
down thinking about how much Savina scared me. Moments
later, hissing and growling came from outside my window.
Too afraid to sleep and dream of Savina again, I put the TV
on and stayed up watching comedies all night.
⁓
⁓
The following day, I slept until my parents got home
that evening. After they were finished yelling at me for
staying up all night and wasting what they called, ‘a thankful
day’, we ordered out food. Shortly after, I went into my
room, hoping I wouldn’t dream about Savina again.
As soon as I shut my eyes, I heard Savina call out my
name. I sat up and looked at the people laughing on the TV.
I closed my eyes, wondering if my mind was playing tricks
on me.
“Viata,” Savina said. It sounded like she was outside my
window.
I slammed my hands on the bed and grunted. Not another
night of this shit.
⁓
⁓
got up and walked out of the house without eating.
The two energy drinks from the night before gave me
a sour stomach and a nasty headache.
On the way to school, I started seeing images of Savina
in my mind, so I decided to drive by Flagler College to take
my mind off her. That was where Kaylee, Liam, and I were
going to go after we graduated.
After fighting the heavy traffic, I pulled into St.
Augustine High School. I stared at the red brick structure for
a minute, dreading going in. I was completely exhausted
from not sleeping. And I was sure it was going to be the same
as last year with Sara always picking on me.
I took my phone out of the cup holder and texted
Kaylee.
Hey, where are you?