Crescent Bound (54 page)

Eerie
sounds
and
hollow darkness
are
the sensa
tion of dementedness which
surround
s
me,
bringing
a
shiver to
my
bone
s
.
It starts off with an
animalistic
sound
, but
then suddenly
changes to more of a
woman
’
s voice, speaking, no,
singing
in
a deranged,
and
twist
ed way.  The
song;
I know it
, twinkle, twinkle, little star
.  It echoes everywhere, off the empty trees and rocks, I can
’
t see very far, maybe a few feet in front of me,
it’
s
absolutely pitch
black other
wise.

I
remov
e
myself from the graves and slowly veer around, taking in what I can.  Again
,
I wish I had night vision
, but then again
,
maybe it is best
I don’t
. 
Her tune
strangely sounds enchanting
, but
yet seems off balance.
I whip my head sharp
ly
to my left because
the voice
sound
ed
like she
’
s singing right beside me.  My body
shutters with chills
even though I don
’
t feel cold.

I recognize this place, the scenery, I
’
ve been here before.  It feels as if I am being watched
from
the woods, but I don
’
t see anyone.  I begin moving
one foot
in front of the other with extreme caution.  My bare feet sink into the thick heavy snow as I move forward.  Her disturbing song continues to flow through the unforgiving night air
,
“
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder wh
ere
you are
,
up above the world so high
…
”

All of a sudden
I feel someone, or something
’
s fingernails run down my back, I freeze in mid-step.  My breathing just became rapid as I try to swallow
, but
finding it extremely difficult.
Breathe, just breathe
I tell myself,
it
’
s
just a dream
. 

I
’
m able to take in a much needed breath, watching the frosty air come from my own
mouth;
I take a
wary
step forward
.  Not knowing w
here I am
or
how I managed to slip into this nightmare,
all I know is that
I desperately need to get out and fast.

I
’
m unable to tell if there is even a realistic sky beyond the unnatural forest
’s
tree
line that now
has
become so thick and overgrown. Some of the branches look scorched
and lifeless as I
advance
on my unknown snow covered path. Her enticing, but sadistic, melody follows as I pick up my pace,
“
Like a diamond in the sky, when the blazing sun is gone, when the nothing shines
upon
, then you show your little light, twinkle, twinkle
all the
night, then the traveler in the dark, thanks you for your little spark.
”

Then I hea
r something running, not toward
me
,
thank the gods
, but it is running up ahead. The last of her words echo again and again through the nebulous woods,
“
spark, spark, spark
…
”

I glance down
and
see blood splattered across the glistening white ground.  Stopping dead in my tracks,
because
I
’
ve watched enough movies to know
that you never ever
follow the bloody
path;
all the endings
are the same.
 

My body shivers uncontrollably, but I still have no sensation of
being
cold.  A mind numbing hand grips my left shoulder
and
I jump
,
turn
ing
to look, but
no one
is there
,
and still
her words chant
,
“
he could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so
…
”
okay
…
I really want to run
now
.

My mind
is
racing violently as my feet set
a
mad pace moving much faster, running down a gutted path.
I’m not
follow
ing
the bloody trail,
and
the closer I come to the edge of the woods I
can
see a fire.
At first I think it is another bonfire, like the ones I have seen in my dreams before, but this seems different.  A large shape or a figure
is
completely consumed by the inferno.
Her enamoring song echoes
hauntingly from behind me,

“
When the blazing sun is gone, when the nothing shines
upon
, though I know not what you are
, twinkle, twinkle, little star
.
”
I t
hen
hear
absolute dead silence, except for the crackling sounds of the flames
.
  T
he glorious
heat
is
intensifying, making it unbearable to deny my longing for it,
and
sadly
realizing
how much I miss my fire. 

I slow down my pace and approach the mutilated figure, realiz
ing
it looks like a car,
no
.…
it
’
s
my car. 
The
Shelby
is engulfed in red flames
,
and
it’s
burning so feroc
iously I have to cover my face.
I take my other hand and reach out…
towards
the inferno. Th
en
I hear someone yelling
,
from
far away at first and then clos
er, yelling my name
frantically
,
“
Alyssa...Alyssa
,
wake up!
”

Marc kneels on the floor over me, shaking me,
un
til I move and sit up.
“
What the hell was that?
”
Marc asks in a strained voice, gripping my shoulders as if
his
life depended on it.  I run my trembling hands through my hair and look up at his worried face,

“
You
..
.
”
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts
,
I try to form a complete sentence.
“
Y
ou, were there too…in my dream?
”

He leans over and picks me up off the floor, a
nd
carries me back to bed.
 
“
Yes, but I don
’
t know how, and I tried to get your attention
, but
no matter how hard I tried
to reach
you
, I
just couldn
’
t
for some reason
.  Y
ou looked…like you were in another world.
”
  He pauses for a moment collecting his own thoughts and then he cups my face gently.

“
This is what David was trying to tell me about, isn
’
t it?
”
  He says
not really
expect
ing an
answer;
he just solved a p
uzzle
he hadn
’
t quite
pieced together
, until now.
I nod at him and
remove his hands from my face.

Annihilated with fear I walk over and grab my keys and shift out of the room.  I have to convince myself it was just a dream.
Before my hand grips the handle t
o the backdoor, Marc is standing beside
me.

“
Where are you going?
”
I look up to his distant brown eyes, and I
can tell he is
worried, but I need the reassurance
of
check
ing
on my car.  Marc gaze
s
over me and figures out what I
’
m doing
.  W
e walk out the backdoor hand in hand.  All I have on is a plain white T-shirt and my panties,
I
never even thought to put
on my clothes, but I don
’
t care, all I want at this very moment is to open that garage door and see my car.

I let the rain fall down on me as I raise
the
remote
and open
t
he
garage
door.  I
’
m not sure what
to
expect
really, I don
’
t see smoke fuming from the garage.  Once the door opens, there sits the
Shelby
perfectly fine in the dark.
I walk inside, out of the pouring rain and run my hand down the body of my car.
I take in a breath of relief.

Marc shifts behind me
and wraps his arms around me.
Leaning down to my ear
he whispers
,
“
Maybe you should reconsider racing tomorrow, babe.
”

I lay my head back so that I
’
m more comfortab
le in his embrace.  I sense he’
s extremely stressed
, but
he
’
s trying to cover it up in his calming, cool voice.

“
I can
’
t let something like this keep me in fear, fear is a negative, and I can
’
t let that control my life.
”

Marc turns me around so I
’m
look
ing
at him, taking his hand he gently raises my chin up,
“
I
’
ve read about the different abilities we can have and I know I
’
m a little late
to
the game
, but
, don
’
t you thin
k you could be a dream seer?
”

A shiver goes down my spine,
as
I bite on my lower lip, hoping what Marc
is
say
ing
is not true
.  O
ut of all the abilities
I could have,
why th
is
one,
why not telekinesis, or telepathic, or even, shape shift
ing
, I love wolves.  I roll my eyes at myself.  Wanting to change the subject, I do what I always do, raising a
mischievous
brow at him.

“
So, what
you
’
re
not happy about is that I just have the power of cryokinesis?
”

Th
at made him chuckle as he breathes his next words against
my ear,
“
You
’
re
much more than that, Alyssa.
”

Marc gets a serious expression all of a sudden and glances down
to me with such a grave look.