Chapter Six
The hairs on the back of Adam’s neck stand on end, like they always do when she arrives. There’s something about her today though, something about the way she pulls away at his touch that puts him under the impression that something is wrong.
“Melody,” he breathes as he brushes her curly red hair off of her soft freckled cheek, “Why aren’t you kissing me back?”
Melody’s eyes bounce around his face as she nibbles nervously on her bottom lip. She pulls back, running her fingers from her scalp to tip of her hair.
“I-I can’t do this anymore, Adam.” she stammers.
He reaches for her chin, pulling her focus back to him. “You don’t mean that.”
She pulls away, shaking her head as she pulls the golden chain from the inside of her shirt. “Yes I do. These dreams they have to stop, you’re just a figment of my imagination for crying out loud! But I feel like this is somehow me being unfaithful to Sam and…”
Adam’s heart pounds as bile works its way up his throat, he looks over the heart pendant. “But I'm not just a figment of your imagination.” he says.
Melody stands back, taking the heart from Adam’s soft hands. “Yes you are. I was just lonely while he was gone, so I made you up to keep me from missing him so much.”
Adam grabs the heart pendant again, tugging the chain against the back of Melody’s neck; he resists the urge to break it free from her completely.
“S?” his voice croaks.
She nods, her fingers clawing for the heart. “Yes, Sam, my boyfriend whom I just happen to love very much,” she blushes, “And he loves me too. Read what he had engraved in the heart.”
Adam runs his fingers across the silver letters, the lump growing in his throat begins to block his air way. “No… this…” his eyes moisten as he yanks harder on the chain, his voice dropping to a whisper, “You don’t know what you have done.”
Melody squeezes her eye lids shut, willing the white tornado to suck her away from this nightmare. She hears Adam let out a heartbreaking scream before the icy wind grips her soul and pulls her back home.
“I'm crazy!” Melody yells as she runs her hand around the back of her neck after awaking from her dream “I mean come on! It was just a dream… but why does it feel like there’s a piece missing from me now?”
Her fingers search for the golden chain, something for her to cling to that is real. Her fingers run across the indents of where the chain had been pressing against her skin, but nothing but a few stray hairs and skin are there; her heart pounds when she realizes that the chain is gone. She jumps off of the bed, flipping the lavender sheets back and forth; nothing.
“This is starting to creep me out. I must have left it there… but how is that possible? I mean it was a dream… right?” she asks aloud to herself.
Sam.
She has to talk to Sam about this, all of it, maybe he’ll know if she’s going crazy or not. She throws on her gray hoodie, shoving her feet into her purple and black running shoes. She doesn’t care if she is in her PJs; she needs to talk to him… now.
She runs down the back stairs, not bothering to lock the door behind her, her arms shake as she heaves the barred door open before her feet hit the wet pavement. Icy wind and rain beat down on her as she runs, taking sharp turns, sliding to halts before she runs into lamp posts. Her lungs scream for the jagged air that she’s breathing in, but she ignores it; her teeth clinking together each time her feet pound on the pavement. Tears are the only thing keeping her frozen face warm as she jogs up the stairs to his building. She jiggles the lock on the front of the building, bursting into the lobby. The ends of her plaid pajama bottoms slap against the concrete steps with their muddy ends as she jogs up the six flights of stairs to his floor; her shoes make squishing as they hit the carpet, leaving muddy tracks behind her as she runs down the hall way. Her leg muscles burn as she comes to a halt in front of his door, her cold fingers riffling through the pocket of her pajama bottoms where she had thrown her key chain, sighing with relief as she shoves the jagged toothed key into the gold painted handle. She must have made enough noise to wake Sam, because he was slowly coming down the hall from his bedroom when she swings the door open.
He walks, sluggishly, over to her in his boxers, massaging his eyes as they try to get used to the bright light that shines in from the big bay windows. Melody trembles, the adrenalin has left her and the realization of how stupid it was to run five blocks in the pouring rain is finally dawning on her. Sam stands within a few inches from her, stretching his arms above his head.
“Is this when you usually come to feed my fish?” he jokes, always welcome to her random time in visits, but once the light hits her face he stops smiling.
Her face is white except for the few blotches of red from the run, as Sam looks more he notices that the ends of her hair are dripping water all over his wood floor. He goes to pull her in for a hug when he notices the veins in her eyes are panicked and ready to release tears at any moment.
“Wait, why are you crying?” he asks, his voice is tinged with worry.
“I’m still crying?” she thinks to herself as she pushes the tears away.
Sam pulls her tight against his bare chest, running his hands up and down her arms to warm her. She sniffs, pulling away from him, not enough to cease contact but enough to look into his eyes.
“I need to tell you something.” she announces, hoping her courage hasn’t left her.
He wraps his strong right arm around her side, the floor creaking as he walks her over to the couch.
They sit down on the orange couch. She runs her hand back and forth on its worn-in fabric with the small black swirls embroidered on the arms.
“For starters, I love you,” she says.
Sam gives a smile out of the crook of his mouth. She could be on the side of the road, lice running around her scalp and her skin red, cracked and bleeding and he would still look at her like she was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
She continues, her heart pounding like it was trying to cut loose of her chest before she can break it, “I don’t know what’s going on but…I have, um, been having these dreams and in them I'm in love with a guy that’s not you.” she says, waiting for him to get angry, but he keeps his face open and ready.
He pulls her closer to him, pushing her wet hair away from her face. “It’s just a dream. We all have them.” he assures her.
Melody shakes her head, pressing her hands against his chest as she pulls back. “But it felt so real, I really had feelings for him and tonight when I fell asleep I dreamt of him again… I showed him the necklace that you gave me then said that you loved me and I love you and…” she touches her neck, “He has the necklace.”
Sam shakes his head, looking down at her neck as if maybe she missed it somehow. “That’s crazy! Did you check your sheets?”
She nods, sitting back and feeling around every part of her face where Adam had touched her. Sam’s face goes pale, even more pale than usual, as he stands up, putting his hands behind his head. “I-I don’t know what to say. I’m just kina freaked out right now.”
She reaches her hand out, touching the wrinkles in his elbow, trying to coax him back to her. “You don’t understand how freaked out I am right now.”
He sits back down beside her, running his fingers through his hair. “Did you ever…um… dream sleep with him?” he asks, uncomfortably.
She grabs his chin, pulling it so he’s face to face with her. “No. I never let myself go that far,” she lets go of his face, dropping her hands in her lap, “But we did, uh, make out? I’m sorry Sam; I don’t know what got into me. Whenever he would kiss me I would forget about you and suddenly just want to be with him. I am so sorry.”
He touches her cheek with his thumb, feeling the trail where the tears had rolled down her cheek. “You don’t have to apologize; it’s just some weird thing you know? Like why you? Not that there’s a good re
ason not to pick you… it just confuses me.”
She nods, dropping her head on his chest before he sees her cry again. Sam holds her tighter, his breath catching as he leans back against the couch.
“Stay here tonight. It’s late and you’re upset, so please stay.” Sam offers, his face pressed against her shoulder.
Melody nods, pulling her legs up onto the couch, pressing her cheek against Sam’s chest. It doesn’t take long before both of them drift off to sleep.