Chapter 9
Safe
“Open your eyes, pretty one,” the voice spoke softly.
My heart froze in my chest. It couldn’t be… It’s not possible… I’m safe… I’m safe… I’m safe…
Fingertips moved across my face and still I kept my eyes shut.
“Let me see your eyes, pretty girl,” he repeated, sounding slightly less patient than before.
I shook my head. This isn’t happening…
His hand moved down my face until his fingers reached around my neck. “This can all be over if you simply show me those eyes of yours.”
I panicked. Trembling beneath his grip, I opened them, letting the tears streak down my cheeks. I saw nothing but him. “Please,” I begged. “Don’t hurt me.”
Blood red eyes gazed into mine, while the lips on his scarred, colorless face curled into a wicked grin. “Finally, I’ve found you.”
“Please…”
In one swift motion, my head was tilted back and he was lunging, open mouthed, for my neck. His teeth cut like knives into my flesh and the searing pain echoed in every corner of my body. The pain was excruciating. I screamed…
“Shhhh,” said my grandmother. “It was only a dream. I am here now—you are safe.”
I leaned up in my bed. Frantically, and still trembling, I searched the room with my eyes. “I’m safe,” I told myself again. I turned to face my grandmother. “It felt so real.”
She nodded sympathetically. “I know, dear. I’ve been just across the hall. You’ve been sleeping restlessly since yesterday.” She sighed heavily. “I’m afraid I’ve been very careless in my dealing with your situation. I should have never thrown that breakfast party—I should have given you some time to adjust—to heal. Finding you like that, it gave us all quite a scare.”
“Finding me like what?” I asked.
My grandmother’s head dropped and she took hold of my hands. “Ana, we found you passed out in the maze. You were in terrible condition. If not for Genevieve and her healing magic…”
I searched my mind for the memory of what she was saying to me. Nothing. My grandmother must have sensed this. “Genevieve said that you would likely have no recollection of the episode. It is a common symptom of anxiety attacks—I don’t suppose you remember her either?”
I shook my head. “I had an anxiety attack?”
She nodded. “It is perfectly understandable, given your circumstances. However, it is also the reason I felt it best to cancel your plans for attending school this year. You should rest.”
I shook my head again. “If I sit at home, I’ll just constantly think about what happened in South Carolina. I won’t be able to escape it. I’ve been the “new kid” a lot— I know how to deal with that. Besides, if—when my mother shows up, she’ll be glad to see that I haven’t given up on school.”
My grandmother looked unconvinced.
“Please, I’d just be an emotional, depressed, mess if I sit at home all day,” I added. “School would be a welcome distraction.”
That seemed to strike at something inside of her. “Very well but under one condition.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me, that if you begin to feel anxious, or start to show any signs of mental fatigue—“
“Mental fatigue?” I interrupted.
“Sudden emotions or urges…even hearing voices—hear me out. If you experience any of these things, promise me that you will let me know immediately, even if you have to come home from school.”
I just stared. She was serious. That nightmare was terrible, but it wasn’t anything close to hearing voices. That said, if I was “out of it” enough to pass out in the maze—of all places—and not remember why or how I got there, could I really say that I wouldn’t?
“I promise,” I said. “I’ll come straight to you.”
“Very good,” she smiled. “Ana?”
“Yes?”
“You know that I would do anything in my power to protect you, right? That that is my number one priority?”
I nodded.
“Always remember that. Always. I’d see myself dead before I’d allow anything, or anyone, to hurt you.”
I took notice of the fact that she stressed ‘anyone.’ "Did they catch that boy who snuck up here earlier?"
"Oh yes, just one of the local boys anxious to get a look at you. I cannot imagine how he got around all of our security—anyhow, that has been corrected. I have no doubt that his intrusion is partly to blame for your sudden nightmares. Again, I must apologize for my carelessness. Did he say anything to you?"
"He wanted to know if I remembered him," I replied. “It's weird because I wasn't scared like I probably should have been. I just knew that he shouldn't be here. I can't shake the feeling that I did know him somehow—I don't know." I shook my head. "Anyway, it's hard to believe that anybody would go through so much trouble just to speak to me."
"You are far more special than you know, child. Now, enough of that. It is time for you to rest."
She touched my hand and whispered something. Calm fell over me and I took a deep breath. “I pray that this will keep your dreams peaceful,” she said, before standing up from the bed. As she moved for the door, I let my head fall back onto my pillows. My thoughts were still on school.
“When does school start, again?” I asked, catching her just before she’d reached my doorway.
“Tomorrow morning, if I’m not mistaken.” She chuckled. “Better get your rest.”
She flipped off the light switch, and I rolled over, wondering what tomorrow would be like. I just prayed that I would be okay. “No voices,” I told myself.
Something tickled the side of my neck. I jumped out of bed. It was only the wind. Somehow, my curtain had been pulled back and my balcony door left open again, allowing the night air to slip through unimpeded. Weird. It wasn’t like that a minute ago.
Maybe it had. Maybe I just hadn’t noticed it before. I moved around the bed, and over to the glassed wall. My eyes settled on the maze of hedges, they were enormous. What was I doing in there? Then, as if to answer, my eyes shifted to the lake in the distance. My heart began to pound in my chest and my knees began to wobble. I left the curtains open and stumbled back into bed. Was this an anxiety attack? I grabbed a pillow and wrapped my arms around it. “Breathe,” I told myself. “Just breathe.” I closed my eyes and saw my green-eyed stranger there; he smiled at me, and I was calm again.