CHAPTER THREE
The lake glistened from the morning rays of the rising sun. The pine trees refused to succumb to it as they hid the ball of fire behind them. They stood strong and majestically as if they were a part of another world; shadowing everything beneath them.
The boy up the pine trees stared straight at the sky; waiting for the sun to emerge.
“Please! Get down from there!” I pleaded.
He turned to look at me. But- I couldn’t see his face as the sun behind him made him glow. But- I did saw him jumped.
I bolted upright from my bed. A single tear had made its way down my cheek as my breathing labored. There was that feeling of loss once again. The feeling like I’ve lost something important but I just couldn’t remember what.
My gripped my gray blanket just to stop my hands from shaking. My tears continued to stream down my face as a few drops fell to my hands. My hands that were itching to reach for something. Wretchedly yearning to hold onto something I couldn’t comprehend.
They continued to shake uncontrollably and the tears wouldn’t stop. All I could do was hold myself tightly and cried silently as to not alert my mom. I continued to feel atrociously empty; like there was a part of me that was missing.
And the darkness of the room slowly blanketing me.
Suddenly, there was a knock on my door and the darkness fell back down as I hurriedly tried to dry my tears. Mom opened the door with a smile that vanished when she saw the state I was in. She quickly rushed to my side and ran a hand down the length of my blackish-blonde hair.
“My ji’as,” she called softly, using the name she always calls me ever since I was a kid. “Did you dream again?”
I snuggled closer to my mom as the feeling continued to rack my insides. Mom started to hum in my ear to calm me down. And slowly, the shaking stopped as the tears subsided. When I was calm enough, I leaned away from my mom to apologize.
“I know it’s not real. I know but--”
“It’s alright my ji’as. It’s my fault,” she answered me.
“No! No, it’s not. It’s not your fault, mom. I’m sorry for causing trouble,”
She smiled at me and gave me another hug. “Wash up. I’ll probably have to cook another batch of breakfast,”
I laughed at her and nodded. I watched her leave my room. The darkness and the sadness that surrounded me earlier was nowhere to be found. It was like they hadn’t even existed in the first place.
Just like a certain dream.
After washing up; I went out my room and straight to the kitchen where I saw mom cooking some additional bacons and toast. I don’t know why but every time I had that one dream; I’d always end up feeling so angry that I could eat thrice the amount of what I usually consume. Mom was probably used to it by now as she easily cooked me my breakfast.
“How’s school, my ji’as?” mom asked as we ate breakfast.
“It’s okay. Kind of tiring,” I answered with a toast in my mouth. “But- nothing to worry about,”
Just as I was about to put my empty plate in the sink, there was a knock at the front door before we heard it opening. The familiar, heavy footsteps sounded and I turned just in time for him to reach the kitchen.
“Chris!” I exclaimed.
He smiled at me before he opened his arm. Taking his invitation, I ran towards him and gave him a tight hug. I heard mom laugh at us as Chris swirled me around in the small kitchen. And after what seemed like the fourth one, he finally settled me down.
It was a routine. I don’t know when we started it or why, but every time he’ll pick me up in the morning; we’d do the swirling. It was childish- I know. But- it gave me an excuse to touch him and just be near him.
“Good morning, Mrs. Ashwood!” Chris greeted as he took my bag off the counter. “I’ll be kidnapping Sherry now,”
Mom turned to Chris with a smile. “Sure thing. Just make sure she gets home later, okay?”
Chris slung my bag in his shoulder as he pulled me out of the house. I waved goodbye to my mom before I closed the front door. As soon as we were out, the cold air of September welcomed us. I pulled the zipper of my jacket all the way up ‘til to its turtleneck.
People say that the cold air was a nice change for hot summer air. But I- for one, hadn’t liked it at all. I was too quick to shiver and too sensitive to cold to be able to enjoy it. When the wind blew, I shivered from head to toe and I heard Chris laughed at me. I turned to smack him but he pulled me in closer and put a hand on my shoulder. His closeness gave another source of heat that I barely felt the wind anymore.
As we were walking towards the school, I saw a familiar figure crossed the street. I followed him with my eyes and saw that he met up with two more people. Both leather-clad, one was a man and the other was a woman.
The woman accidentally met my eyes when she flipped her long, raven hair behind her. She leaned in to the man who I’ve saw a couple of times and whispered something to him. He gave her a lopsided smile as he raised a brow before they all turned to my direction.
I felt kind of awkward being stared at so I removed my gaze from them and continued to walk towards the school. From my peripheral, I saw the three of them crossed the street.
“What you say for some sweets?” Chris asked and I turned to him.
“You just want to see your crush again,”
He laughed awkwardly as he shook his head; trying to deny what we both knew. Suddenly, I felt eyes on me so I looked over my shoulder and saw the three of them staring at me; following me. Shivers of fear ran down my spine at the intent look they all had in their eyes and I quickened my pace.
“We still got plenty of time. No need to hurry,” Chris pointed out with a laugh as he matched my pace.
I hadn’t looked behind me anymore. Though, I could hear footsteps behind me. Oh, please, please, please. Don’t be the serial killer everyone’s looking for. Please, don’t be.
I finally relaxed when Chris and I entered the school. There was no way they’ll follow me inside. Though, just to be sure, I looked back to see. And thankfully, they were not there. With a relieve sigh, I started for my class and waved goodbye to Chris since he and I had different classes in the morning.
~ɮ~
“Thank you, Ms. Ashwood. You may sit,” the teacher said as I finished reading the paragraph he had pointed.
With a nod, I sat back down on my chair. The leather-clad people occupying my mind. Was it merely coincidence that I’ve bumped into him more than a couple of times? And- why? Why was I thinking about him most of the time? And ever since I’ve bumped into him, my dreams had become more frequent than they used to be.
With a sigh, I looked out the window. And the moment I did, I saw that the sky had turned dark and foreboding like a storm would be coming. I continued to stare outside. The clouds were black, the wind was strong.
And suddenly, thunder boomed. But- the class continued as if none of them were seeing how violent the sky was turning. With another sigh, I was about to turn back to my book when it started to rain.
But- instead of transparent raindrops; the sky cried red.
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