Chapter 27: Nightmares

Calina

My senses were gently overcome by the feeling of soft lips against mine and warm hands on my cheeks. The feeling was familiar and yet strange. Was it Vander? I kissed back, trying to feel more to be sure. But the more my lips moved, the more daunting this kiss became. It wasn’t Vander, but I still knew these lips well.

“M-Mason!” I yelled out, parting from him and gazing at him with wide eyes. Guilt washed over me immediately as I thought about Jenna and surprisingly… Vander. This was wrong. He was dating someone else and Vander and I were… complicated.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, taking his hands off of me. He frowned and tilted his head in confusion.

“Just kissing my girlfriend? Am I not allowed to do that anymore?” he asked, pouting. It had been a while since I’d seen him this way. And I was almost too lost in how happy and bright he looked to hang onto the fact that he’d called me his girlfriend. It was only when he grabbed my hand and placed it to his lips that the word popped into my head again.

“Girlfriend?” I questioned.

Mason chuckled and gently flicked my forehead. “Yeah… I asked you out last month and you surprisingly said yes.”

Last month? Slowly I started looking around. We were in my favourite coffee shop, but it looked different. Not different new but different old. Before all of the new renovations had been done and before it had more of a modern feel to it. Then my eyes landed back on Mason. His hair was longer, almost shoulder length and his features were younger and softer. It finally dawned on me. This was a memory. Was I dreaming? Even if I was, I didn’t care. Because if Mason had only asked me out a month ago then it meant my father was still alive. I wasted no time in getting up from the table and running out of the door, ignoring Mason’s yells and the fact that he’d attempted to run out after me. I was faster than him though. I always had been. It was quite a distance home, but even now I had a good pace and good stamina. And as I ran, I started to piece what had happened before I’d disappeared into this memory… but I drew a blank. It was almost as though my mind were keeping me from something bad that happened. And so, I let it lie to me a bit more. When I made it to the front door, I hesitated. If I stepped through here, I wouldn’t see my mother and my stepfather Luca. I’d see my mother and my father… the way they’d been before my world burned to flames.

“Come on Calina… you can do it!” I said, reassuringly to myself. I took in a deep breath and then turned the doorknob. It was quiet in the house and for a moment, I thought that perhaps no one was home. But then I remembered, on this day, my dad was home from work. He’d been sick with the flu and in bed all day. And so, I headed to my parents’ room. I knocked at the door a few times. At first, there was no answer and I wondered if he was perhaps asleep. However, after a moment or so, he finally answered, instructing me to come inside. I did, almost blinded by the light in the room. The curtains were wide open, showering the whole place in bright sunlight. Surprisingly, my father was not in bed. He stood in front of one of the windows, his back turned towards me, creating a dark silhouette.

“D-dad?” I uttered out, frozen in place. Tears now streamed down my face, and I could feel a lump forming in my throat. He didn’t answer me. He didn’t even turn around. And although I was grateful and ecstatic to see him, I could sense that something was off. This memory, although sweet in the beginning, was starting to leave a nasty and bitter aftertaste in my mouth. And so, I let my feet carry me forward, towards the silhouette, still calling out to my father as I neared him. But he remained frozen in place. Once I was right behind him, I mustered up the courage to reach out towards him and make him face me. But I regretted it the moment I saw his face. It was blank, void of any features, like a blank canvas. This wasn’t my father. Yet, when the faceless man spoke, he sounded like him.

“You’re not my daughter!” It yelled, immediately making me retract from it and take as many steps back as possible. I tried searching for the door, but it had disappeared. This room… I was trapped in it. And that thing, it kept coming closer and closer.

“You’re not my daughter!” It yelled again before screaming, “You’re a monster!”

And when he said that… the memories finally came flooding back, turning the man before me to dust. I remembered now, the initiation ceremony… the kiss… the fight… the bite. I remembered the white light and then the feeling of coldness. I’d been bitten, and I should have died. But I didn’t. And the moment these memories had settled in my mind, there was this loud ringing and then darkness began to cloud my vision. Passing out in one’s memory was a different type of mind fuckery and I found myself struggling to focus on anything. And then came the deafening silence before everything completely shut down in my head. Was I finally asleep? If I was, it didn’t feel peaceful at all. I felt scared and unsettled.

“Get up!” a voice echoed in my mind. Another memory perhaps?

“Get the fuck up!”

Suddenly the darkness turned to dim light, and I found myself gasping for air and clutching onto my sweat-soaked clothing, which surprisingly didn’t consist of my initiation dress. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly thirsty I felt. It felt as though sandpaper had been rubbed against the back of my throat. On top of that… I was starving… no, ravenous. And my body no longer felt so cold. In fact, I felt as though I were overheating and moved to remove my clothing until I realised that my whole body was not on a mattress but on a hard, concrete floor. My eyes followed the almost endless concrete until they stopped on the bars before me, and a man standing behind them.

“Wow, you look like shit! I think we should have brought along a hairbrush or something.” The man said in amusement. He was tall and lean with broad shoulders cloaked in a dark coat. He had a very handsome face with beautiful dark skin and deep, dark brown eyes. His hair was short and neat, and I could tell he prided himself on keeping it that way. However underneath his attractiveness I could tell that he was hiding a whole lot of ugly.

“Who are you and how did I get here?” I asked, my voice hoarse and groggy.

“That’s none of your business. Now, don’t go back to sleep. I’m bringing you something to eat,” he said firmly, before wandering off into the darkness. This room was pretty dim, and it smelled stuffy and felt warm and humid. I peered around, trying to find more clues as to where I was. And then my eyes landed on someone in the corner. She was slumped over and silent. Her face was dirty and her dark hair was messy and long, almost hiding her paranoid brown eyes. She seemed to have been down here for a while, and she watched me carefully.

“Hi…” I said softly, slowly approaching her. Her eyes widened and she scurried off, closer towards the corner as if to shrink herself away from me.

“Oh no don’t worry, I don’t mean you any harm. As you can see… I’m in the same spot you are…” I said. But I still got a frightened response from her. And so, I decided to sit down a distance away from her to make her feel a little safer. Then I smiled and said, “I’m Calina, it’s nice to meet you.”

I didn’t expect an answer back from her and so I was surprised when she opened her mouth and said, “I’m Erin.”