Revelations (Formerly known as Promises and Lies (EDITING)

Chapter 6

Six.

A r i a.

It was cold where I was. Cold and there was a dripping sound. It resonated in the air around me. Perhaps it was from a pipe? The sound was constant.

Drip, drip, drip.

It sounded like it landed in a puddle and there was the sound of water. I was lying on something cold and hard. It felt gravelly, as I moved my fingers along the surface. The edges of where I lay seemed endless. My outstretched arms searched around me, unseeing. It was much too dark. My teeth chattered. I couldn’t see, and that was frightening. I pulled my arms tighter around myself, shivering violently.

I wasn’t scared. Not yet at least because I couldn't know if there was any danger. But I couldn't feel anything dangerous. I was just cold. It was too cold for words. I wondered briefly if I was dead.

Was this what death felt like? So frigid, and alone?

It had to be.  Why couldn’t I see? What was the dripping noise?

There was a soft thudding beside my ears, and I then I realized my eyes were closed. Now I was afraid. What if I opened them, and I saw something I didn’t want to see?

But laying here with them closed wouldn’t help me in any way at all. I decided to open them slowly, taking in my surroundings. I was lying in an alley, and there was a sewer somewhere nearby. That’s what caused the dripping sound. It was dark and breezy. My hair blew all around me as I sat up. I was dizzy. I shivered violently as I tried to get my bearings.

My purse was in the corner. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed for it, trying my best not to fall on my face from the sudden exhaustion. I was so weary.

I turned around, ready to walk out, but stopped dead in my tracks.

There was a hooded figure standing off in the distance, facing me, with its cloak blowing in the wind. Where did I run to? What was I supposed to do? I started to panic but then looked again, and it was gone.

I started contemplating whether to make my way out of here, or to cower back into the shadows. What to do? What to do? There wasn’t any sense in staying here. I had to leave. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned around.

It was the hooded figure!

D a n i e l.

She slept so peacefully.  There was no trace that this girl was ever so heart-wrenchingly sad when she slept. It was like it was erased from her completely. Like her dreams were her only escape.

Or a trap. One could get lost in torment from dreams, and never know how to wake up. I knew this from experience. I saw it everyday with my own mother, who would stay up for days to avoid the dreams of sleep.

I came up here only when I heard her breathing had evened out. That meant that she was asleep, and I was free to lurk where I had no business lurking.  Her room was so dull. There was nothing on her walls, her desk that would tell of her life.

What did this girl do in her free time? What was she like?

I scanned her shelves, and saw no photos, or old journals. Nothing indicating anything from her past. Of course she wouldn’t show it here. It would all be locked away inside her. Along with everything else that was real.

Everything that she let everyone see wasn’t real. It was all a lie.

I watched the scene playing from her mind, as if it were a movie. I fed her the image she wanted to see. She wanted his face. She longed for his touch.

She ached for him.

I heard the pitter-patter of the river flowing from her neck. I pressed my fingers to it softly, just feeling the pulsation. Reveling in it. My eyes changed color, my teeth extended, nostrils flared. I could smell her from miles away. I could pick her out in any crowd. In a room full of blondes I would know who she was.

She was mine.

 And who ever the boy who haunted her mind was, he wasn’t getting her back.

I could already feel the change. The feeling of wanting to be around her, of wanting to see her, to feel her. The feeling of just wanting to hear her speak a word or utter a sound.

No, it wasn't want. It was need. Pure outrageous, irrational need.

But this wasn't right. I was never going to be right for her. I was always going to end up hurting her. Not because I intended to, but because of what I was. And I knew that this would only end in pain because downstairs in the kitchen, I couldn’t help myself.

Her friend Rowan was huddled in a corner pressing a towel to her neck. And she was compelled to forget. I laughed humorlessly. I could make others forget the things I couldn't erase for myself.

I could hear her muffled cries, softer than a baby’s cooing. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn’t help myself. Cruelty was part of my nature. I smirked bitterly to myself, showing the image to her. Feeding her mind with the unbearable sight of him.

A r i a.

There was a gust of wind and it blew my hair about again. He was tall. He towered over me as he stepped closer. I wanted to run. But there was something holding me there.  I looked up, my eyes struggling against the wind. His hood flew black, revealing his face, and I stood there speechless.

Jonah, and his honey blonde hair, and eyes that seemed like it couldn’t make up its mind to be either blue or green. His smile was soft, and nurturing. But there was something off. His features were perfect. Too perfect. It were almost as if they were chiseled from stone. He was pale. Jonah always had flushed skin. But the Jonah I saw, was pale and almost as cold as the street.

He looked dead.

But it didn’t matter. He was here. With me. I had spent three years pushing his memories away, making myself forget that part of my life. But I couldn't force him from my mind now. Not when he was so clear. Not when he was so close. There were no words. And I didn’t know what he was trying to say. Everything was unclear, and broken up. His hand moved my hair from my face and placed it behind my ear. His hands were cold to the touch.

Who did this remind me of?

 It didn’t matter. I brushed it off and looked into his eyes.

Why did it feel as if I were expecting something?

 There was no connection. I only saw that his eyes were smiling as well. Something was different. Something didn’t feel right. I felt as if I were being drawn away, faster than I wanted to. I wanted to stay with Jonah more than anything.

Why couldn’t I stay?

My eyes snapped open, and I laid there covered in a layer of sweat. I grabbed the glass of water from the nightstand and downed it. It was stagnant from sitting on the nightstand for hours untouched. I crashed back into the pillows, and turned on my side, refusing to think about what just happened. I just listened to the quiet flutter of the wind against the curtains from the opened window, and tried to drown out the thundering heartbeat from my ears.