The Death Dance ✓

Chapter Three - "If I could stay asleep forever."

Chapter Three – “If I could stay asleep forever.”

 

Aaron really didn’t want to open his eyes. His stomach was heavy with dread at the thought of facing his family. For the first time in his life, he actually missed school. At least school gave him an excuse to be away from his family for at least six hours every working day of the week. But now, during the holidays, he would have no choice but to grin and bear their annoyingness until he applied to University.

His eyes clenched tighter as he awaited his mother’s footsteps. She would normally bang on his door and force him to go make breakfast for everyone and then clean the house – God, with all that money, why didn’t they just get a maid? – and before he could relax, time would have flown and she’d ask him to prepare lunch and help with dinner and he would have absolutely no time for himself except after dinner in his room alone with Stacey.

When he didn’t hear the familiar sound of footsteps heading to his room, he realized something was odd.

First, the earthy scent of the room he slept in in his dreams had never left and he was currently lying in a bubble of soft, silky sheets – not the crisp cotton of his sheets back home.

His eyes shot open and he realized he was still in the dream world.

Hell yes! He thought with excitement. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, sometimes he slept for longer than normal and ended up spending more time here than usual so he assumed that was exactly what was happening now.

“If I could stay asleep forever,” he mumbled under his breath and then happily slid out of his sheets.

Yes. Hell yes!

He rushed downstairs and Ma was already making breakfast.

“Someone’s a little cheerful today,” Ma said, grinning at him and he laughed.

“I feel amazing!” he said, throwing his arms up for emphasis.

“Well, let’s not let all that cheer go to waste, eh?” Ma winked at him before snapping her fingers, making a plate of his customary toast, eggs, bacon, sausages and baked beans.

Ah, this life, Aaron thought as he dug into his food, I wish I never had to leave.

Aaron didn’t even notice that Ma herself was looking flushed and excited. She stared at the boy with hungry eyes but knew that she had to control herself. She had to butter him up like the toast in his plate before devouring every last bit of him.

Yes, today was a great day indeed.

*

Jamie couldn’t stop thinking about the boy she saw at the parade.

“Ugh, he had such beautiful freckles,” she said to no-one in particular as she threw a rock into the river in front of her, watching as the water formed a long watery tentacle and slapped her across the face in the process drenching her clothes and making her laugh. This river was the purest river in the entire village – also the most evil. It was rumoured that anything that entered the river was devoured instantly – or more like dissolved in chemicals which was why the water was so clean and clear, the riverbed an enticing pale green colour, making the water look like it was green when it was because of its beautiful riverbed. People could swim in it but if you stayed in for too long, you just began to dissolve.