Monsters

Chapter 19: Come to Me

Chapter 19: Mel

Mel's Apartment

New York City, United States of America

March 24th, 2014

2:17am

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His cold breath lingering down my neck, I turned to face his pale blue eyes. The first time I had seen in him in Central Park, they'd been covered, but now his black hair was gelled back without a single strand out of place. Hesitating, I walked toward him to reach his embrace. I had no idea why, but all I knew was I couldn't resist him. At first it was pity, then pure curiosity as I tried  to figure out who he was and where he came from, but now it was something different. I was falling for him - hard.

"What are you doing here?" I sighed, but he didn't reply. I dragged my fingers across his scar in attempt to grab his attention, but immediately regretted it as he winced in pain. "Does it still hurt?" I asked, but he continued to stay silent.

I began to wonder it he was ever going to talk, but the idea was quickly dismissed when he spoke up moments later. "Come to me," he whispered eerily.

"What are you saying? I am."

"Shhhh......" he brought his index finger to my lips, "Come to me." 

I pulled away, "I am here. With you. What are you doing?"

"Come to me."

"Stop saying that, you're scaring me," I shuddered as a cold shiver climbed up through my spine.

I reached for his hand, but his hand fell through my grasp as he faded away, "Come to me. Come to me. Come to me." 

"Where are you?" I cried out, but he was already gone.

The only thing left of him was the faint echo of his voice and the three words he had been so insistent upon, "Come to me."

I screamed and sat up to find myself lying down across the cold, ceramic tile of the kitchen floor. In my left hand, I held a knife around its blade as it cut through my skin. I dropped the knife and brushed myself off, looking up at the clock to realize it was just after 2 in the morning. What was going on? Did I get out of bed in the middle of night? Had I been sleepwalking? 

I remembered my dream and who I had been talking to. Was he somehow involved? I shook my head. Impossible. I hadn't heard from him or any other monster for days. I had started to think that I had made the whole thing up, but maybe I was wrong. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time. 

Getting up from the floor, I heard footsteps and I cursed silently. I had woken my parents up and now I would have to explain what had happened. Definitely not something even remotely helpful, considering the fact I had ignored them all week after the fight at the dinner table with my brother's girlfriend. Eventually, I would try to make conversation, but today was not the day. 

From around the corner, a head stuck out and I sighed in relief, when I realized it was only Jason.

"What happened?" he looked down at the blood dripping down from my hand and rushed toward me.

"Oh, you know. Just your regular midnight snack," I smiled innocently, hoping he would believe I was okay and pretend it never happened.

He shook his head and grabbed a piece of paper towel from behind me, "Your arm just healed, now you're hurt again.  What happened this time?"

I stood silent, unsure what to say. I hadn't exactly told him the whole story about the man with the scar and I wasn't about to tell him, but I knew he wouldn't believe any lie at this point, so I decided to tell a small half-truth. "I sleepwalked...."

"You what? Sleepwalked? That explains how you got here and maybe the blood if I'm generous, but I still want to know why you woke me up with your screaming. Bad dream?" I stood silent, refusing to talk, but he figured I wouldn't spill anymore and continued talking, "You should at least tell someone."

I sighed, "Who? Jane? She's halfway across the world right now. Besides, she hardly cares." Jane and I hadn't really talked since she called last Sunday at dinner. I went to Ben's house to find that it filled with the cops with no Jane in sight. I tried her phone countless times after that, but she kept it off. Last Wednesday I had tried her apartment, but she was out with her uncle at the time. It wasn't long after that when I finally figured out she was avoiding me and I had given up completely. When she was ready to talk, she could find me, but here I was, still waiting for Jane hours after she left the country. 

"Don't do that to yourself. It's been a busy week for her, she probably didn't have time to talk. I was thinking somebody else. You have other friends. What about that girl Emily?"

I shook my head, "I haven't talked to Emily since fifth grade."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh," I sighed, "I don't really have any other friends."

"Well, maybe I'll reintroduce you to Lexi," he replied.

"Didn't you guys break up?" I questioned.

"No, we worked things out, " he continued to ramble on about how they got back together, but paused after a while and glared at me, "Hey! This isn't about me." He lead me back to my bedroom, "Now go get some sleep. I'll get Lexi to talk to you tomorrow and don't bother trying to avoid it. As your concerned older brother, it's my duty to ensure you aren't waking me up in the night because you're screaming. Plus, I will not hesitate to drag you unwillingly."

I rolled my eyes, closing my bedroom door behind me. I collapsed onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I knew Jason was right. I needed to tell somebody what was happening. I couldn't face this alone any longer, but what on Earth was I supposed to tell Lexi? That I'm in love with a murdering psychopath that threatened to kill me? Sounds a lot like Stockholm syndrome if you ask me. 

A large yawn escaped me and giving in to my fatigue, I closed my eyes. A faint whisper lulled me into a deep sleep and I instantly forgot about my worries. I dreamed of pale blue eyes and a scar that stretched across somebody's cheek, following the rhythm of the whispers. 

"Come to me........."