dawn

Chapter 21

I got home and Paolo was asleep on the pillow again. Ugh, how utterly impossible was that to bear? No Eric and no distraction. But I had to take charge of this. I took out my yellow sticky notes and I wrote notes in blue ink.

Wake me up if you have to.

Stay.

Come back.

I got to my window, opened it, and stuck the notes on the glass. I settled back down. The exhaustion from the day caught up with me as I flipped through all the new memories in my head and while I didn’t want to face the next day without distraction, I couldn’t overcome the sleep that dragged me under.

I woke up just as thunder boomed. I turned up immediately, heart still pounding like as if I was asleep and I noticed that he was about to shut the window.

“Wait!” I scrambled to sit up. “Talk to me. Stay.”

“Are you not scared?”

“Well, if you meant me harm, you would have done it by now,” and something hit me then. “And that day…I was running in the woods. I felt you there too,”

Silence.

I seriously hoped he wasn’t backing away. “I think I’m dreaming. There’s no danger there. I’ll just wake up before you kill me in the back woods.” I said in my low murmur.

He laughed. “That’s the spirit,” he praised. “Denial’s always better,”

That gave me hope. I smiled. “I ruined the surprise, though. Now you have to come up with something new,”

Silence.

The awkward pauses in conversation seemed misplaced. Since when was it awkward to talk, like a normal person, with the person stalked for nearly a month?

“I would never hurt you,” the sincerity in his voice shocked me like a splash of cold water. I had not been expecting that. He leaned in closer and I tried to control my erratic breathing. “I promise,”

The shock probably came from the realization of my ignorance. I was talking to a stalker like he was a friend dropping by. And I realized, with that promise, as though it might have happened before, how little I cared if he hurt me or not.

“Please stay,” I begged when the rain let up.

For a good portion of the night, I stayed up talking to him. The conversation was so flawless that I was astonished that we hadn’t even spoken about why he was really there.

“School’s…good,” I wanted to stay up longer, all night if I could, but I couldn’t. I shut my eyes and slumped under the sill.

Something touched my shoulder and I curled closer besides the cold and I flung my arm out in its direction.

Night Watcher

She curled up close against the sill, pulling herself up against it. She moaned gently in her sleep and I brushed a few warm curls from her face and she shivered lightly.

I reached around her and shut the windows slightly to ease the cool.

She sighed and then the dog sighed too.

Her fast and hard heartbeat was all over her body, thumping sweetly if not painfully. It made it easier to watch her sleep and be away. “My Selene,”

Ariel

I woke up in the morning alone on the bed with Paolo at his pillow. I rubbed my eyes and remembered it was Sunday. No Eric. And no night watcher until night.