inside the darkness

Part 4

I went back home with the book kept inside my bag. I am not one to just accept things or talk to random people but I had a weird attraction towards it, I felt at ease and I trusted Justin. I don't know what came over me and I accepted something from a stranger but I was interested and addicted to the book.

the rules mentioned were odd, why would it require me to remove my pendant? why does it want me to throw it away and say that I have lost it? I had a billion questions in my mind and I wasn't going to waste my time trying to put the pieces together, so I went inside my room and locked it from inside.

I sat on my bed and took out my book, I opened the page where he and I talked before... using the pen that he had given me I started to write.

hi

I got no response. I tried to write again but nothing.

maybe I dreamt about talking to someone? but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a dream. I just fell back on the bed and decided to take a nap.

I woke up to the banging noises on the door of my room. I jerked my body up suddenly and got off the bed which resulted in me feeling a little dizzy but continued walking towards the door. when I opened the door my mom was standing there with a facial expression I wasn't really happy to see. she was raging with anger.

"why was your door locked?" she said, that's when I realised that I never unlocked my door after coming inside to use the book.

the book! I couldn't let my mom see it.

"I was changing my clothes and went to sleep right after. It slipped out of my mind that i still had my door locked" I quickly came up with a lie that was convincing.

I never understood why my parents are so protective over me, all my other sibling's aren't scolded so much over little things or forced to wear use any holy pendant. In fact, one of my siblings is an atheist.

"Anyways, go and wash your face and come down for dinner. I'll go and take the dirty clothes you forgot to keep in the laundry bucket" she said.

It was already dinner time? how long did I sleep? I won't be able to sleep at night now.

That's when I realise my mom was inside my room and I had the book openly laying on the bed. I sprinted inside and to my surprise, it wasn't there. I know that I didn't keep the book somewhere else because I went to sleep right after using it. Where else could it be?

I tried looking under the bed if by any chance I kicked it off in my sleep. "what's wrong with you today Isabella?" my mother asked looking at me from behind.

"Why do you ask mom?" I answered

"Why are you wasting time looking under the bed, when I told you to go watch your face, you have drool stuck on your cheek"

"uh, I was just seeing if by any chance I kicked in any clothes under the bed, I once found a tank top under it and have looked under it ever since" I lied to her the second time within the past 5 minutes.

Lying is something you get amazing at when you have strict parents, I can make up believable lies on the spot and it's just because of how restrictive my parents act with me.

"Whatever, just come down in 10 minutes," she said before leaving.

I got up from the floor and walked inside the washroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I did in fact had drooled while sleeping, the only time i drool is when I dream of him.

he comes to me in my dreams and reminds me of how I am his and his only. This time I was in a white long dress and we were laying in a garden with my head on his chest but it was different from my other dreams. I was 16 or 17 in this dream, he talked about our future together and told me to "keep the book safe".

He knew about the book and reminded me of the rules again and again but he kept repeating one rule in particular which was to not have my holy pendant nearby when I am using the book. He never gave me a reason as to why and I never asked.

I came back to my room and saw the book in my bookshelf, I never kept it there. I remember very accurately, I went to sleep with the book open beside me or maybe I was extremely tired when I kept it in the bookshelf and didn't realise it.

I walked inside the dining room with my thoughts occupied with him and the book.

After my dinner, where I pretty much didn't speak much because he wouldn't get off my mind. My brain kept reminding me of how comfortable my head felt on his chest. If it was just a dream, then why did it feel so real?

Why do I still feel his fingertips running through my hair if it was just a dream? I have been seeing the same guy in my dream since I was 5. We grew up together basically, he was a kid as well when I was younger. As I grew up, so did he in my dreams. This was the first time though that I wasn't my age but elder and so was he. Towards the end, it was just a dream and nothing else.

Walking back inside my room, I opened my maths book and tried to complete my homework which I had to submit tomorrow. I had a lot of work to do and submit tomorrow, it wasn't like I will be able to go to sleep anytime soon either way so I decided to complete my homework.

When I was done reading the assigned chapter for English, I closed the book and put it back in inside my bag so that I do not forget tomorrow morning.

that's when it hit me, he kept reminding me of one particular rule. I had the pendant on my side drawer while I was using it. I quickly got up from my study table to the bookshelf and pulled out the book. It was brown in colour and looked extremely old. It seemed to have a leather cover, it was closed using a string. I pulled on the string and flipped open the book towards the page where I wrote.

I looked back at my pendant and noticed that it was still not as far, so I went and kept it inside the washroom. I was hoping for it to work this time, I really wanted it to.

I went back to the book and wrote again

hello

I noticed words forming and it readout

hi

I decided to ask if I am talking to the guy I meet in my dreams, how else would he know about the book?

are you the one who comes into my dream every day?

He wasted no time in replying back

maybe I am, who knows.

I wasn't satisfied with the answer at all. I decided on pushing it a little further.

it was a yes or no question.

to which he wrote back.

and I feel it isn't the right time to reveal who I am yet, hopefully, you will understand amare.

what does amare mean?

love

He wouldn't answer me properly so decided to leave my conversation till that and closed the book and tied back the thread. I was hoping it wasn't something like the ouija board where I have to say goodbye.

I dimmed down the lights and crawled inside my bed. It just took me a while to fall into a deep slumber yet again.

"amare, I didn't wanna make you mad" I heard

Was I dreaming again?

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Thank you so much for being patient with this lazy author of yours. This was one story i loved the concept of and forgot to update.

i love you all and hope you are keeping safe in this tough time.

- Ranya