Hearthway Hollow

Delaynie: Part Two

The night before the big interview, I had a rather strange dream. I was walking home along a path through the woods. Everything was in black and white except for my red hoodie, which has been kind of like my blanky since I was eighteen. Anyways, I was walking home, and it was cold. Trees started growing on either side of my path. Big, jagged, twisting things that almost resembled broken fingers. I kept walking, slowly picking up speed.

I see something ahead of me and then beside me. It runs around behind me and then it's back in front of me. I start running, turning down the path I thought I had just come from. But I come to a fork in the road. I hear it behind me, huffing and puffing. I look down one road and then the other. Neither looks familiar. Still, the thing is behind me huffing and puffing. I start to go down a road, but the thing grabs me from behind. When I look up, I see a huge black wolf.

I wake up, gasping for breath as I stare at the ceiling. I never sleep in complete darkness. I always keep some sort of light on. I found that, when I was young, sleeping in total darkness, I would hear things. Sleeping with a dim light made me see things. So usually, I slept with some sort of lamp or lantern on. I sigh and close my eyes, still seeing that huge black wolf.

I shake my head and sit up again, reaching for the water bottle by my bed. I then look at my prescription bottle. I can't remember if I took my medication that day or not. I sigh and set the bottle down after a long drink. I'd make sure to take it first thing in the morning before the interview.

When I wake up, I find my grandmother has made me a nice big breakfast to get me ready for the interview. Afterward, I shower and get dressed. I feel nervous, so I slip on my red hoodie. I gather up my guitar and the binder of all my music. As I'm getting ready to head out, my grandmother stops me.

"You can't wear that ratty old thing to the interview," she scolds.

I look at her confused. "What do you mean?" I ask. "What ratty oh-" I look down at my hoodie. "It's not ratty."

"Why do you even have that thing on?" She asks.

I shrug. "I just put it on," I reply. "I don't even think about it."

"It's cold out today," my grandmother sighs. "And it's supposed to snow. Put on that nice new coat I got for you."

"I'll be late," I tell her. "I'll wear the coat when I get back."

"Lenore!" She scolds at me as I leave the house. "Lenore!" She sighs and goes back, not wanting to fight the cold.

As I make my way to the dance studio, it starts to snow. I pull my hood up over my head and watch as the flakes fall. For a moment, I forget what I'm supposed to be doing and just stare up at the sky, watching snow fall and land in my lashes. I then have to sneeze, and I remember I'm heading to the interview.

The dance studio looks pretty cool. It's on the corner of downtown, so part of it is still the red brick, but then there is an entire wall of just mirrored glass. As I'm walking by, I see something in the mirror. I stop and stare, at nothing but what was there. But when I walk again, from the corner of my eye, I see that black wolf from my dream.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I growl under my breath. I shake my head and walk into the building.

There's a girl at the front desk with black hair. "Can I help you?" She asks.

"I have an interview," I say as I walk to the front desk. "For the musician?"

The girl gasps. "Oh! Yeah, one second." She stands up, and I realize she's super short. She runs to the back and comes back later with a man behind her,. He's tall as can be, long dark hair, and neatly trimmed facial hair. The left side of his face bears deep, old scars. They come from the top of his scalp and all the way down to his chin. He almost looks like a comic book or cartoon villain.