It All Started with an Apple. Subtitled: Lucifer's forbidden fruit

Chapter 6 Aelia

Aelia is no longer in her bed but in a very large- creepy cemetery. Her eyes grow wide in fear and repulsion when she sees there is blood everywhere. She steps through the cemetery further and further until she sees a church. She tries desperately to ignore all the carnage and filth as she dashes for the front door. Inside the church, there is blood running down the walls, and she finds herself reaching out to see if it is fresh.

Aelia's hands begin to burn like wildfire, her to ache, and her stomach churns- then she hears a scream. The voice was familiar to her if only she could tell which direction it was coming from. Again, she hears the shriek, and recognition dawns on her: it is Shelby. Aelia runs towards the sound, ignoring all the blood and her intense fear as she finally gets close enough to the sound. Before she can turn the corner to help Shelby, fire comes from nowhere to stop her dead in her tracks. She tries to dodge the flames and get to Shelby, but hands come from the fire- hundreds of big hands with long, dirty fingernails. They scratch at her white dress, fingers so long and Boney -witchy or demonic- and the howls- oh, the agonizing screams kept growing louder and louder.

Aelia is near hysterics, trying desperately to get free from these demonic hands. Screaming and crying, she grabs her dress and tries to pull it free from their slimy grasp. She stumbles and falls towards the still raging fires, thinking she's going to die. She closes her eyes tight, waiting to feel the flames devour her flesh.

Aelia wakes up, sitting in her bed, trembling in dismay. She hears the piercing cry of her voice filling the silent room. It took her a few moments to realize it was all just a dream, a horrible nightmare. Shelby, oh Shelby, she keeps thinking of the sound of her friend's screams. She badly wants to call Shelby to ensure she is alright- that it was a very intense dream. Instead of acting on impulse, Aelia turned to look at the clock on her nightstand. Seeing it was one am, she knew Shelby would be fast asleep. She lays back onto the mattress, deciding to go back to sleep and call her friend at a more suitable hour.

Aelia closes her weary eyes. Tristen's face flashes into her mind like a bolt of lightning, his unique, familiar eyes. She becomes confused and surprised to find that this image of him is very comforting. She lets the image linger-erasing the horror of her nightmare, the way it had disturbed her peaceful slumber. Her body is exhausted, and her heavy eyes close against her will. As if she had taken a sleeping pill or some sedative, she fell into deep sleep again.

Hours later, dawn awakens Aelia, feeling rested and ready to start a new day. She walks over to her wardrobe closet to get dressed. As she begins to walk, she cannot shake the feeling she is being watched. Her skin tingles as she shakes her head, telling herself to relax and quit letting her imagination get the better. Convincing herself it was her awful nightmare that had her on edge. She grabs the tan dress from her closet. She slides into the dress quickly, feeling less vulnerable with her clothes on. Bending down, she retrieves a pair of gold sandals and slides her feet into them. Today was her volunteer day at the public library. Excited, she vigorously gathered anything she needed before leaving for the library.

Once Aelia has gathered everything from the refrigerator, including her iced latte, she grabs her car keys and heads for the door. She is ready to dive into a good book and let her thoughts of last night and this morning disappear with each page. After all, Tristen and his band were just a one-time thing; the likelihood of her seeing him was slim to none. She figured it was for the best, not having to face him again after her embarrassing behavior when they met. As for Shelby, that awful dream of hers was taking a toll on Aelia; the horrible wales or agony refused to leave her thoughts. She would call and check on Shelby when she got to the library.

The drive to the library seems to take an eternity this morning. Aelia was ready to get inside and lose herself in that book. She felt very empty today like a part of her was gone. She has never felt like this before. Pulling into her usual parking spot, she turns off the car and reaches for her cell, having decided to give Shelby a call now. Shelby's cell rings several times before going to voicemail, and the message says, (if I do not answer or return your call, I am gone and may not return.) This certainly did not sound like Shelby would say, but it was her voice. With a shrug, Aelia decides she's feeling weird over the nightmares last night. Her friend is fine, and she will see her tonight at the club when she heads to work.