Dream for the Dead (Completed/Editing)

43

Too embarrassed and worried about speaking to Seth, I took a detour and went to the forest. I didn't expect Seth to be there at the time it was, and I was right not to. It was completely deserted.
I plopped myself onto the bed of flowers and sighed, plucking a little purple flower from the ground. I laced it into my hair, and lay back. What would I say to Seth? I wasn't changing my mind about the items, and Seth would probably never forgive me for it.
"I need some gum..." I muttered, shoving my hand into my jacket pocket. I rummaged around in my pocket looking for gum, and furrowed my brow.
"What is that?" I whispered into the air, producing something unfamiliar from my pocket. A scalpel. I stared at it for a few seconds, confused, before remembering everything about my new life.
"Shit!" I yelled, and my vision began to blur. "Crap. Too late."
So much for thinking of what to say to Seth.

The first thing I sensed when I arrived at the mansion was a loud chuckle...too loud. It rumbled throughout my body, leaving me disoriented for a moment. When I realised my position, however, I noticed something else strange and unsettling: I was facing a man. A furious, unfamiliar man. It took me a moment to understand, but when I looked down at my hands, I immediately knew what had happened. I was trapped in Carver's body.
"You know-" I jumped - or, tried to - when Carver's voice (against my will) came from my mouth. "-I tried her. I tried her lifeless corpse, and..." He sighed. "I prefer people who are more...animated."
Analetta's husband punched Carver in the face, and it hurt like Hell.
"Fuck!" I tried to yell, but no sound came out. I panicked, dreading the moment he killed me. I would be able to feel it.
"Sorry about this." Analetta's voice rang in my ears, surprising me. The scene was paused, and I couldn't move a muscle. "But this was the beginning. The curse I put on the Manor; I don't have full control over it. The Saviour has to experience fully the death of the person that gave me reason to cast the curse."
I was about to protest, when the scene started up again.
Analetta tried to disguise it, but I could sense the hint of amusement in her voice when she muttered, "enjoy."
Wow. I thought. Witches are bitches.
"Why the fuck would you do that to her?" Analetta's husband screamed in my face, and his saliva spattered onto my face.
"She's my wife, Leon. My property. Not yours." I sensed another punch was coming.
Carver yelped in pain: Leon had kicked us in the balls.
Well, that was something I never thought I'd experience. Fucking painful.
"My! Sister! Is! Not! Your! Property!" With every word, there was another punch in the gut.
"Oh, Leon." Carver managed to mutter. "You mean was."
Leon breathed in deeply, the air hissing through his gritted teeth. "You'd better start running, you bastard."
"Now, now, Leon..." This was the first time I'd ever heard fear in William's voice. "Put the knife away."
It was only when Carver pointed out the knife that I saw it, half-hidden behind Leon's back. He produced it fully, and it glistened in the light.
"Leon, can't we talk about this-"
"You killed my fucking sister!" The last two words were screamed.
Carver began to run, and we ran to the hallway where Mary had killed herself. Shards of glass were still scattered along the floor, but I didn't have time to observe my surroundings properly. We ran into my bedroom, stumbling over a desk on the way in. My bedroom had been Carver's study?
I've been sleeping in there.
We ran to the window, and my heart raced even though I knew we wouldn't escape. It was a sickening thrill; experiencing being chased and murdered without having to die. We pulled the window up, and made it halfway out of the window before I felt a sharp pain in my spine...it was the single most painful experience of my life, other than losing Seth. We yelled in pain, and tried to pull the other leg through the window, but Leon dragged us back by our collar.
"You're not getting away."
We thrashed and tried to crawl back towards the window, but Leon flipped us over so we were lying on our back. The wound in our back was still stinging as bad as it had been when the blade first entered. If I could, I would've screamed when I saw the knife, knowing I couldn't manipulate the scene in any way. The blade came down into our stomach a couple of times, each time more unbearably painful than the last. Then, it made its way into our ribcage, and I heard the sickening crunch of bone. The knife pierced into our left lung, and I was thrown into a whole new world of suffering. Leon stepped back as we took our last few breaths - the pain not numbing at all - and slid a gun from his back pocket. The last scene I saw before returning to the blackness was Leon aligning the gun with his right temple.

When I arrived back in the forest, panting and traumatised, I realised that it was dark. Really dark. Would I be able to find my way back home? There weren't many street lights for quite a distance.
"Tabbi? Is that you?"
My eyes widened and my heart stopped when I heard that voice, and butterflies danced in my stomach. Seth.
"Seth." Without thinking about my actions, and the fact that Seth hated me now, I threw myself at him, sobbing loud and hard.
"I'm scared, Seth. I hate to admit it, but I am."
Much to my surprise, he didn't shove me away or laugh at how pathetic I was. Instead, he held me, and whispered into my ear.
"I know. I am, too. Now, let's get you home." He pried the scalpel from my hands, and lifted me off the ground.

"Thanks. I'm sorry about that." I wiped a last, lone tear from my cheek when we arrived home. I'd explained Carver's scene to him along the way home, but neither of us had spoken about our argument.
He nodded, and I noticed that his eyes were fixed on my wrist. The wrist with the bracelet.
I pretended not to notice, and spoke shyly.
"I was supposed to be looking for you earlier."
"Oh?" His eyes shifted to meet my own.
"Yeah. To sort things out." A faint smile appeared on my lips.
"I'm sorry, Tabs." He groaned. "I've been so awful. It's just, I don't want to lose you."
There was an awkward silence between us. I was too happy for words, and Seth's fingers twitched. He smiled slightly, moving closer to me, and I gulped, nervous. Why was he acting so strangely? Why weren't we speaking?
"Tabbi, there you are! I've been worried sick!"
I squeezed my eyes shut, annoyed, and Mum came trotting over.
"What're you looking at?" She turned to look in the direction I was, and stared straight through Seth.
"You must be getting sick." She took her dressing gown off and wrapped it around me. "Now come inside."
Seth giggled and waved at me, and my heart sank. I wanted him to stay.

My feet felt as heavy as lead as I dragged myself under my duvet that night. It was the dread. When I lay my head onto the pillow, I felt something quite uncomfortable underneath me. It reminded me of when Mum used to read 'The Princess and the Pea' to me when I was younger, every night before I went to sleep. Then she'd tuck me in, kiss me on the forehead and give me an Eskimo kiss. I quickly shook those memories out of my mind. Now isn't the time to get nostalgic, Tabitha. I mentally scolded myself. I shifted to lift up my pillow, and was confused. That was until I realised that the problem wasn't underneath my pillow, it was in my pillowcase. Firstly, there was the butterfly necklace, all fixed. Beside it was a photograph. In the photograph, Elias stood between a man - presumably his Dad - and Samantha, an arm around each. His precious item. I grabbed a tissue from the box on my bedside table, and carefully transported the photo to my top drawer. That could wait until tomorrow.