Lies

Returned

Anastasia

I jump off the tour bus confidently and fix my unruly hair using the window's reflection. Before I'm even finished, the bus roars back to life and starts to pull away, leaving me in the dust.

I'm confused as to why I'm standing in the middle of no where, with only one house in sight.

This place was like a desert, just dust and tumbleweeds.

Well, at least it's a nice house, I think to myself.

I walk up to the front door and begin to knock, but it's already open. I give it a little push, and it gives way.

There's people here, and I count ten of them total. I can see them all talking and staring at me as I stand at the door, waiting to be invited in.

The older woman is looking at me. She has a familiar face, but I can't immediately place her. She's muttering something to the young man next to her, but I can't make out what she's saying.

There's ten of them and just one of me, and I don't know what to do.

I don't want to go inside.

I stand there and look back at them, deciding I should leave now while I still could. But before I got a chance to act, they were walking towards me.

They close on me quickly, all of them speaking to me at once. I can't focus on what they are saying, because there's just too many of them.

"No, no, no, no. Leave me alone!" I tell them, but they continue to engulf me until I'm laying on the floor, writhing around in desperation.

Still then, they won't get off of me, and I'm gasping for breath to no avail.

I'm going to die. I'm going to suffocate to death.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Duff

I'm startled awake by sounds in the night.

I open my eyes quickly as they adjust to the dark light. I hear the sound again, and it takes a minute for me to realize where it's coming from.

"No, no, no, no!" she whimpers.

My eyes flick around in the dark to make sure no one is trying to hurt her--and no one is.

Only her dreams.

"Leave me alone!" she cries, writhing around in the sheets.

I grab her by her shoulder and shake her gently. "Anastasia. Wake up." I tell her, but there's no answer. I shove her a little harder.

"Anastasia." I call a little louder, and she springs to life, sitting up quickly in bed and  breathing hard. This causes her to hit her head on the bunk above us, and I hear Steven groan at the interruption.

"Fuck me." she curses exasperatedly, rubbing her head vigorously.

"Damn. Are you okay?" I ask her as she continues to nurse her head.

"Fuck. That really hurt." she says, blinking quickly. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just had a bad dream is all." she responds.

"About what?" I want to know, because I've never seen her have dreams like this before.

I can just barely see her face in the dark, but I can see her eyes flick to the floor-- the way they did when she was hiding something.

"Nothing." she says, climbing back underneath the sheet and into my arms again.