Behind the Screen (a Tom Hiddleston Story)

39. Doubt

White noise, scrunched paper, the crunch of wet boots on dry leaves. All sounds she could hear; none close enough to comprehend the whereabouts of. In an attempt to judge where she was, she turned to face the door which had appeared in front of her. His front door. It was the same as the door situated at the top of the steps to Tom's apartment. 

She held her hand out with caution before trying to open it. It was unlocked; the creak of its hinges sending shivers down her spine from her neck. She headed through into the kitchen, noticing the window, which looked out over the gardens, was wide open. Her stride quickening a little, she hoisted herself up over the sink to see what was outside.

What met her eyesight was astonishing, reminding her of a previous situation where she had witnessed this figure before. There they stood once more, their hands now brandishing what appeared to be a small black box. Man or woman, she couldn't be certain. But she did know that they were not moving anytime soon.

"Hey?" She tried calling out but her voice emerged as nothing but a whisper. "Who are you? What do you want?" She still called out even though she thought it was near on impossible that they could have heard her.

The figures head tilted a little to the left, their featureless black void now boring into Kate's soul. What happened next was extraordinary. Without moving its face or body it spoke. Not via usual means of communication, but through what she could only think possible; telepathy.

"Kate. How long it has been. How is he these days? I hear he is happy, but I also hear... he could be happier."

"Who? Who could be happier? Who are you?"

"All in good time, when he embarks to Scotland. You will know."

Gasping trying to fill her lung capacity with oxygen had also woken Tom as he stirred next to her. "Kate? Another nightmare?" He had become so used to them that even her thrashing around did not worry him anymore. His raspy voice brought her back down to normality, what was happening to her?

"Kate?" He sat himself up, propping his neck with his pillows. He gestured to lay her head on his chest, gently caressing her hair to calm her. "Did you want to talk about it?"

She didn't know what to say, her mind was still in overdrive after her dream. When he embarks to Scotland... Scotland... "Do you have any links to Scotland by any chance?"

"What?"

"Scotland? It's just... I had a dream, I mean in my nightmare...."
"Yeah, I'm half Scottish. What happened?" She tried her best to explain it without making herself sound insane. She knew that he would be very open-minded but all the same; it was her dream. "So... I shouldn't be going to Scotland then?"
"No, Unless it wasn't talking about you. But who else could it be talking about?" The clock had just struck three am and Tom was beginning to yawn.

"I don't know my darling. Maybe no one, it was probably just a dream." Kate nodded in agreement but she wasn't so sure. It wasn't the first time she had had this dream; each time it was slightly different yet still leaving her with the same feeling of foreboding. Something was coming.

*

It was the weekend of the Stag and Hen Do's and a sense of elation was in the air. "And you're sure that you still want to go to Scotland?" Kate really wasn't sure about the whole idea since her nightmare. It was a week since her last one and every night since then, she had had the exact same one. Deciding not to inform Tom though as it might impact the mood of the weekend ahead, she subtly tried to alter his intentions.