Dandelion: Entangled In Eternity

Chapter 20: Delirium

The worst wounds, the deadliest of them, aren't the ones people see on the outside. They're the ones that make us bleed internally.

Sherrilyn Kenyon

(PRESENT) SATURDAY MIDNIGHT

Jake is walking up the wooden stairs with a glass of water in his hand. On reaching the top of the stairs, he turns left and walks straight towards the white door at the end of the corridor. He stops with his hand on the doorknob, contemplating whether he should go inside or not. Making up his mind, he carefully twists the doorknob and opens the door.

The room is engulfed in the soft light emitting from the night lamp placed on the bedside table, near the door. A large bed is placed next to it. The front wall has a glass door, leading to the balcony. The glass door is closed and half-covered by a dark grey curtain. At the right side of the room is the bathroom door and beside it, a white wooden wardrobe is placed. The walls are painted in a light grey colour, with a white ceiling and the wooden floor is covered in a fluffy white carpet.

Anne is lying in the centre of the bed, asleep. Her long brown hairs are sprawled on the pillow while her eyebrows are furrowed and her forehead is covered in beads of sweat. Her restless features, a sign that she is having a nightmare.

Jake quietly enters the room and placing the glass of water on the bedside table, he leans over the bed. He raises his hand to touch her cheek, but a whimper escaping her lips, makes him pull his hand back. A look of pain, mixed with sadness and guilt, dawns on his handsome features. Straightening up, he backs away from the bed and walking out the door he leaves it slightly open behind him.

SUNDAY MORNING

With a loud gasp, Anne wakes up from her nightmare.

She is in a state of complete distress as being hypnotized and drugged at the same time, has shoved her brain into turmoil. Although she has opened her eyes, her mind is still trapped in her dream, making her fall into a hallucination.

Her hair tendrils, wet with sweat are sticking to her forehead and her unfocused eyes glance at the ceiling. Instead of the white ceiling, her mind shows her an old-looking high wooden ceiling. Unfamiliar with her
surroundings, panic bubbles in her chest. She turns her head and a vision of dead and wide-opened eyes staring straight at her, fills her mind. Scared, she scrambles off the bed.

'Little flower,' a familiar yet unrecognizable voice sounds in her mind, and startled, she looks around the room. Instead of the light-grey walls, her mind once again tricks her and shows a large old room, partially engulfed in darkness. Her heart starts racing in fear.

'I can hear your heart calling out to me, little flower,' she hears again and whimpers in fright. Looking for an exit, Anne stumbles towards the door and running out, she crosses the corridor and starts making her way downstairs.

'I have been keeping an eye on you for a very long time,' the voice sounds again in her mind. She gasps at the words and her steps falter, making her tumble all the way down, to the foot of the stairs.

Hearing all the commotion, Jake rushes out and his eyes widen when he sees her in such a woeful condition. He rushes to her side and kneeling beside her, he calls out in a painful and saddened voice, "Anne!" But Anne's mind is so far gone at the moment, that she only registers Jake's sad frown and his moving lips.

Once again the voice sounds in her mind, 'I just love the taste of pure and innocent maidens, like you.' Anne's vision blurs. A painful cry laced with fear, escapes her lips and she loses herself to the darkness.

Jake gathers an unconscious Anne in his arms and bounds upstairs. His expression etched with sorrow and
pain. Going inside the room, he gently places her on the bed. He checks her for injuries and notice bruises forming on the right side of her forehead and left cheek. To his relief, there are no major injuries on her body. Leaving the room, he stares back at her with dejected eyes and closes the door behind him.

Overwhelmed, Jake leans on the door, he closes his eyes and clutches his chest tightly. "Jacob," Luke says quietly.

After Anne fainted at the parking lot, Jake brought her to his residence, while Luke stayed behind and got rid of the bodies of both the dead female vampires. He also took Anastasia's phone in his possession, to investigate further.

Jake raises his head and stares at Luke. His eyes, a mirror of his muddled-up emotions. Luke searches his features and understands, that Jake is blaming himself for Anne's current state and is scared of how she is going to react, now that she knows he is a vampire.

"She'll be alright, Jacob. She just needs rest," Luke consoles him. "Uncle, I should have protected her better. She kept asking me if I'll be there at the party, but..." Jake trails off, his voice trembling. Luke sighs
and says, "Son, there's no point in thinking what you should have or could have done. You saved her and she is safe now. You of all people knows better, what would have happened if we haven't reached there on time."

Jake lowers his eyes, realizing that his uncle is right. "Do you think, she'll be scared of me now?" he asks, without looking up. "We'll wait and see," Luke says and after a moment of silence, he asks Jake, "Do you think, it's coming back to her now? After all she has the same soul." At this, Jake raises his head and answers looking straight at Luke, his eyes flashing with pain, "I don't know, but just now, I felt all of it...her pain, her fear... all over once again."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

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