Deep Waters

Chapter Thirty-Eight

A boulder weighed down my chest as my heart pounded rapidly beneath it, trying to knock it off. "Do you think he?..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

Her shoulders bumped up and down once before she hesitated and nodded. "I didn't want to believe it so I never said a word to anyone. He's my brother, I love him, I don't want him going to jail. And my parents—I didn't want to have to tell them that I think he killed her—I don't even know if they would have believed me," she rambled. "So, I kept my mouth shut to protect him. I mean I never had any evidence or anything anyway, but my gut feeling told me that Sam killed, or hurt her, or something...But I had ignored that gut feeling."

"That's why you told me to always follow my gut feeling," I realized.

She nodded. "Because now it's too late for me to do anything about Macy. It's been over a year since she's been gone."

I shook my head immediately after her words. "You could still go to the police," I assured her. "You could still tell them what happened that night so long ago."

Hazel's brown eyebrows scrunched together, my words clearly taking her by surprise. "But would it make a difference?"

"Yes," I assured her.

"But it's too late for there to be any evidence."

"Hazel, that is evidence. Whether it's enough to lock him up, I honestly don't know, but it's definitely enough to reopen the investigation."

Her watery eyes shined with a little more hope. "Really?"

Grabbing both of her hands in mine, I nodded, making sure she was looking me in the eyes. "Yes."

Tears started streaming from her eyes and a sob escaped her throat. The next thing I know, she released my hands and throws her arms around me. She held onto me tightly. "This has been on my conscious for so long," she cried.

My lips tightened to a sad smile as she pulled away from me and wiped her eyes. "I'll talk to Daniel about it tomorrow," I decided. "He could give you someone to talk to in order to get it all handled."

A smile spread her cheeks as a weight visibly lifted off her shoulders. I'd never seen someone so relieved about something. "Thank you." Helping her with this made me feel so good. I loved the feeling of helping people. Maybe that's something that I could strive after for a career.

#

The dream started the same way it had the last time. Sam stabbed a knife into Macy's chest. She stared at him in shock. He twisted the knife. "I hope you forgive me, Darling." His words echoed as he lowered her to the floor. Her body and face morphed into me. Soon enough, it was me lying on the bloody, cement floor in front of him. "Forgive me Darling...Forgive me, Delilah," his echo changed. "Forgive me, Delilah; forgive me; forgive me..."

I jerked awake in a snap. Pure darkness enveloped me. I couldn't see a thing. For a long moment, I just laid there and took deep breaths. Why in the world did I keep having that dream? At least now I pretty much knew that Sam Piper played a hand in Macy's death. Another thought occurred to me. Why were my curtains closed? It was so dark I couldn't make out a single object. Every night I always left them open so starlight would enter the room, so I could see a little in case I needed to get up in the middle of the night.

There was a small weight on the side of my bed. Was I still dreaming? Maybe half asleep? I started to sit up and lean toward where I knew my nightstand was with a lamp on it. But before I could get to the light's chain to turn it on, a hand was clamped over my mouth and suddenly someone was on top of me.

I tried to scream but the person's palm was clamped over my lips tightly. My limbs flailed and I struggled against the person above me, but they were larger than I was. For a split second the hand on my mouth was lifted and I started to scream, "He—," but I couldn't even get the full words out before it was replaced with a cloth over my lips and nose. A pungent smell filled my nostrils as the hand held it against me. Nonetheless, I continued to fight against the body, but my screams were muffled, and I was overtaken by the larger figure. I struggled for minutes on end.

"Forgive me, Delilah," a voice spoke. There were those words again. Familiar, but not Charles. Just a moment later, I noticed my movements were growing weaker. I knew for a fact I could put up a better fight if I could only see in the darkness. Kason had taught me so much better than my performance right now and it made me feel weak and like a failure. My arms weren't pushing the figure away as strong as before and my kicks were getting limper. It wasn't much longer at all until my limbs were too weak to even lift and my eyes started closing. No matter how much I fought against whatever drug I was inhaling, I couldn't stay awake. After one more short breath, my consciousness drifted away. 

***

Sooooo, yeah:) What do you think is going on?

Christmas is so close! For those of you who celebrate, what traditions are your favorite? Is there any that is unique for just your family? I'd love to hear them. My favorite is making and decorating sugar cookies with my sister:) I also just love relaxing in the living room on a cold evening with the tree lit up and a fire in the fireplace, and of course wrapped in a thick blanket with a book in my hand.

~Emily