As my head turned again and again, I saw it running behind me tirelessly. But I was sweating. I was getting too exhausted. My feet didn't stop though.
Annika, today is the day.
I ran and ran and ran, as it came closer and closer. Ahead, I could see an opening. Probably a cave.
But it was a cliff end, one I was running towards. I started crying as I ran, the fanged beast howling behind. I screamed until my lungs burned but. . but I felt a hand around my mouth.
As I tried to shake it off, it all went dark. Then it was white, and I was back in the plane again. . .
How.
One look at the hand answered that question. A dream. It had been a dream- no, a nightmare. I released a breath, pushing the hand away.
It was Shivay who was beside me. It was his hand.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, sleep still tugging me.
"Ah," he stuttered, "Your. . your hands were all over your neighbour. So the passenger beside wanted to exchange the seat, and the air hostess she saw me with you and assumed I'm-"
"What?"
"She thought we were together and requested me to shift," he sat back, loosening his seat belt, "Even in the air Annika you can't stop troubling me."
I almost hit him, when he spoke"Careful, one more complain and they will send you to economy."
I eyed him like a piranha.
He slid his own sleeping mask. But I didn't get sleep. My legs shaking, the beast still running behind me.
"Stop shaking your legs Annika!"
I rolled my eyes loud enough so that he could hear it before I stopped shaking them. But my breathing inched louder.
"Can you not-" he tsked, pulling down his mask.
"Breathe? You would love that wouldn't you?" But before he could throw in a response, an air hostess passed us, smiling as always.
I glanced at my watch before sinking back in my seat, my heart beating loud. It had been six hours on this plane. I slept for six hours straight. No wonder I needed rest. Five more to go.
Shivay called out to an air hostess, startling me.
"Yes sir?" She smiled wider, so courteous, it won't surprise me if she started bowing.
"Could I please get the menu?" That was when I realized how hungry I was. She nodded and brought the menu a few moments later.
"Hmm," he read the menu carefully, thoroughly checking every section.
"Put this focus on your work and the sky is the limit," I said, getting hungrier and hungrier.
His eyes moved to mine, gleaming wickedly. I suddenly wished my seat disintegrated far off. Even for business class, this was too close. Too close to him.
"I do focus, where do you think we are right now," he snobbed, returning to his menu inspection.
The sky. We were literally in the sky.
This was so stupid that I- I was out of a retort so I just snorted.
Thankfully, he moved back to his focussed reading of the food menu.
"Hmm," he rubbed his chin, "what are you having?"
"A grilled sandwich," I said almost too quickly.
He raised an eyebrow, "For lunch?"
I nodded, "So?"
He silently returned the menu, ordering for the both of us after.
****
"Ma'am, here is your sandwich, and Sir, your coffee, your lunch will be served in a few minutes," she said to Shivay.
"Thank you," he replied and the air hostess moved forward.
I took a bite of my sandwich in haste, my belly roaring in hunger. Shivay sipped on his coffee, making weird slurping sounds, that itched me.
"Stop it," I said, taking another bite.
"What?" He asked.
"Stop making that noise."
"What noise?" He asked, his face incredulous.
"That- sipping- sound," I rolled my eyes.
His eyes narrowed, as he slurped on his coffee. He knows it annoys me, and yet.
I turned to face him, "You know you should go back. Back to your old seat."
"Rude," he said under his breath, but the next sip he took was quiet. No slurps.
I bit down on my sandwich, the cheese melting in my mouth.
My head though, tarted spinning.
I opened my eyes wider, keeping myself in the moment. But the pain just grew. I closed my eyes, pressing my fingers to my head. The smell of Shivay's coffee was getting to my head.
Something shining before my eyes.
Not a memory this time. But a picture.
So stagnant, such stillness in it that I press my head harder to look at it.
White. It's all white until the raw cocoa hit my nose again. And I see the dark stranger again. Drinking coffee and smirking, shadows covering his face.
But- but this time. Something is so different.....it looks wrong.
Because I'm sitting on the same table, across him, smiling.
With a cup of- a cup of tea in my hand- and the man- he's talking. To me.
But the picture stops rolling before I hear anything. Only a name plays in my head, as I pull myself back. My name. He's screaming it.
"Annika?"
I pull myself back to the present. Off-white walls hovering above me. Blue eyes stare right at me as I wince, straightening in my seat.
Shivay keeps staring at me as I do. The sandwich still in my hand, now a crushed mash. Both my hands tightened in a fist. I almost see Shivay's hands going towards them, but they stop, vanquish as if never there.
"Open them," Shivay blinks.
I try but cramps start running in and my head whirls again. I glance at Shivay's face, and I feel so helpless.
"Try harder," he continues, his eyes willing my hands to open.
But they don't move.
The next moment, he's on his feet striding to the nearest air hostess, who nods at his words.
My head itches again at the sight of the food lying on our tiny turn-table. I close my eyes again, ut don't see anything. Not the dark stranger. Not me. Not a thing. Just utter darkness. I hear voices- screams. But they aren't from within. I don't open my eyes.
Because if I do, there's a chance I may never see that picture again.
*
In a few seconds, someone wakes me. It's not shivay. An older man- but all blur.
"Okay, now. I am not here to harm you. I will touch your hands now, try not to get startled miss," he said, in a squeaky voice. Or maybe my ears are hearing wrong. I can't tell.
His touch is. . . its repelling. I shudder against it. Even though my fists were locked, I used my elbow to land a hollow hit, "Get. away. from. me."
The man cried at the sudden impact, and another clutched him, before taking him away.
"Just a minute, Annika. There's a doctor on board. HeHe'llake sure your hands are back to moving in no time," Shivay spoke in a low voice.
I shiver, "Don't Lie.."
He sat beside me where the man was a minute ago and his hands cupped my face, as those devilish blue eyes dolled into mine, "I'm not lying."
I shook my head, the pain intensifying every minute, "There's a difference, between a minute and no time, a very big minute difference," I mumbled, uselessly.
He chuckled.
I squinted my eyes," Don't you laugh, my head is-" before I could complete the sentence, his hands pressed my head. I placed them on the exact point where I felt the shooting pain, making me dizzy. He kept pressing. I smiled, unable to control myself. The daze and sleep stare ill not gone, but the pain. It gently slithered away.
But I still felt the need to-, "I need a bag."
And his hand moved quicker than a bolt of lightning, out of care or fear of what would happen if I wretched on the floor or him.
What happened next was not pretty, because I vomited a bag as he held my hair back.
I could only say thank you before I passed out. Before I lost myself in black and white. But there was some grey, at the edge. There were moments I could feel through my tired sleeping conscious.
When someone touched my hand again, I slashed it away- a bad burning ache felt.
And after a while, nothing.
But then another set of hands touched me and I was about to slash it but-
These didn't feel repelling though. Soft. Like a rose. I swallowed as my head fell back.
"Sleep, Annika, Sleep away," I heard Shivay say. It went from one ear to the other, like a mantra.
Slowly I felt each finger being straightened to its normal form. Gently. Like they weren't fingers but diamonds.
I slept altogether after and didn't awaken.
***
When she woke up next, she was neither in the plane, nor at the airport.
She was in a room, wood surrounding her as she gently got up from the soft mattress. A television right before her, before the bed. The balcony to her left.
How did I end up here? She thought. She pulled her blanket to check if she wore clothes. Same as the plane.
Then she restlessly searched for her phone. It took her a minute to remember she didn't bring it with her. She had failed to find it in the morning.
But the curtains were alight. That meant day. She still wore that jacket of Shivay's as she pulled the drapes to the view of-
A huge garden, blooming sunflowers and white daisies glistening. Sunlight danced on the flowers and the grass set beneath. Instead of buildings, trees were towering around. Annika's jaw dropped at the sight. She knew where she was.
That's when she rushed for the door.
***
The first floor was empty, but she ran towards the lobby. Everything was wood. All before her was dark brown, hardwood. The fireplace crackled with wild fire, spreading warmth through the lobby. This was- this was. . .The Bran Castle. She knew that's where she was.
It was a famous tourist attraction in Romania, mythical home to the Dracula.This sleek castle, hidden in the Transylvanian Alps. She'd read it on The Gupta's itinerary, but wasn't sure.
As the castle had to be pre-booked for such events and cost a lot more than regular hotels. But the Gupta's had done it. For showing off or genuine liking to this place, she did not know.
She kept looming over the hideously perfect doors of the lobby, trying to find him. He was there, outside the last door, perched on a dark red bench alone, talking on his phone.
"Shivay! Where were you- and how-" he murmured bye, and kept his phone at her sight.
"Shush," he said," Sit down first, then you can scold me all you want."
"Why do you always assume I'm going to scold you?"
"Because you're doing it now," he laughed.
I hit his shoulder, lightly. Not out of mercy, but sheer weakness still lingering in me.
"Come, let's get you to your room," he said, hands moving to my shoulder. My gaze followed his hands, a sneer on my face. He dropped them," The doctor has ordered you to rest."
"What happened to me?" I asked.
"You don't remember?" His eyes went big.
"I- I do, but it's all mish-mash, I can't remember exactly-"
"You were hallucinating- or having a nightmare maybe and your fists curled up," his voice cracked," your head was spinning and then- you fainted. We tried to wake you up but- you'd exhausted yourself- with no food in you. So I let you sleep and we managed to get you to the room safely," Shivay spoke. Shivay had taken it upon him to carry me, from the airport to the car to the castle to the room. I stared in thin air, shock rippling through every inch of me. I noticed his hand shaking a bit," Basically, you had a seizure Annika."
A seizure.
I stared at the sky, before getting up on my feet and walking back to my stupid room. Even though I heard him calling me, I kept walking through the freshly cut grass.
I freaking had a seizure. For the second time since that stupid accident. Why now? Why here. I didn't know who knew the answer to these questions or if they would choose to respond. I just walked to my room, Shivay's voice still echoing as he called out my name.
*
Words: 2109!
Hello! Because this is fiction, I've played with some things, like the accuracy of places is changed because of an arc. ( As in: The real bran castle does not surround as much greenery as written, though it is as terrific. So please bear with me, further too) I'm actually excited about the next chapters, cuz I've plotted it out, how it ends and the progression.
Thank you, you reading makes me want to write more. (PS. We crossed 1k reads♡ *screaming like crazy*)