Midnight Mates

05 | A Simple Exchange

"Shh!" A rough voice chastised Sable. "I'm not here to hurt you."

A likely story. Sable's eyes flashed to her bedroom window. She was sure she'd always kept it locked. How had this person even gotten in? Lucky for the intruder, the lights were off and Sable couldn't make out their face at all. It didn't help that the hood of their sweater was pulled up.

"If I remove my hand, promise me you won't scream."

Sable considered it. This person seemed fairly strong and had caught her defenceless. Judging by their voice, it was a man.

"Please," the intruder almost begged.

Sable sighed and nodded. The rough hand pulled away slowly from her face, testing that she would keep her promise. They let out a sigh of relief when Sable didn't scream and took a step back to give Sable some space.

"What do you want?" Sable whispered.

"I... I don't know."

"You don't know?"

The man began to pace nervously. "I just... wanted to see you."

A cold chill ran down Sable's spine. What man in this sad excuse of a town would break in to her bedroom just to see her? A stalker?

"Can you please leave?" Sable asked quietly, "I'm sure you know this, but I'm not the only person in this house. If you promise never to do this again, I won't tell the police or my family."

The pacing stopped. "You want me to leave?"

"Yes."

The man suddenly closed the gap between them once again. He raised his rough hand to tenderly rest on Sable's cheek. "You don't feel anything when I do this? Nothing?"

Sable's breath hitched. A dull ache of longing began to spread in her chest along with a warm tingling spreading from where his hand was softly cupping her face. She reached out with her own hand and gently grasped the hood of the intruder.

Sable let out a small gasp as she pulled down the hood. Though the lights were still off, Sable could barely make out the face of Drew Villanueva gazing longingly into her eyes. "Mr. Villanueva?"

"Sable," he whispered.

Her eyes slid closed as Drew slowly began leaning in, his plush lips making contact with her own. Sable reacted instinctively to his kiss, throwing her arms around his neck and hungrily moved her lips in sync with his. His fingers knotted into her hair, gently tugging at the strands.

"Sable."

She pulled Drew closer.

"Sable... Sable!"

She opened her eyes. Rather than Drew, she saw Maria standing in front of her... sideways?

Sable felt pain shooting up her neck and back and realized she had fallen asleep at her desk. She sat up and stretched. Had it all been a dream?

"What are you doing here, Maria?" Sable yawned.

"I was calling you from upstairs. Dad thought you might have gone out early and told me to come check on you before school."

"Oh, sorry, you know I'm a heavy sleeper."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I'm just letting you know I remembered to pack my lunch so don't worry about embarrassing yourself again," Maria teased.

Sable rolled her eyes. "I've learned my lesson, next time you forget I'm not even going to offer to bring your lunch."

"There's the Sable I know." Maria gave her sister a firm pat on the back before heading up the stairs. It was only a few seconds before Sable heard the front door open and close.