Free to Love You

Chapter 1: Awareness

I woke up in a cold sweat. Beads of salty water running down my face, some slipping into my mouth. A taste I take as a sign that I'm truly awake. Something gave me chills. A shiver down my spine that made me physically shake.

Is there.... someone watching me ?

Eyes scan me from head to toe. I just know they do. But why ?

Why am I being watched ?
Am I under surveillance ? Did I do something wrong ? No. It doesn't feel that way. It feels... different somehow.

It's like a scan of curiosity. A look to see what or how I am. My very being being questioned. Or, maybe, examined.

"Who are you ?" I call out.

Silence.

I ask again, "Who are you ?"

"_____." A voice says back.

A voice ? Oh, god. Am I going crazy ? Did I just hear a voice after calling out into the voided space of my room ? I did, didn't I ? But I don't feel scared. The voice soothes me. I'm comforted by it.

The looks over me become a bit more hesitant.

Did I manage to startle it ? No, no. I don't want to startle it. I want to talk to it. I want to hear its voice once more. I thought I might be awake, but with this experience, I may be asleep. And if that's the case, I want to live this dream out to the fullest extent.

"What's your name ?" I try and make conversation. "_____." It replies. "Oh, my name is Keith Jurtzman. Like 'hurts', but starting with a 'J' and a 'Z' at the end." I laugh a little. A conversation with a disembodied voice. You've truly lost it, Keith, I thought to myself.

"____." It says, chuckling a little.

Huh ?

I look around.

"Did you... hear that ?" I ask wearily. "____." It seems to say nonchalantly. "You can hear my thoughts.. and interact with me... it's almost like-" I pause. Clenching my fist, I slowly ask, "Are you a witch or something ? Magic ? Anything to do with higher power ?" "______." It replies. "Then how do you know what I'm thinking and how come I can't see you ?" I huff a little.

There's another silence.

"Hello ?" No answer. Maybe I was imagining it after all..

"__!" It says quickly. "_______."

I stop moving.

"What.. ? A book ?" My eyes widen. "But- but I-," I can barely speak a word. Shock and panic hit me in droves. A book ? But that can't be true. If I'm in a book, then that means they're a reader. But I can hear them, and they can read my thoughts, so am I really in a book or am I heavily hallucinating ?? My thoughts soon whirl. I become dizzy. The room is spinning. I don't know what to do. This is an information overload. I-

"____."

I hear them. The voice. Telling me to calm down.

"_______!"

It'll be ok.. ?

"___."

A warmth fills my chest. Calming down, I lie down on my bed. Breathe in, breathe out. Slow and steady. I look over at my clock. 4 a.m. I sigh. It's too early for this.

"______." It offers.

"No.. you're fine. I just- I need to process all of this. It's a lot to take in and I'm running on 3 hours of sleep. Hopefully, with a bit of rest, I'll be able to figure everything out tomorrow. Is that... ok ?" I sighed. "__." The voice says. I smile.

Maybe any other person would have gone insane with this kind of knowledge, but I strangely feel ok.

My eyes start to get heavy. I yawn. Then I pause. "...You're not going to watch me sleep are you ?" The echo of laughter fills my room. It's a sweet sound. "____." The voice promises. I smile to myself. "Alright, then. Goodnight." Then I drift off to sleep.