Blood and Hearts

1. Dreams

1.

The dream started exactly the same way every damn time; me standing in a hallway made of mirrors and a heart slowly coming closer. I couldn’t see the person yet, just hear the heart’s familiar beating. I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel – afraid, because of someone unknown was coming closer, or safe, because I wasn’t alone anymore?

I’ve never seen the person before, but I’ve heard his brave heart so many times. His heart wasn’t like anyone else. His heart had a slow rhythm that it kept the whole time, never going faster and never slowing down. I looked down, waiting for the dream to fade out and for me waking up. But instead I saw a shadow creep over me and I slowly looked up.

The first thing my brain registered was dark. Dark hair, dark eyes and dark clothes. And when my eyes found his, his heart started bumping faster.

What?

The pretty boy looked at me with a strange expression on his face, and I dug my nails into my arms. What was this? My dream, that I had had for years, had never gone this far. My nails went farther into my skin, and the pain went through me like an electric shock.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” the boy said fast. He had a nice voice, but that didn’t keep me from freaking out.

I looked up at the pretty boy that my mind had made up. I felt sorry for him. It couldn’t be easy to live in my mind. He still looked at me with the same expression, like he couldn’t figure out what I was doing here. “What’s your name?” he asked me.

I looked at him. I knew I looked suspicious, but I couldn’t care less. Instead I took some steps back, enough steps to be out of reach for him. And then I dug my nails even harder into my arms.

Hard enough to wake me up.

And when I woke up, I was even more freaked out. Not because of my dream. The cause was yelling right into my face.

“Audrey!”  my little sister Janine shrieked.

I groaned and pulled a pillow over my head. “Fuck off,” I murmured, follow by a scary silence. Usually I enjoyed silence, but when my sister was silent it was because she was pissed off. And that was not pleasant.

I looked up from the pillow. “Sorry, babe,” I said. “What’s the time?”

Janine was expressionless for a few frightening seconds but then she smiled a little devilish smile. “Only a couple of minutes before your little class trip to the library is supposed to take place.” And then she elegantly walked out of the room, leaving me cursing. I jumped out of the bed, took some random clothes out of my wardrobe and put them on. Brushed my hair fast and put it up in a ponytail and then I ran out of the room.

“Finally, Audrey,” my mom said when I rushed into the kitchen. “I made you a sandwich.” I smiled, grabbed the sandwich from her and jumped into my converse.

“Bye-bye!” I shouted, ran out of the house and started running to where I was supposed to meet my friends, Jack and Maya. Behind me, I heard my mum closing the door with a chuckle.

When I came to our meeting place, the little shop that had been Maya’s favorite for years, I saw them. Jack sitting on a bench, looking tired as usual. Maya was standing up, talking to Jack while she looked around for me. When she saw me her face lit up and she started waving.

“Audrey! Hurry up, we’re going to be late!”

“Duh,” I heard Jack say. I couldn’t help but smile – those two was each other’s opposites. And I was always in the middle, keeping them from fighting. When I came closer I grabbed their hands and started pulling them in the direction of the library while I asked how late we would be.