Ethereal Dusk

Chapter 12

I awake the next morning tucked into bed and well rested. I roll over and stretch, the smell of bacon and coffee filling my nose making me grin ear to ear. Mom always knew how to put a smile on my face first thing in the morning.

I grab my phone to shoot Natalie a text. We hadn't seen each other since that day. After they sedated me, mom sent her home and promised to take care of me. Natalie had only sent one thing since then.

Natalie: I love you. Feel better..

I hadn't responded. Mostly because I was too embarrassed to reply. She had never seen me like that. She had never witnessed the darker side of me. I never wanted to show that side to anyone. I wish that my mind would just let it go. Pride be damned. Roslyn, you are less than perfect.

Me: Hey

Mom walks into the room, coffee in hand.

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey," she sing-songs.

"Good morning my queen," I respond as I sit up in bed and take the coffee from her hand.

"Good lord Roslyn! You little devil," she says as she leans down to eye level and squints at my neck.

My face drops as I remember the dream from last night.

"What?" I ask with a dead serious expression.

"Did you sneak out to Anthony last night?" she asks with her hands placed on her hips.

I fly out of bed, setting my coffee down to run over to my full body mirror.

"No, why?"

And then I see it. Plastered across the side of my neck is a deep plum-colored hickey. You can't miss it. I gasp as I try and rub it off. There's no way! There's no way this is real! I hadn't seen Anthony in days. I look over at mom.

"I think I scratched myself," I say as I cover it with my hand.

She walks over with a concerned look on her face, placing her hand over mine.

"Let me see it baby," she says softly.

I hesitate before sliding my hand off slowly to let her see, leaning my head back just as I had done in my dream last night. The memory of the shadow man flashes through my mind and I gasp and pull away from mom, covering it again.

"Honey that doesn't look like a scratch to me. Is there anything that you want to tell me?"

I look down at the floor as I try and piece together exactly what the hell is going on here. I rub at my neck.

"They weren't dreams," I say quietly to myself as I rub my neck.

"What?" mom says.

I look up at her.

"I scratched myself. I'm just gunna take a shower really quick before breakfast."

She looks at me wearily.

"Okay... don't be long, your breakfast will get cold."

I grab the towel off the back of my chair and give her a lighthearted smile before kissing her on the cheek and walking out of the room. After closing the bathroom door, I lean in toward the mirror and brush my hair behind my shoulder to get a better look. There's no doubt about it. It's a hickey.

I rub my fingers over the sensitive spot. It looks like a little rose. My stomach flips with butterflies and I cover my small smile as I flash back to my encounter again. Am I still dreaming?

As the cool water runs over my body in the shower I pay extra attention to rubbing at my neck, just in case it's a stain of some sort. Highly doubtful. But I can't afford to leave out any possibilities.