Rowyn's Lullaby

Chapter Seven: The Decent Into Darkness

Autumn departed as quickly as it had arrived. Thanksgiving break was the signal for the temperatures to plunge. I woke up the first day of break with my lips blue and my limbs trembling. I had to wear clothes in layers to keep myself warm when I did want to go out.

Carter came by on the first day of break to take me out to the park to meet Arabella for lunch. He found me still lying in the bed when it was time to leave.

"Wrenn?" He asked when he pushed open the door.

"Yes?" I mumbled. I was still wrapped in my cocoon of sheets and blankets.

"Are we still going to the park to meet Arabella?" He asked, the impatience seeping into his voice.

"I" was all I said before the lights dimmed. I was immersed into the cover of darkness.

When I felt Carter pushing his hands into my shoulder, I thought I was sleeping.

"You look terrible." He pushed my hair off of my face. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, what time is it?" I asked.

"It's probably close to one." He said as he dashed furiously around the room.

"What are you looking for?" I snapped. I had forgotten why he was at my house. "Get out. I'm not even dressed."

He ran his hands through his thick hair and started breathing anxiously. As I reached back to throw a pillow at him, I felt the room dropping out of my view again.

Mr. Williams once said he liked my dresses I would wear to school. His favorite, he claimed, was the plaid one that made me look "particularly nerdy." I told him he was being offensive, but it was all resolved when he slid his hand along my thigh and told me I was still beautiful.

***

The next time I woke up, the entire day had passed. My head was pulsating, and I was still freezing. Carter was no longer there, not that I could remember much about him being there prior. My dad was there when I sat up.

"Hold on," he said as he supported my lower back.

"Where's Carter?" I demanded as I looked around the room.

"Carter went back to his house. I'll have your mom call and tell him you're finally awake." He pressed his palm against my cheek.

"I'm sweating and wet, but I'm cold." I drew the covers closer to me.

"You're probably sick because you haven't been eating." He stepped back. "I'm going to see if your mom has anything fixed for you."

"Tell her I said don't worry about it."

"Rowyn, you're sick and look like you're about to die. You need to eat something."

It was fatally true. I had been skimping out eating because I was either too depressed to eat or too preoccupied to come down. I couldn't hold down what I forced myself to eat. The ill feeling became like a tumor in my stomach, upsetting it every time he came back around.

"I've been trying. I've been eating, but I, I keep throwing it back up." My lips quivered as his expression hardened.

My mom knocked on the door and was holding a plate of food. She set it on the dresser and ran over towards me. Both of them became outlined as the darkness ensued once more.

Mr. Williams also said I was much more than beauty.

"I wouldn't make you or myself any older or any younger. Not that it would take away from our appearance, but because I like you just as you are now." He said after school the day before we were caught.