Watched

Chapter 24

The corridor was lit dimly as we walked side by side towards the elevator. I felt frightened as the light flickered on and off and I let out a small whimper while clutching on to her skirt. She looked down at me with her emerald green eyes, and her red ringlets fell loosely framing her face.

"Don't be scared Ria, here... come to me." She said her voice seemed so loud in the dead silent corridor. We were almost at the elevator when she scooped me up and balanced me on her hip. Immediately I felt much better, I loved it when she would pick me up. I buried my nose in her neck as we waited for the elevator doors to open. I loved the way she smelled...it always gave me peace for some reason it always made me feel safe. I heard the sound of the doors opening, she put me down in front of the elevator and gathered her things ready to step inside with me, but something wasn't right. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach it's the same feeling that has been following me the entire night. I look up at her to say something but as I do something catches my eye. Its two figures approaching from the distance they are moving fast and before I can even say anything they are too close to us. In the last second she sees them too her eyes widen and within seconds she pushes me into the elevator and slams down on the red button. Before the doors closes the last thing I see are two men grabbing her and pulling her away as she yells at me.

"Aria...run!"

The door closes shut and I panic, I start screaming at the top of my lungs as the elevator moves towards the top floor.

"Mommy!"

I wake up screaming, it takes me a moment to realise that it was all just a dream. I look around the room and see that Izzy's bed is empty. I remember that she left for bible camp three weeks ago and she should be returning on Saturday. I rub my eyes and look at the time, its 11:45pm. I try to calm my racing heartbeat; it's been nearly three years since I had a nightmare involving my mother. This specific nightmare was a recurring one and I thought I had finally gotten rid of it but apparently I haven't. I would always wake up in tears just thinking about it. I knew now that I would never be able to get back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I realised that I needed to talk to Jordan, but I couldn't. The day after Maxi was released from hospital Jordan and I had an argument. We kissed for a moment and then he rejected me again, he said that it wasn't right what we were doing and that he is so much older than me. He basically just gave me a list of reasons why we shouldn't be together and I got so hurt and defensive that I basically told him I'm sick and tired of his indecisiveness. We had a big argument and basically we haven't spoken to each other since. Thinking about it made me even more depressed, the empty room started to feel stifling. I realised that I needed to get out, I slipped on a pair of slippers and made my way out into the corridor. I really didn't even know where I was going my legs just seemed to have a mind of their own. It was past curfew so the hall ways were clear of people. It was so silent and eerie it began to resemble my dream. Before I knew it I was standing in front of Randy's dorm room. I was surprised that somehow my subconscious mind led me to him, but the more I thought about it the more I realised he was just the person I needed.

I knocked on the door lightly; if one of the hall monitors caught me here we would both be in a lot of trouble. I knocked again when there was no response. Sure enough I heard shuffles as someone approached the door. Randy opened the door shirtless and it took me a moment to get over the slight shock. He really was good-looking, even when his copper hair was tousled from bed head. He seemed shocked to see me.

"Noble?" He whispered,

"What are you doing here?" he asked seemingly confused.

"Err...I'm sorry that I woke you up, I just couldn't sleep and I needed someone to talk to."