Witch Way

Chapter 3--Nightmares

Chapter 3

Shayla opened her eyes to see a hooded figure leaned over her. A shriek flew from her mouth as she tried to jump up and run. As she jerked her wrists she heard the clanging of chains. She looked above her head and down at her feet to find that she was chained on a concrete slab. Cold fingers grabbed her chin and snatched her head around. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to still the terrified trembling of her body.

"W-W-What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice high-pitched and shaky.

"I want you to tell me where you are Shayla Jane Cooper. You have something that belongs to me." The figure voiced in a whisper that disguised their gender.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have anything." She explained as her eyes snapped open at the feel of the cold fingers caressing her cheek.

"Oh, but you do my dear girl. Your powers, your soul, everything that you are belongs to me." The voice replied, drawing his arm down to squeeze Shayla's throat.

"Please..Please just let me go." She pleaded with her eyes rimmed in tears. She began to feel dizzy because the figure completely cut off her oxygen. As everything began to fade to black, the strange, whispery voice laughed.

"I will have you. You will give me your power. You can't hide from me. I'm your---"

Shayla tumbled out of her bed in terror and scrambled into a corner before she realized she had been dreaming. Her shoulders sagged in relief and a mass of tension she didn't know she had relaxed between her shoulders. She judged it to be around ten in the morning, but felt as though she hadn't slept at all. With a large yawn, she stumbled her way out of her bedroom and into the kitchen to make coffee.

~*~

After nearly a week of nightmare filled nights, Shayla began to get into a routine. She visted with Earl and his wife a few times and even got to meet a few of their grandbabies. She finally made time to get to the clothing store and stock her closet. She got several pairs of denim shorts, several tank tops, a few dressy blouses and two pairs of tennis shoes.

On Sunday, her eighth day in town, she finally got out into her back yard. A flower garden full of dead flowers and an herb garden gone wild greeted her there. After locating a pair of gardening gloves, she got down on her knees in the flower garden and began to pull up the deceased blooms.

"Hmmmm, Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm." Shayla was humming to herself when a branch cracking made her scream in alarm and toss a gardening shovel at the culprit.

"Hey now Miss, what was that for?" The aforementioned culprit asked, a sheepish grin gracing his face.

She placed a hand over her chest in a fruitless attempt to calm her heart. "You tell me, you're the one sneaking up on people."

"Earl sent me up here to see if you wanted to have dinner with them tonight." The oil stained mechanic answered with a hand on his shoulder where the shovel hit.

"Why would he send you?" She spat at him. Her annoyance from the first day she met him was still standing. She didn't even know the man's name.

As if he could read her mind, he grinned and answered, "I'm Dillan, I'm Earl's nephew."

Shayla's jaw dropped, and she wished there would have been a hole nearby to crawl in. "I-I-I'm-"

"Don't worry about it. No apology needed." He soothed and offered her a hand. "What'd'ya say?"

"Of course I'll come to dinner" She answered meekly and pushed up from the ground without his help.

He shifted his feet and put the offending hand in his pocket. "You're not fond of the male gender are you, Miss Cooper?"