Talmer-Grey Terrace (or Hilter and his Beating Heart)

Chapter Four: From The Old Willow Tree

I didn't know if I wanted to see him again. Do I? Of course I do. Why wouldn't why? But how could I trust Caleb? I don't know. If I ever want to see Alfred again, I'm going to have to. I hate having to. I was excited, but terrified and nervous. I didn't know how to react to any of this. I'm going to meet a convict in the middle of the night with my brother at the park where he was always seen, and no one knows what's going to happen. This is petty exciting. But what about my sister? What if she finds out? Should I wake her and get her involved? I should get her involved. But what if when she meets Alfred, the two of them-no. That's never going to happen, not if I can help it. I'm just as beautiful as her. I don't see how I can be any different than her.
I crept towards her bedroom and I could see her light still on. Why would she still be awake? It doesn't really matter. I knock on her door, and I see her sitting on her bed with rows of dust lying in front of her. She only looked at me calm.
          "Don't tell mom."
I didn't know what to say or what to do. I slowly backed away from her and closed the door. I just stood there for a moment, my hand still holding onto the doorknob. I couldn't just stand there, that much I could comprehend at that exact moment, but I didn't want to leave her to soak in heroin. I wanted to turn the knob. I wanted to enter her room again and tell her what Caleb and I were doing and bring her with us. I wanted her...to drown if we sank. But I forced myself to release the doorknob and I hustled down the steps and out the back door.
          Caleb was standing there.
          "Are you ready?" He asked quietly.
          I nodded.
          Without any further thoughts, we were off. We leapt over the fence and disappeared into the night. For the first time in my life, I didn't care what mother would think. For the first time in my life, I was free. The cool breeze swept past my cheeks, nibbling every inch of my skin, and the bright moon illuminated the beauty of very earth we danced upon. The city was quiet at night. It always was. Everyone was asleep, and everybody trusted everybody. We always kept our doors unlocked; this world can never be safer. The cold fresh air burned my lungs with every breath, and the numbing sensation that was beginning to creep into my limbs the faster I ran was growing unbearable. But I couldn't stop.
I can see the old willow tree in the distance with the moon hovering over its silhouette. I stood below its mighty branches, and it's delicate leaves and gazed with wonder of what magnificence and beauty it brought to this world. A women definitely had dreams of which she wanted to build her society upon, and look where it brought us. I looked upon the old willow's highest branches, seeing them close to wither and fall, but this tree was too close to birth to ever die.
          I searched around for Caleb, unable to see him anywhere near me. I soon found him only to be watching me from a close distance. I grew suspicious as to why he wouldn't come close to the tree. I walked up to him.
          "What next?"
          "We wait."

There are no words to describe last night. I saw him again in my dreams. The past few nights, I haven't been able to dream of him until now. I have been hoping when I could be able to dream of him again, but it has never happened until now.
          I was dressed in white and found myself surrounded in complete darkness. I stood still, hearing footsteps walk towards me, and it wasn't long until I could see a figure off into the distance. It was slowly approaching me, and in a short second, he stood at my feet. Dressed in a black suit with hair all over the place, he stood, staring straight into my eyes as it built uncomfortable tension. I backed away from him, unsure of what was to come next. He grabbed my shoulders and held me in his arms. He held me across the chest and for a moment, I felt peaceful and safe in his arms. Every fiber of my being has grown strange at that thought of being safe in a man's arms, but for the first time in my life, I didn't care.
I had grown weary the next moment, and I regretted doing so. He held a cloth over my mouth and nose, and I could inhale nothing, but the stale scent that was making my vision go vague and my brain to grow weak by the second. It wasn't long until my eyes shut and I was taken to another place.
          I had awoken and found myself standing in the middle of Townsquare with everyone watching me. I was on a stage, my hands tied behind my back and a cloth tied through my mouth and around my head. The bright light above blinded me for the moment I was presented to it. I looked around and saw President Marilyn talking indistinctly into her mouthpiece. There was something thick wrapped around my throat that terrified me to conclude what it was, and the floorboards were quite unstable that mortified of what was going to happen. I felt blood dripping down my face and down my every limb and sharp stinging burn my skin from the deep lashes present on every inch of open skin.
          I looked deep within the audience and recognized the one face that made my heart leap and stop at the same time. Alfred was hiding himself in the crowd and watched me stare right at him with fear trembling in my eyes. I couldn't see anyone else that I would recognize to be a friendly face anymore.
          It wasn't long until President Marilyn stopped talking. I looked down at my feet as she walked across the stage and took her place with the other Government Officials. A pair of shoes that I easily recognized stood in front of mine. I looked up and saw Alfred looking down on me. The rays of the sun were illuminating the shape of his body that made my eyes water, but I dared not look away. He covered my head with a bag, and I heard his gentle footsteps walk away. It wasn't long until I heard the chop of the blade cut through the rope. The noise frightened me like thunder on a clear night. The floorboards underneath me shook, and once I felt the ground beneath me fall, everything went black.
          I awoke and found myself in bed. I don't remember how I got home, or if I did at all. I looked around and saw Caleb sitting in the corner still asleep. I swung my legs off the edge of the bed and sat still, trying to pull together everything that happened in my dream. I pulled myself out from my bed and dragged my feet to the bathroom.
I locked the door behind me and turned the faucet on. I closed the mirror cabinet after taking out my toothbrush and there he was. I saw his reflection behind me staring with his cold, dead eyes that startled me. I turned, but he wasn't there. I looked back into the mirror and there he was. He stretched out his neck and let out a heavy breath that quivered treacherously. He held out his hand, and I could see his fingers tremble as he rested his arm at his side. He took a step forward as if it was painful to do so.
I watched him and his trembling hand get closer to me diligently, but it was different when it touched my shoulder from behind me. I jumped at the strange touch and turned to see him standing there, soaked from the tip of his hair to the end of his toes, and I stared mortified at what he was drenched in. I approached him small step by small step, my arm stretched out and my eyes beginning to tear. My eyes closed when my fingertips touched the surface of his clothes. I let out a quivering gasp as I pulled my arm away.
Alfred looked up at me, his eyes as plain and dead as always. I stared at the blood that stained the tips of my fingers, and the tears began to fall. My breath vanished from my lungs, and I couldn't get it back. I looked back up, and he was gone again.