As Told By Nerdy

Chapter 18 - Omen

"I don't understand how I can know so little about love and how it works. How I can be so bad at it when it's all I've ever wanted.
All I've ever known is about leaving or being left."
— Carrie Ryan (The Dark and Hollow Places)

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Chapter 18 – Omen

I was running. Running without a stop, with nowhere to go. The darkness did not frighten me. I was more afraid of what lurked behind me; following my trail with a heavy disgruntled breathing. My feet became sluggish in a slow motion as though I was in a movie being paused frame by frame. I glanced back. My attacker soon came into view, his livid features fixed in a snarl.

A pair of gnarled hands clawed on my shoulder with a grip so violent as though to rip me apart.

Help! I mouthed but no words came. My clothes were being torn piece by piece when a pair of furious hands sprouted from behind my attacker, fingers raking through his beady eyes, before he was hurled out into the gnashing darkness. The monster vanished.

And there he stood — my savior, still wearing all that fury over his delicate features, which diminished almost instantaneously as he glanced fondly at me, almost as if he were afraid.

I reached out my hand for him but he too was swallowed by the darkness. I screamed his name over and over with the tears freely flowing, as I ran aimlessly in a frantic attempt to search for him through the pitch black sea. But I couldn’t find him. So I kept running and running without end.

The warm rays that passed through the window touched my face. I bent forward almost robotically, leaning on the bed frame for some support.

It was just a dream.

My head hurt like hell. It must’ve have been the wearing effects of the sedatives. I ran my hand on my temples and found a huge bump, like a golf ball split into two with the other half glued onto my scalp. I palpated it impulsively.

“Ow…” I winced at the pain that started to throb violently.

My scalp stung all over where the tall man in the trench coat had yanked a clump of my hair. It felt like my head was burning. There were tender soft purple-bluish marks on my arms and for all I knew I could have turned into a zebra with blue stripes.

A wave of lightheadedness gushed when I tried to stand up, but I did anyway, groping on the dresser, then to the study chair to keep my balance, cursing under my breath as I did. As if I needed this. As if my coordination wasn’t horrible enough to keep my left foot for tripping on my right in a perfectly good day.

Buzz!

The sound of something vibrating against hard wood knocked the wind out of me. The buzzing sound reverberated three times, then I saw it. The phone Leon gave me was on my side table, skidding to a slight angle as it vibrated in regular intervals.

I wobbled to it and grabbed the mobile phone with trembling hands that I almost dropped it on the floor. I fumbled with the buttons but found none then tried swiping my hand furiously on the screen.

Ugh.

It was a touch-screen phone for god’s sake. It occurred to me how I sometimes I hate technology which was ironic for a nerd, I know.

“Hello…” I placed it on my ear, without looking at the caller I.D.

“Sarah!” Leon’s voice was urgent but I felt a gush of relief in my chest. “Sarah, Sarah…” He sounded frantic then kept silent for a few seconds.