The Curse of Adelaide

SEVEN

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"What?!" the children exclaimed.

"She only imagined it?"

"So Philip isn't real?"

All four of them were confused. They didn't expect the story to turn out like this.

"What did I say?" the man reminded his children.

"To be quiet and not to interrupt you," they mumbled. The man nodded and looked at them for a moment before continuing with his story.

"Adelaide was confused. She couldn't believe that she had just imagined everything. Once she had recovered enough to leave the house again, she decided to look for the clearing she had dreamed of..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost a week had passed since I had woken up. I had spent most of my time in the house, Aunt Kara didn't want to risk me getting sick again.

I hadn't been sleeping a lot lately. Ever since I had woken up that day, my dreams had turned into nightmares. I kept dreaming about this strange man, who stood above me with a hateful look in his eyes.

And every time, just moments before I would wake up, I would hear his hoarse voice.

'You shall have a happy life, sweet little Briar Rose, but it won't last long.'

I didn't understand why he would call me 'Briar Rose'. I had never heard this name before in my entire life. At first I thought that maybe he wasn't talking to me, but to someone else. But as those nightmares kept haunting me night after night, I realized that those words were meant for none other than me.

But not all dreams I had were about him. In some of them I was in this clearing in the middle of the forest, a young man sitting next to me. His hair had the color of the hazelnuts Aunt Melody and I would go picking in the fall. And his eyes, they reminded me of the grass that would sprout in the spring.

Every time I would look at them, a feeling of safety would overcome me. It felt like nothing and no one could hurt me as long as he was there with me. But just like it was with the nightmares, I would wake up eventually and realize that it was all just a dream.

This man wasn't real; he was the product of my imagination. Just a dream.

"Adelaide, where are you going?"

I turned around as I pulled a brown cape over my head. Aunt Kara stood in front of me, a scrutinizing look in her eyes.

"Aunt Kara," I greeted her with a smile. "I was going to take a walk. It is such a beautiful day outside."

"How are you feeling?" she asked while stepping closer, the back of her hand touching my forehead.

"Good, as you can see the fever hasn't returned," I said.

"No, it hasn't." She let out a sigh and removed her hand. "Alright, you can take a walk."

My mouth formed into a smile. For a moment I almost believed she would allow me to go.

"But you have to be back in an hour."

"Thank you, Aunt Kara, I will be soon. I promise," I said. Kissing her cheek, I turned around and opened the door.

"And Adelaide?"

I looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Yes?"

"Don't go too far away from the house," she said.