Lost In Time

Hollow Eyes

I woke up to the sun streaming into my room, hitting my face. I felt awful. If this is what drunkards feel after a night out on the town, I was never picking up a drink, it wasn't worth it. As I rolled over, moaning ridiculously, I felt like death. Rubbing my sore eyes, I noticed it was almost ten in the morning, hours after I usually am up. What a weird feeling. I desperately needed a shower, and coffee. A look in the mirror had me stumbling to the bathroom, determined to shower off the hazy zombie morning look.

As I showered, I thought of last night's dance. Dim and I had so much fun...did he call? I wouldn't have heard the phone in my hazed stupor. And Dracula...it was beyond creepy that he had been there, at the dance. Had he seen Dim? Surely it wasn't Dim's family Dracula had signed that contract with, was it? Walker was a common last name, right? My gut told me differently, but I had no proof of any of it, and I had a feeling that if I asked, Dim wouldn't tell me. I hardly knew anything about him, nor he me. We were two very private people, and though I was no expert in relationships, I didn't think that was great for success. So Dracula had been spying on me, had asked me to dance, had bitten me, forced me to partake of his blood, and escorted me and the giant bear I had cuddled to sleep back to the dorm building. It made no sense...I hopped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my hair and myself, then rushed to find my phone, hidden in the crumpled heap that was my dress. No messages. None. Heart sinking, I plugged it in, and went back to blow dry my hair. But why had Dracula made me drink his blood? Call my name within this next week to settle the debt. Be it anywhere, anytime, I will come to you. Now go rest, my little dove. My little dove. My little dove. The words echoed in my head, again and again. Chills ran down my back as I realized why; the only way he could come to me like he said was if we were Blood-Bound. Connected. I had some of his blood and he had some of mine, just enough to connect us, and for him to hear my call. I sincerely hoped I hadn't had enough of his blood for him to control me, or worse, start the transformation to vampire. My little dove. Why 'my' little dove? Why did he feel like he needed to say that? He had known me for only years...thousands of years.

Scowling in the mirror, I eyed my unblemished neck, hair now frizzy and dry as I plugged in my flat iron. "He better not have some sort of thousand year crush on me...that's too weird." I mumbled to myself, ignoring the nervous cramps in my stomach. I wasn't going to think about it, it was just...no. A few minutes later, I had changed into some comfortable yoga outfit, and stared at my phone. Nothing. No calls. Was something wrong? It had sounded like it was bad last night, but he didn't say anything, yet if it was bad enough, he'd call, right? Oh for heavens sakes.

Huffing, I picked up the phone, and dialed his number, hitting the green button before I could change my mind. It immediately went to voicemail, much to my dismay. "Uh, hey Dim, its Eli...I just wanted to check in, see if you're okay...if you need anything, don't hesitate to call, alright? See you...when I see you, I guess?" I ended the call, staring at the black screen again. Why did I have a bad feeling about all of this?

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By mid-afternoon my nerves were shot. I had done my usual Saturday things, homework, cleaned my room, cleaned the bathroom, dealt with the mice cages, examined my griffin egg for miniscule cracks, read, yoga – all the while listening intently for my ringtone to go off, but it never did. That didn't stop me from checking my messages and notifications every few minutes. Nothing. From anyone. Even the dorm was silent today, but I hadn't ventured out of my room, not even to the kitchen. My stomach was in knots, I couldn't eat anything. That feeling in my gut just got heavier and heavier, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong, if only I knew what. I had had enough. I called Dim one more time and sent him a text message, doing my best not to be like that clingy girl that everyone hates, but received nothing in return. Enough was enough. I changed into jeans and a more modest top than my skimpy sports bra, threw on some tennis shoes, and went to knock on Dim's door.