The Darkness of The Light

Dreams

 I can hear kids playing outside, their chirping voices bring a small taste of joy to my heart. They sound young, probably around the age I was before my youth was taken from me. I smile as a splash of color fills my mind for the first time in what feels like an eternity. A flashback to the coloring book that I made when I was five flashes into my thoughts, its title in sloppily done crayon: Colors are Fun by Sarah Brooks. I feel a tear slowly slip down my face, turning cold in the dank air. 

Over the pounding of emotions in my head, I hear a phone conversation through the wall, "Hello?" The voice I'm used to answers calmly. "Oh yes, her. She's still here." I hear him sigh nonchalantly. "Really? Yes... That's why I brought her here. Well, because of her age, she'll be pretty expensive." That word rings through my head, 'expensive'. The reality of why I was brought here finally strikes me. He's auctioning me off. He hangs up and walks away, leaving a silence filled with almost palpable tension. I close my eyes and try to wrap my mind around it all.

I'm outside, walking. I can see the sun's golden rays, and feel their warmth. There's a man before me, but I can't make out his face. A voice rings out , but I can't quite understand it. Suddenly, the sunshine becomes an ocean, water coming at me from every direction, and the man morphs into the hooded figure from my past. The dream does what all my dreams do: Turns to a nightmare. He stretches his hand out to me, spinning me into a show of fantastic color, before it all melts away. I then find myself in a man's arms, safe and warm. The life I've been forced to live, only barely being able to hold myself up under the crippling weight on my shoulders, even the darkness, becomes but a distant memory. I feel content. I turn my face up to his, pull down his hood, and- I wake up, nearly frozen from shock, a cold sweat pouring down my face. 

"Meet me here tomorrow." I hear through the wall, quiet but determined,  "And she'll be ready." This time, it's different. He doesn't sound like normal. Not his usual unwavering steadiness. He almost sounds worried. The house falls into silence again, the call having ended. I shift in my spot and drift back into a dream, desperate to escape my ever-present danger. It begins the same, sunshine, man, warmth, but this time, after it becomes cold, I'm alone. I feel myself crying, and a soft hand wipes away my tears. The same man stands before me. The hood isn't there this time, and a faceless figure kneels in front of me, face to face, gently helping me to my feet. Suddenly, a warmth surrounds me as he pulls my still shaking body into his embrace. He then squeezes me with an intensity one could only compare to a snake trying to strangle its prey. I gasp for breath and my dream world suddenly swallows me like waves overwhelming someone trying to swim. I'm drowning, and no one can hear my cries for help. It feels like there is a weight chained to my foot, pulling me down into the depths below. Just as my dream world disappears, I'm woken up by a crash and a burst of light. Someone runs into the room I'm in, and yanks me up.  I'm pulled out of my head and into the real world.