Mountain Love

Chapter 4 - Monday

I could feel a weight on top of me...when I opened my eyes I realised it's the horrifying man with the ski mask and he had his blood smeared knife between his mouth. He was looking at me with lust in his eyes and he was grinning. He was leaning closer to me to cut me even more with the knife. He kept moving closer with the knife and put it against my neck. He took a deep breath in as he cuts me with the knife between his teeth and he pushed himself closer to my body. He whispered in a creaky echoey voice,
"Don't struggle my little sweetheart. It will be all over very soon."

I sat up in bed. I was breathing too fast and I couldn't get myself to control my breathing. I put my hands around my neck to check but there were no marks. I closed my eyes to concentrate on my breathing but the image of his ski mask with the bloody knife kept appearing in front of my eyes. I opened my eyes. I tried to distract myself by looking around to focus on something. I spotted a painting on the wall and tried again to concentrate on my breathing.
After I had managed to calm myself a little, I had some water and then hopped to the bathroom. I splashed my face with some water  and stared at my reflection. Now I wouldn't say I was any sort of beauty but usually I was alright looking. What I saw staring back at me was far from that. I literally looked like a corpse, a corpse who had died and come back to life and died again. My eyes were sunk into my pale face and I had dark circles, dark circles that were making me look like I had two blue eyes. The more I looked at myself, the more I missed home. I don't have any parents anymore nor did I have any relatives. I did have a great and amazing best friend, Charlotte, who might as well be my twin. We were so alike, people actually sometimes thought we were sisters. How I just yearned for her, to hear her tell me to be strong, to be brave. I missed her hug that makes me feel warm. I needed her to tell me everything will be alright.
She knew I went on a trip and that I would be away for a couple of months, as I needed some time off from the city. I had saved up all of my money for this trip, so that I could finally go inside the magnificent castle and explore it. It has been my dream to see the inside of the castle, to see if was as magnificent inside as it was outside. Now I had lost all of my money and was depending on a total stranger for my every need. I decided to count my blessings and be happy that the stranger was Qualeb and went back to bed.

When I tried to sleep, the same disgusting and frightening image kept creeping in front of my eyes. I tried to think of other things but nothing worked. I got so frustrated, I started to cry. After a while, I realised my cries had become sobs and that I might wake up Qualeb. I tried to calm myself again by looking at the painting. It was a beautiful painting of the castle, even though it was a different angle from the one that I was trying to capture.
I couldn't make myself get back to sleep and it wasn't even midnight yet. So I decided to read the book that Qualeb had given me for a little while.

When I looked up at the time, I realised it was morning. I got ready really quickly and somehow managed to hop downstairs before Qualeb could carry me down again. Even if it was a pleasant and warm feeling to be held by him, I needed to think of him. I still haven't had the courage to ask him about the bandages he wore but I remember the conversation he had with the doctor. The doctor told him not to strain and even if I was considered a petite, I didn't think that carrying me around was going to help his burn scars from getting better.
I had just finished making the scrambled eggs and some toast when I saw his reflection in the window. He was wearing a red and black checkered flannel shirt that highlighted his lean and toned torso. I had the sudden need and urge to be held by him again so I quickly turned and moved back to sit at the kitchen stool, so that I had something to hold on to. I always felt lonely and cold and having Qualeb hold me gave me the sense of security and safeness that I always longed.
Qualeb cautiously moved closer to the table.
"You should have waited for me or you should have woken me up."
I was startled at his tone. He sounded angry and I really wasn't sure why. "I'm sorry I went through your kitchen stuff.. I just wanted to have breakfast ready when you came down."