Looking For Now↣l.h

5. Just A Smile

Chapter Five

I descend the stairs two at a time down from my dorm on the third floor. I can't help the smile on my face as I approach the door to Starbucks. I can see the back of Elias's head as he looks at the menu. I already know he is going to get a tall medium roast with two Splenda, since he gets it every time, but each time he stills seems to want to look the menu over before ordering.

I decide I'll sneak up behind him, and surprise him. He doesn't know I'm here yet, and I haven't seen him in two weeks. I'm sure he'll be overjoyed to see me again. I know I cannot wait to see him. To hold him close and embrace him. To hear his deep voice in person.

I open the door, and try to keep my footsteps quiet as I near him. The Starbucks is very busy, so I doubt he'll notice that I'm coming towards him.

I am right behind him and I reach to lightly tap his shoulder.

He grabs my wrist before I touch him and holds it tightly. My heart races, and my breath hitches. He whirls around, and his eyes are... they are black. Pitch black. All of the normal crystal blue has disappeared.

"Hello, love. Have you missed me?" He whispers in a voice that does not belong to the Elias I know. He chuckles darkly before raising his free arm.

I stand frozen as his fist flies towards me. I'm helpless, there is nothing to do. None of my body is listening as my mind screams at me to move, to run, to fight back, to do anything.

I jolt straight up in my bed and clasp my hand over my mouth, so I don't lead out a scream. I wait for my breathing to slow down at least a little bit and let my hand drop don't to my side. My chest heaves as my irregular breathing continues.

Of course that isn't what really happened that morning when we met to get coffee. We had a great time actually. This is the first time one of my dreams has distorted a memory. Normally, I dream in vibrant colors of how we were before he started abusing me. This time it mixed one of those times with another. It felt too real, and I can feel the pain that would have come if it had been reality.

I take a deep breath and hold it for forty-seven seconds before breathing again. Now my breaths come normally, and my heart race has slowed ever so slightly. I begin to tremble as I try to clear the scene from my mind.

I can't do it. All I can see are those unfamiliar pitch black eyes staring at me, as I stand there and wait for the pain that never comes.

I slip off of my bed and my feet tingle as they pad across a patch of floor where the carpet has worn out and cold cement is exposed. I peel off the t-shirt I wore to bed, and throw my sweat shirt on.

Every where I look in the small room I see his face. I cannot escape him. I tip-toe over to my door and tap as lightly on it. No one answers. Where is Walter?

I turn around and lean my back against the door wishing I could get out of the room. I close my eyes and count my breaths.

"Hello, love. Have you missed me? Have you missed me? Have you missed me?"

The raspy voice from my dream invades my mind and begins to echo in my head. My eyes snap open, and it stops. I am loosing it. I really am.

I push off of the door and try desperate to twist the knob. I nearly topple to the ground when I am completely surprised by the door flying open. Walter forgot to lock me in, why didn't I try this earlier? I make sure to shut the door behind me, so maybe Walter won't realize I snuck out.

Dim light illuminates the grey hallways and I blink a few times before looking left and right to see if there is anyone else in the hallway. I don't see anyone, but then again, the hallway I stay in is fairly short and I do not think there are any other rooms in it. I decide to take a right; the way I would normally take to get to the cafeteria. I take a few turns that I have never taken before, and I come across a sign that says "Do not enter." Of course, I do.