Deadly Eyes

Feel Something

I don't dream. I don't want to wake up. I don't want to go back to this house where Jonah and Eric are watching me like i'm a ticking time bomb that is about to explode. I don't want to be responsible for my parents death. I don't want this. 

After a long time being asleep i wake up in the same beautiful room, in the same creepy house, on the same quiet street. Sitting up in my bed, I look around the room and notice Jonah is laying in the bed next to me. He looks so peaceful so I let him sleep. 

Crawling out of bed feels like a thousand hammers are smacking against my head and i'm walking on nails. My entire body feels like its on fire and everything I touch is a piece of ash. Somehow, I eventually manage to make it to the kitchen and get a glass of water. Eric's door is open. The slit of light displays on the floor, beckoning me to enter. Slowly, i open the door and step inside. His room looks like something out of a post apocalyptic war film like War of the Worlds. The room contains several large computer screens, books stacked as high as the ceiling, and a countdown displayed on a huge timer on the wall.

The computer screens all display information on different natural disasters that have take place over the last 18 years, like the Haiti earthquake in 2010, Sumatra tsunami in 2004, hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. The countdown is set for thirty-one days, one hour, twenty-six minutes, and twenty seconds. What could be happening in the middle of April?

"The end of the world" Eric walks out of a door that is behind the computer screens. "Eric, i'm so sorry, the door was opens and i thought i would..." i drift off because i'm not really sure why i came in here. Maybe i was hoping to find some answers. "Don't worry Ophelia, but remember... not all those who wander are lost" he gives me a supportive smile and turns off the screen displaying the countdown. Great, he's crazy. I'm living with a lunatic. 

"Ill just go back to my room now..." i start to walk away when he reaches out and grabs my wrist. "Listen Ophelia, I know you have a lot of questions that I cant answer but I do have a story for you." He gestures to a sofa opposite of the one he sits in. Cautiously, i take a seat. 

"A long time ago, while I was away at college, I met this young man. William Cross.. your father. He was cunning, intelligent, and loved by everyone. He also happened to be my room mate. I knew there was something special about your father from the day he first walked into our dorm wearing clown pants and a hoodie that hung down to his knees". Eric sighs and chuckles, obviously looking back at my fathers horrible taste in fashion. "He told me that we were going to be best friends. We were. One day your father started having dreams about this beautiful young woman that had jumped off a cliff to her death. He obsessed over her. I kept telling him that he was just having nightmares, but every night he got a more detailed look into the death of this woman. One day, he found her location and he begged me to come with him to stop this woman from dying. I agreed and we waited for three days in a smelly car at the sight of the cliff for this mystery woman that seemed to be a myth". Eric pulls out a box and sorts through a stack of pictures, pulling out one of a beautiful young lady in her mid twenties. "My mom" I sigh and tears threaten to fall as i stare at the pure innocence in her smile and the life in her eyes. 

"Yes, your mom. One day she came to the edge of the cliff, crying and drunk off her ass. Your father, William, got out of the car and pleaded with her for three hours. He told her that he had seen her in his dreams and he was sent to save her and show her how amazing life could actually be. She eventually listened and came back to the college with us. She told us that her family was dead and she couldn't go home. So, your dad let her stay, illegally, in our dorm room until she could figure out a plan. They fell in love. She lived in a small apartment that your dad helped pay for until he graduated; then they got married." he pulls out another picture of my parents standing together with a priest. "Their wedding was beautiful. Now Ophelia, the fact that your father had dreams of her isn't as much as a coincidence as it seems. Your father had the ability to see the death of people he comes in contact with. He had met your mom before when he was very young and as he got older his connection with her got stronger until he couldn't bear to think of her dead". 

"That's not possible" even though I saw the death of that young boy, it cant be possible. I had never come into contact with him.

"I'm sorry honey but it is possible and you have the same gift.... I know that nightmare last night wasn't a normal nightmare". I look at the ground trying to ignore what I saw the other night with that boy. 

"Now, i know this is a lot to handle... we will discuss this someday but I don't believe that right now is the appropriate time". He stands, but i'm frozen in place by the fear of more nightmares like that one. 

"Goodnight Ophelia" I realize that it is 1:30 a.m and that Eric is heavily sleep deprived. I make my way back to my room. Jonah is on the balcony looking out into the water. 

"Hi" I sit in the chair next to his and face him. 

"Morning grumpy pants" he smiles at me. He is shirtless again. 

"Would it kill you to put on a shirt?" I ask sarcastically. 

"Does this bother you?" he seems genuinely concerned. The doctor must have mentioned the rape wounds i have from an incident a few years ago.

"NO!! You're fine. I don't mean that you're fine... like as in handsome. Which you totally are! I just.... never mind". I start to blush like crazy and look at the ground. 

"Hey! Don't sweat it Lia" I feel the need to tell him not to call me that, but I resist the urge. I kind of like it. He looks me in the eye and for the first time in forever I feel something. I feel something other that hate, sadness, or anger. I feel warm, safe, and happy. Jonah makes me feel a certain way that I cant describe. 

Without thinking, I lean in and plant a soft, short kiss on his lips.

"OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!!" I push away from him and stand far away at the end of the balcony with my back against the railing. 

Jonah seems stunned, but before I can say another thing he is right in front of me with his hands on each side of me, resting on the railing. 

"Ophelia I think you're beautiful" suddenly he is kissing me. Our mouths move in perfect unison for a while before he pulls away and pulls my head into his chest. His heartbeat is the only noise that I hear other than my own ragged breathing. Jonah's grip tightens on me as I start to feel weak. 

"Woah there. Don't want you passing out again". He leads me into the bedroom but I cant help the feeling that he is watching something out in the water. Or maybe something is watching us.