My Soul to Steal (Preface)

Chapter 3: The Room

In the motel room, Lee laid out our IDs, cash, and cell phones on the table.  She looked at me, concern in her eyes, "Now, all we need is more cash."

I bit my lip, speaking for the first time that day "I wish we had thought more about this part of the plan." My voice broke, and irrational tears welled up behind my eyes. My tears were not tears of sadness—not really. It was as if my body was releasing something that had slowly been building up inside me. Lee gathered me into her arms and we stood there, crying together. The realness of what we had done sunk in, at that moment, and I melted into Lee's arms as I always did.

"We'll be okay." She whispered in my ear. And I believed her. 

An hour later, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, my dark head of spirals hung limp down my body—dripping water onto the tiled floor. A white towel was wound tightly around my body, I clutched it to myself firmly as if someone were threatening to pull it away from me. I looked at myself in the mirror, unable to fully recognize who was standing there. Running away—it had always been a plan that never actually took place; a safe haven in my mind where I would go to from time to time and pretend I was in this exact position. Now that I was here, I had never been so scared in my life. I dropped my towel and stared at my naked body. I imagined that my skin was a neat, even shade of brown—the shade of the sand in the beaches I used to visit with my mother as a child; a shade that was warm and supple. Instead, my skin was decorated in various dark scars; a mosaic of wretched memories.

Suddenly, there was movement in the corner of my eye. I couldn't quite make out what it could have been. Something had shifted. I stared at the shower. The thin shower curtains were half open, exactly as I had left it. Then I saw it. Something was there. It was difficult to make out, but behind the curtains was a shadow. It was sitting in the bathtub. It's limbs were gangly and inhumanly long. It seemed startled when I turned to stare at it. I heard it's breath catch. The thing's arms suddenly flailed away from its body and grabbed onto either side of the tub, using it as leverage to stand up. It's body stretched behind the curtain, to an unreasonably long length. The scream that had been encased in my lungs almost escaped in one puff, but I held it in. The thing stood behind the curtains, almost hesitant to reveal itself. The things that haunted me would always find me at the oddest of times. Sometimes the creatures were human-like, sometimes they were atrocious looking things that looked as if they had crawled out of the darkest pits of hell. 

"What are you?" I demanded. My voice shook with fear.

The creature let out an inhuman shrill and gathered into itself, disappearing beneath the tub. After a few seconds, I slowly approached the tub; my heart thumping so hard that I couldn't hear anything but my rapid heartbeat in my ears.  I whipped open the shower curtains, and revealed an empty tub--sparkling with water beads from my recent shower. I let out a sigh of relief. 

 "Natasha?" Lee's cool voice came from the bedroom. She knocked on the door, "You okay?" 

"Just drying up." I croaked. I squeezed my eyes shut and stared at the tub for several more minutes, waiting for the thing to return. It didn't.

When I left the bathroom, there was a note on the bed.

Left to get us some grub, I'll be back soon! –Lee

I stared at the note for a while before crumpling it and chucking it into the garbage. I melted into the bed and closed my eyes. The stark events of the day weighed heavy on my shoulders, and I fell asleep not long after my head hit the pillow. 

I woke up in a dim-lit room. The room was bare apart from a bulb that hung precariously on the ceiling, dimly lighting its scarce surroundings. Instinctively, I searched for a door, but there was none. The walls seemed to be slicked down by something. I reached out and touched it with my fingers, it was like a thick oil that had become condensed.

"It's for protection." Someone had appeared in the room with me; his voice was deep and toneless. I recognized him right away, almost subconsciously, and yet I could not describe where I knew him from. "There are many creatures who watch you." He smiled, but it was not a pleasant smile. His teeth seemed to be shaved down—just slightly—into pointy incisors. There was a fondness in his eyes, as if he knew me well. I backed away from him and hit a wall, the oil-like substance that slicked the walls moved away from me as if I repelled it. The man suddenly appeared in front of me and pulled me away from the walls, and into him. His eyes were black—like an abyss. As I looked into his eyes a numb feeling enveloped my body and I couldn't look away. He pushed me lightly away from him, towards the middle of the room. "You must stay away from the walls, they are our only protection from those who are looking for you."

I felt like my voice was being trapped in my throat. I knew I had to be dreaming, but I had never experienced a dream so vivid and real. The strange smoothness of the man's hands on my arm had felt so real as he had pulled me into him. I had even felt his cool breath on my face as we were inches away from each other. Something was off, though. Before he had grabbed my arms I already knew that his hands would feel strangely smooth, and his grasp would be strong. I knew that his breath would be cool and comforting on my face. I knew of those dark eyes that stared at me now. "Who are you?" I gasped, "Where am I?"

"You can trust me." He said. His eyes, that were darker than the night, stared at me intently. 

"Is this real?" I asked, yet too scared to know the answer.

The man wearing all black seemed to consider the question for a moment, "Yes, and no." He said. The corner of his lips twitched slightly, as if containing a smile. He knew he was giving me frustrating answers to my questions.

"Why am I here?" I asked, "and why does it feel like I've been here before." I looked down at myself, and realized that I was wearing my PJs; a pair of shorts and a tank top with a plunging neckline. I hugged my shoulders to cover my bust. 

"I cannot answer your questions." He shoved something in my hand, "But, you can expect to see me soon." He placed a cool hand on my forehead and I sunk into the floor. 

A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying my story so far :) let me know any suggestions in the comments!!