SEALs

Chapter Seven

I woke with a start; my eyes open wide and staring up at the hotel room ceiling. My chest heaved as I fought to catch my breath. It was like my lungs weren't working and I coughed for a moment before finally gaining control of my body. I let out the breath that had been stuck in my chest and fell back against the pillows in relief.

Wiping my hand across my face, I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut. The dreams I had had throughout the night were more like nightmares. Although the scenario's changed, it always ended with the same morbid conclusion. Such as the very last dream that I had had. It had been so terrifying that it woke me from a deep sleep.

I was standing in the middle of the desert, no civilization in sight. Only the sun, the endless sky, the red dunes and the soaring vultures kept me company. I felt oddly vulnerable in this barren place, like the ugly birds would fly down and pick the skin from my bones in one swoop. Even though the sun was shining brightly above, I was not sweating or hot at all.

There was a gust of cool breeze that brought some sort of calm over me. I felt comfortable in my jeans and t-shirt. I wasn't even wearing any shoes! I was suddenly completely at ease, even though I was alone and had no idea where I was. How could I feel so relaxed at a time like this?

Suddenly, I heard a soft giggle from behind me. I spun around and gaped at what I saw. Ali was smiling up at me from her place in the sand. She sat cross-legged, with her hands gripping her ankles and rocking back and forth like a child. Her long brown hair was completely perfect, as were the blue pajamas she was wearing. There was not a speck on red sand on her even though she was sitting in mountains of it.

"Ali!" I gasped. "You're alive!" Hadn't she died in that car bomb that had gone off only minutes before I showed up in this desolate place?

She laughed, the sound like bells, before smiling widely at me. As she giggled her hand came up and she crooked a finger at me, beckoning me closer. Of course I couldn't resist and I was hesitantly stepping towards her within seconds. She snickered behind her hand and batted her long eyelashes at me, ending it all with a flirtatious wink. I was hooked already. She was wheeling me in like a fish caught on the end of a line. I just didn't have the power to resist her.

I was halfway to standing in front of her when her sultry looks vanished and her face became blank. I stared with confusion at her wide brown eyes as she looked back at me with that vacant expression. It was almost like she wasn't even looking at me. It was like she was looking through me. I felt afraid and suddenly worried about her mental stability. I pushed myself forward to reach her faster…and that's when she started to scream.

The silence of the desert was filled with her high pitched, blood curdling scream that rang in my ears. The force of her voice had surprised me so much that I fell backwards into the sand. Coughing and spluttering the red dust, I sat up and shook my head to focus again. Her screaming was still going on and it took me a moment to find myself and look up. The sight before me was horrifying.

The ground where she had been sitting had turned into a huge black hole in the sand and was now proceeding to destroy everything in its path. I suddenly realized Ali's screams had turned into pleas for help. I could just see her fingers grabbing frantically at the sand for something to hold on to and the top of her head as she fought to stay above ground.

Jumping to my feet, I raced towards her as fast as my legs could carry me, my heart beating loudly in my ears. But the sand was slowly me down and I was finally breaking out into a sweat as I struggled to reach her. I was only a few feet from her so I was able to get on to my hands and knees to crawl quickly to where she was holding on.

"Andrew!" she screamed and my heart thumped faster in fright. She continued to repeat my name over and over again until I could reach out and grab her wrist. Her fingers automatically wrapped around my own wrist and I felt her weight pulling at my arm. I bit my lip at the pain that suddenly showed up in my shoulder as she held on for dear life.