What If?

Only Dreaming?

“Cassandra, you’re not listening.”

            “No! You’re not listening! I know that you need to stay here! Don’t you understand that he wants to hurt you? I know that he seems to be nice and welcoming on the outside, but he’s not!” Cassandra practically cried out to me. She was opposed to me leaving the orphanage; this time I was afraid that she was going to chain me to the bed.

            “Listen, Cassandra. This man claims that he wants to adopt me, aren’t you happy that I get to leave? I get to explore the world, see new things. You know I’ll return,” said I with a soft smile.

            She looked up at me with those deep green eyes. How could she understand? She was just afraid of losing her best friend. Maybe even her only friend.

            “…Promise you will come back?” Cassandra asked in a soft whisper.

            I couldn’t help but to smile even brighter at the little eight year old staring up at me. “Of course I promise. I, Rubillia Jessica Silveri, solemnly swear to return to this orphanage every single day.”

            Cassandra broke into that goofy grin I had come to love then finally let me pass with my bags in hand. After exiting the room, I slowly walked down the steps to the man who was claiming him as his own. The man did look like me in a way. He had the same blue eyes, and I suppose the same hair color. His blonde was paler than mine though. He watched me with a careful eye as I smiled brightly at him.

            My smile was only returned with a look of both hatred, curiosity, and a hint of slight fear. I know that I shouldn’t have smiled at the look that was being delivered to me, but it was hard not to smile when someone was claiming to be my father. My supposed father did nothing to say thank you to the owners of the orphanage. Instead, he took my bags and left with me only a few steps behind. As soon as we were both in the car, he drove off.

            “Your name is Ruby, correct?” He asked after a few silent minutes.

            “Yes, sir, that is what people prefer to call me.” I answer.

            He glanced over at me, quickly looking to the road again. “I see,” he paused. “I will call you by your full name, Rubillia. As for me, I wish you to call me Cameron.”

            I smiled with a nod. “Of course, Cameron.”

            Once again he looked at me, but this timed groaned slightly. “Why must you smile so much? Doesn’t your face begin to hurt?” He growled out.

Not even a second later his eyes were wide with slight terror as I began to laugh.

            “No, of course it doesn’t!” I manage to giggle out. I turn to look at him, my eyebrows furrowed. “Cameron, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost. What has spooked you?” I asked with worry in my voice.

            He looked over to me. Fear began to creep into my own eyes at his look. This was awarded by that grin that you would imagine a monster giving you at the dead of night. In that exact moment, I hadn’t realized that we were in his driveway. We just sat there, looking at each other with fear in our eyes, but smiles on our faces. “Oh my dear Rubillia, this is going to be quite the evening for both of us,” Cameron whispered before stepping out of the car, retrieving my bags, and walking up to the house.

            When we entered the household, he set the bags by the door. I carefully absorbed my surroundings as he did so. The house looked to be abandoned. The only sign of actual residence was the dining room. The table had a white cloth on it with a bouquet of red roses on the edge. The table was set for two, with the meal already on the table. Somehow, the food was still fresh and steaming.

            Cameron led me to one of the empty seats before taking his own. We looked at each other as we both sat at the same time. “Tell me, Rubillia. What terrifies you most in this world?”

            Silence was what was given. A pure minute of silence rang out before I answered his question. “I suppose nothing, Cameron; the world is full of too much beauty for me to be afraid of it.”

            “I will not accept that answer. There has to be something that you are scared of.” He growled out.

            “No. In all my fourteen years I have overcame every fear that tried to attack me. That is why I see no need to be afraid.”

            I sat there staring at my father and watched as the fear in his eyes crept to engulf his whole vision.

            “So… It is true,” he whispered. “You truly fear nothing until you see yourself in the reflection of your own eyes…”

            “Excuse me?” I whisper back.

            He slowly rose from his chair, walked over to me, and kneeled beside my chair. “Why must you truly be mine? I see myself when I look into your eyes, and all I see is my own fear. People told me my downfall would be in my child’s hands. But I never suspected it to be true,” he sighed, and pulled out a knife from his pocket.

            My eyes went wide as I pushed the chair out. “Cameron? What are you talking about?” I asked quickly. My feet slowly moved me away from him, and would have led me out if the door had not closed on itself. This caused me to jump slightly.

            Cameron smiled. “So…You are afraid. You are scared in this moment. Good. You should be,” he whispered with a laugh. “The confusion is supposed to be in your mind, Rubillia. It makes it more fun to kill you.”

            “What are you talking about?!” I shouted in my panic.

            “I can’t be destroyed, my dear daughter. There needs to be fear in this world. Don’t you see? I’m Fear!” He laughed out as he lunged at me.

With a yelp, I moved away just in time to dodge his blow. I took the time for him to recover to run towards the door. I was sadly not fast enough. I could feel his cold touch grab me by my neck. He had pulled me closer, ready to strike the last blow, when I kicked him away. My heart beat rose enormously as I ran out the door. His diabolical laughter filled the air while I watched the scenery change. The forest slowly faded away to show all my friends at the orphanage being killed…

 What got me screaming was when Cassandra was brought up. Cameron was the one killing her.

“Time to wake up, Rubillia,” he laughed at me.

That was when Cassandra’s head was separated from her body. All I can remember was trying to get to her, pulling against the chains that had come to bound me. My screams had filled the air, but were soon replaced with Cassandra’s voice.

“Ruby! Ruby! Wake up!” She shouted.

My eyes snapped open to look up at her. “Cassandra!” I cried out, hugging her. My tears were still falling down my face as I hugged her to me. The only thing she did was hug me back. “It was all a dream…” I remember crying out.