Wish I May, Wish I Might

Chapter 16

I woke up to warm sunlight and my dog panting in my face. When I opened my eyes, Annie wagged her tail, which I only knew because I could feel it on my leg through the blanket, and started licking me.

"Hey, girl," I said, my voice cracking with hoarseness. Then I paused and noticed I was tucked into a bed I didn't remember ever getting into. Not only that, but it was a bed that I had never been in a room I had never been in. It looked to be an old, handmade wooden shack. The room was small, containing only the bed and a desk made of the same kind of wood. The frame of the bed was the same, but the blankets seemed new. I tried to remember getting here, but the last thing I remembered was getting out of the truck with Annabelle.

I remembered the female voice that had spoken right behind my shoulder and wrapped the top blanket around my shoulders. But Annie didn't seem worried, and just jumped off and walked out of the room.

And who am I, mere mortal that I am, to question the wisdom of a dog?

"Annabelle?" I asked into the air.

"In here!" she called back from an adjacent room. I followed the voice into a small kitchen. Annabelle was standing in front of an old white gas stove. Three pans with various things were sizzling and I felt my stomach twist. "Morning, sunshine," she said and I nodded slightly before gingerly sitting down in one of the chairs surrounding a beaten-down table, half-expecting the chair to break the second I put my weight on it.

"Hi?" I said, then rubbed my face with my hands. "What are you doing?"

"Cooking lunch, obviously."

I blinked at her. "We already had lunch."

Annabelle shook her head. "No, we had lunch together two days ago."

"What?"

"You've been asleep for two days."

Two days? "Oh," I said quietly. "Can I ask another question?"

"Yeah, go for it."

"Where are we?"

Annabelle chuckled and put something onto a plate. "Valleytown. It was established in 1843, abandoned in 1934, and was bought by us two days ago. Well, technically, it's under my name. I would have asked you if you wanted to have your name on the contract, but you were passed out in the backseat and the guy was staring at me like I was tricking him already and I just wanted him to leave. Do you feel better?"

"You bought a town?" I asked, still feeling behind.

"Yup. Welcome home. Have a bowl of soup." She placed a steaming bowl on the table in front of me with a spoon in her other hand.

As great as the soup tasted, the constant twisting in my stomach made me feel as if I was going to vomit as I ate it.

"I went back to the warehouse," Annabelle said, breaking the silence in the little house. The spoon fell from my hand and clattered on the table.

"Alone?" I said, my voice cracking pathetically.

Annabelle raised an eyebrow, which had been perfectly sculpted in makeup, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. "I can protect myself, you know. I can do the same things you can."

"But I..." my voice trailed off. "Okay. What happened?"

She shrugged. "There wasn't anyone there. I know you don't want to hear that, but it's the truth."

"I heard someone, I know I did!" I protested, wondering if the breaking in my voice was because I didn't believe her or because I was so desperate for her to believe me.