Wildest Dreams

Chapter 29

tw// violence, drug use, kidnapping, temporary character death

I put my book onto the side table and turn off the lamp, wincing slightly at how hot the halogen light bulb made the metal.

I walk back to my bedroom feeling much more relaxed and ready to go to sleep. As I snuggle underneath the covers of my bed, I remember that I left my mug of tea in the living room.

Surprisingly, I am able to clear the thought from my mind when usually I wouldn't be able to relax until I had cleaned it up. Odd.

I close my eyes and breathe in the scent of my pillow again, but this time it is different. It doesn't only smell like a mix of my shampoo, body wash, and slight morning breath, but something sweet and floral as well. I smile as I inhale the intoxicating scent and it lulls me to sleep.

I look around the cottage and I am filled with joy that I am back at the home, but I notice that some furniture and decorations are slightly out of place.

I reach up to straighten out the picture frames and I detangle the curtains. As I push the last chair under the kitchen table, I feel a pair of arms snake around my middle. A grin splits my face and I lean into her touch.

"I missed you, Spencie", she says. Her voice is slightly deeper, and it has an edge of sarcasm that I don't think I have ever heard from her before.

"I missed you too, Y/n", I say as I turn around in her arms.

When I face her, something feels off. Her hair is blonde, her eyelashes and eyebrows are dark, she has bright green eyes and her lipstick is the wrong shade.

"Y/n?", I ask, confused.

"No silly", she giggles. "It's Leora, remember?"

"What are you doing here? Y/n and I live here together."

"What are you talking about? This is our house", she says, pointing to the picture frame straightened out. It is a painting of the two of us in the flower field at sunset, although I was never there with her.

"Where's Y/n?", I ask again.

"Are you sure you want to see her?", she counters, a dark tone to her voice.

"Yes. Bring me to her now", I say.

She takes me by the hand and leads me out of the cottage and around the side. We stop in front of two large cellar doors and I turn to her, brows furrowed.

She doesn't answer my implied question, instead, she motions for me to unlatch and open the doors. I do, only to get to Y/n quicker.

She steps carefully down the steep stairs, but I am not so cautious behind her. I stumble slightly over my own feet, but luckily the railing is there to catch me.

When we reach the bottom, I look into a room that is much smaller than I expected. It looks more like the size of a shed.

I recognize this place. I've been here before.

I look to my left and see Y/n laying limp, strapped to a chair with leather bounds and a large, bloody gash on the side of her head. Used needles litter the floor and multiple empty syringes sit on the metal tray beside her chair.

"Y/n!", I yell. Her left eyelid cracks open, but she is very confused. The light above her must be too bright on her eyes and I guess that she has a concussion from whatever Leora did to her.

The blonde woman prepares a new syringe, filling it up with a small glass vile. She holds her forearm down and inserts the needle into her vein. Y/n's head lolls forward and hangs limp as it did when I entered the room.

"What did you do to her?", I ask.

"She was in our way. She kept trying to ruin our love story", she says.

"No, she wasn't."

She stands on her toes so she can press a kiss to my cheek, and as much as I don't want to allow her, I am unable to move my arms to push her off. Her hot breath smells like stale cigarettes and something sour that I am unable to identify.

"Take me somewhere we can be alone", she whispers into my ear. "Somewhere far away from here. We can get married, have kids, finally live the life we are meant to."

I regain control of my body and I push her off of me. She stumbles back against the wall and hits her head on the various tools that hang. While she is recovering, I am able to free Y/n from her bounds but she is in no condition to walk. I scoop her into my arms and run up the stairs we came down.

I push open the heavy cellar doors with my free hand, but when I make it outside, my stomach drops. The picturesque sunset has been replaced by thunder and lightning. The flower field that we used to run through has been torn apart by a tornado that I can see in the distance.

Y/n tries to say something to me, but I cannot decipher her gasps over the sound of the wind whipping through the trees. I lay her down in the wet grass and lean her against the stone on the side of the cottage. I keep her head upright by cupping her cheek and a slight smile forms on her lips.

Two clammy hands wrap around my forearm and aggressively spin me around. I find myself staring back at Leora, her eyes are cold, but the blade she has pressed against my throat is far colder.

"I thought you loved me, Spence", she faux-pouts.

"I never told you that. I love Y/n", I spit.

The knife presses harder against my neck, and as I swallow, the sharp edge bites the skin covering my Adam's apple.

"If you love me, then why are you doing this? You ruined our chances", I try to reason with her.

"Darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream", she grins.

In a flash, she pulls the knife away from me and throws it towards Y/n. I try to dive in front of the flying weapon, but I am not fast enough. I can't bring myself to look back at her, but the splatter of blood that dots Leora's sundress is enough of an answer.

"Why didn't you kill me instead?", I ask, my eyes burning.

"I hate to make this about me, but who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do if there is no you", she says as she stalks forward, taking my chin into her hand.