1.6

"Madam," a voice disturbed my slumber. In the dream I was surrounded by so much love, I never wanted to leave.

Still, the voice persisted outside, interrupting the game of hide and seek with the kind woman I called "mammy."

"Madam, your dinner will go cold," the voice continued, pulling me completely from the fun game in the big old house.

Madam was how the servants address the mother in the dream.

But the voice was calling me madam.

Lashes fluttering, I spotted cold, glassy blue eyes looking down at me.

Screaming, I scattered to the other side of the bed.

Banks raised his hands in a submissive posture, "Madam, are you alright?"

"Y-yes," I recalled my existence, at least my current one, in this damn world.

"Dinner is served in the dining room," he took a step back, gesturing to the door.

Wearing slippers that were too large for my feet, probably belonging to Eric, I followed Banks to the dining room and found my appetite was actually quite large.

Before sleeping, I hadn't even bothered looking at the sweet treats on the tray. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the corpse of the killer and only felt nauseous.

Even now, the image still lingered in my mind, haunting me, but it wasn't enough to silence the protest of my stomach.

After the meal, I began to wander the ground floor of the house in a stupor.

The sun had long set, so everywhere was dark and somewhat gloomy.

Whilst perching on the edge of Eric's desk, holding a photograph that had me in disbelief, the door burst open to show a familiar face.

"Daddy?" I almost dropped the photo frame.

"Anna," he looked me up and down and frowned. I was still wearing Eric's clothes.

"Come on, I'm here to bring you home," he beckoned, turning back towards the door.

"Home?" I gripped the frame tighter. The orphanage was in the background, with my favorite Nun and a small group of children. One of which was Eric. He looked around eight years old.

"This is my home now, Dad," I cleared my throat and finally set the frame down, "I married Eric yesterday."

"I admire your commitment to your role," System irritatingly teased.

"Anna?" He spun on his heels and I realized that his face was more haggard with time and a rough life than the one I had seen in my mind earlier. "Why?"

Clearing my throat I tried to straighten my spine and channeled my real emotions towards my Eric, "Because I love him, Daddy."

He blinked rapidly for a moment, then took a few steps towards me. At the open door, I sensed something bad. Something familiar.

Glancing over his shoulder, I spotted a tall, dark shadow. An entity just like the three that followed Charlie.

"You child," he shook his head and gripped my arm, "not so long ago you were telling me you loved Seth, where did this Eric come from?"

Feeling frustrated at this Dianna's unknown history, I could only do my best to work with the limited information.

"Seth cheated on me, I don't want to talk about him," I pouted.

"What?" His grip on my arm was painfully tight, why did everybody here like touching me so much?

"I'm happy now Daddy," I tried to reassure him. This paternal love was unfamiliar and awkward.

"Is he good to you?" He asked nervously.

"Of course he is," I nodded eagerly.

"But he's..." he frowned, looking at the desk behind me and the picture I had just been holding, then let out a sigh, "do you know him well?"

"I am his wife, Dad," I laughed softly, "you think I would marry a stranger? Is that what you think of your daughter?"

His grip finally eased, "no, no, I did not mean that," he seemed defensive.

Eventually, he spoke again, "his background, are you familiar with his background?"

According to the photograph, I'd just studied, Eric's history was similar to my Eric's.

"Yes, I do."

For some reason, he seemed disappointed in me. Eric seemed to have made a good bit of money, but this Dianna's background was of a rich young miss. Was the father not happy that Eric was a 'dirty orphan'?

"Even if you've married him, you can always come home, no matter what," he attempted to reassure me, despite the fact it was this mention of home that made me feel uneasy.

"I know Daddy, I'll come home if I need to," I nodded, hoping he would finally let go of me.

"Good girl," he relaxed and let go. "Fiona is really worried about you, you shouldn't stress your big sister so close to her promotion," he chuckled, then rubbed the top of my head, "give her a call tomorrow, okay?"

I felt very uncomfortable at how endearingly he talked about this vicious sister of mine.

"Sure thing," I agreed, knowing full well I would not make that call.

"Fine," he seemed to have finally relented, "I'll have your things sent over."

"Thank you, Daddy," I beamed, happy at the idea of finally having some different clothes to change into.

When he finally left the room, after embarrassingly lecturing me about birth control, (this body had just turned twenty and he repeatedly told me that I was too young to have children yet) Gloria surprised me appearing at my side.

"That entity is bad news," she stared at the door that had just closed with a piercing gaze.

"The shadow?" I eagerly asked, not having a clue what these strange things were, only knowing that I completely agreed with her. They were bad news.

"You remember anything yet?" She asked casually.

"A few things," I replied. Mainly it was this Dianna's childhood, filled with love and laughter. The complete opposite of my own.

"That thing has been attached to your father for many years now, slowly sucking the life out of him."

Startled I spun to her, reaching for her but finding only cold air. Seeing my hand just enter her body and disappear, I stumbled backward.

Laughing, she shook her head, "Don't worry child, I'll continue watching over him for you."

"So... he'll be okay?"

"Not until we get rid of the entity."

"How do we do that?" I asked, thinking of the exorcism film I'd dragged Dr. Evrett, my only friend, to watch with me. "Should we get a priest?"

Gloria looked at me as if I had spoken in a foreign tongue.

"We first need to figure out their name, once we have their name we can get rid of it ourselves."

"So it's a person?" For some reason, the shadows never actually felt like people, more like a bundle of negative emotions and energy.

"It was," she hummed, then glanced back at the door, "Just holler if you need me, Honey, I got to go." Without waiting for me to reply she faded from my sight.

It would take a while to get used to that.

Banks made me another tea similar to before and ran me a wonderful bubble bath. Afterward, I raided the room, finding Eric's clothes.

"Why are we actually sharing a room?" I muttered, picking a crimson red shirt that only just covered my backside. Reluctantly, I searched his underwear drawer and grabbed a pair of plain black boxers to wear as shorts.

Feeling the effects of the tea start to kick in, I shrugged off the uneasy feeling and climbed into bed to sleep it off.

At some point in the night, I felt like I was being smothered. In my dream, a wolf was chasing me around an unfamiliar forest, a wolf with piercing, silver eyes and fur as dark as night.

When the wolf finally caught me, pinning me down to the mossy ground, my eyes sprang open in a panic.

"What's wrong?" A soothing voice lingered in my ear alongside his breath.

Eric was holding me from behind, his head resting atop mine.

"Everything," I squeaked, trying to wriggle free from his tight embrace.

"Should I get Banks to bring you some more tea?" He asked, letting out an agitated sigh.

"No, no, I do not want more tea," I exclaimed, grabbing the arm that hung over my waist. His other arm was laying between my neck and the bed like a pillow.

"Are you hungry?" He asked patiently.

"No," I lied, I was a little. "Why are we... like this?"

"You were having a nightmare," he replied, snuggling me closer.

Sure I was having a nightmare, but I was certain he was the cause of that nightmare. Eric was the big black wolf.

Giving up on trying to escape, I changed the topic, "I spoke with my father."

"I know, so did I," he replied, resting his head back on the pillow.

"He told me I could go home whenever I wanted," I pushed, wondering what his reaction would be.

Eric gripped me tighter, "he told me that too."

"What else did he tell you?" I pestered.

Eric let out an exhausted sigh, then swiftly moved on top of me, pressing me into the bed.

"To let you finish your studies before knocking you up," in the dim light from the clock, which according to System, amazingly charged mobile phones, I saw the mischief lingering in those cold eyes.

"You plan to knock me up?" I breathlessly asked.

Eric leaned down, pressing his forehead against my own, "One day..."

Frozen like a bunny in headlights, I whimpered.

Rolling off me, to resume the position of before, he simply whispered, "Not yet though," then the bastard went to sleep, ignoring my panicked plight in his arms.