9 Chapter 9

"Hey, wake up" I heard someone say. I opened my eyes, and saw Landon right in my face. I immediately got up and felt my ears get hot suddenly. I rubbed my eyes, and he said it was time to get off the bus. We both got up and walked out. "Come on, it's not far from here," he said. I looked around and I didn't see any buildings, just land and a road. Where on earth are we? He gently grabbed my hand and walked straight into the trail. The trail led us into a forest for a while, but then I saw on a hill, a beautiful wooden home, with tall gates in the way. I was shocked, and abandoned my luggage to Landon and ran up to the gate of the house. I was in a complete awe. It may look old, but it looks like a beautiful vintage home. I couldn't wipe off the smile on my face.  I looked behind me and saw Landon carrying both luggages. I felt sorry, and walked to him to help him. But he moved away from me and said it was fine. "This is it," he said. The gate was locked, and Landon looked for a key in his pockets, and took a small black key out. He unlocked the lock, and chains fell to the ground. He pushed the gates open wide, and it made a rust noise. He stretched his arm out, telling me to walk right in, "Go on". I walked past him and the gates. He followed behind me. And then he had to look for the key to open the home door. This time the key was golden. Huh, I wonder where he got the keys from? I swear he's like some kind of magic wizard who can pull things out of nowhere. He opened the doors with a creak. All the furniture was covered in a white blanket. He laid our luggage on the floor and closed the doors. "We need to clean this place up," he said as he laid both his hands on his hips. "Lucky for you, I'm an expert in cleaning," he said confidently. I laughed, since I knew he wasn't. I looked around to look for a broom, but Landon walked up to me. "No, you are not doing any work, let me do it, you need to recover" he said, "Stay there". I stood still as I watched him look around and walked up to the furniture, and lifted it's white blanket. It was a couch. He patted down the couch and pointed to it. "Sit down and rest," he said. I did as he said. I sat there for like forever! I was bored, and he was doing all the work! That's not fair at all. I grabbed my phone and I noticed it wasn't the same one I had before. It has the same case, background photos, but I don't have any of my apps. Let alone photos, except for the wallpapers. I had the same contacts, but I noticed they all had different names. Like one was named Bob. Like who is that? Oh- It's Landon, silly me.  After downloading all my favorite apps and games I took another nap. I've been quite sleepy lately, I wonder...will everything be alright? I began hearing steps and creaks coming closer and closer. I slowly opened my eyes, and I was in my room. I looked around, everything was where it stood. It was night, and it was cold. Wait, what am I doing here? Was everything all a dream? Suddenly, I felt a figure standing next to me, and---THE MAN! I screamed and fought with the man, "I don't want to be hurt by you again! Stop! Leave me!". The man came in closer to me, his hand held a knife. He raised his knife, and I closed my eyes, "NOOoo!".  "It's ok, you're safe, you're ok" someone said. But then my eyes opened again, and I realized that it was a dream. Landon was right here, and held me tightly, and I hugged him as hard as I could. My whole body is sweating, my heart racing, and my eyes full of tears.  "I was scared he was going to kill me again," I said. I felt his hand stroke my head and hair and he patted me. "It was all a dream Angela, don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise" he said. We stayed in this position for some time. "Let me take a look at you," he said. "No". "Please?". I lifted my head and looked at him. His face looked calm and worried. But he wiped my tears away with his finger. "Give me your hand" he said as he grabbed my hand and lifted it with his. "I'm here," he said. I stared at him, since when did he become….a man? I looked away from him, my face feeling hot. "Thank you" I whispered. "I'll get you some water," he said. He got up and turned around but I reached for his hand to stop him. "Please, don't leave me here alone," I said. "Ok," he said and took a seat next to me.  We sat there in silence for a while. "Are you ok?" Landon asked me. "Yeah, I'm fine now".  "I managed to clean almost everything by the way" he mentioned. I nodded, "Cool". "So whose room is this?" I asked, looking around. The bed was huge, but the walls were wooden as well as the floor. I saw a white dresser with a shiny mirror hanging over it, as well as a small chair with a white cushion. The overall aesthetic of this home is best defined as old, vintage, and with a hint of dutchiness. Completely different from the black mansion I used to live in. Which is defined to be modern, and fancy. The room smelled sweet, but like the way a grandma's house would smell, like a comfortable sweetness. I guess I don't mind the smell. At least it's nothing smelly. I wondered what time it was… I looked around some more, and found some curtains, assuming there was a window behind it. I got up from the bed and walked toward the curtains, but my feet came into a stop. I stared at the curtains. I knew at that moment that I would never be the same again. Because the nightmare won't ever end….