Chapter 9: Could it be that I was hallucinating?

“Yeah, I was saying something. When I first became conscious in the hideout, some people were making incoherent conversation that I can’t remember. Then when I woke up, I was thankful and asked to be taken home. When I returned home, I introduced him to my parents who were also grateful for his intervention. At the moment of this event, I thought my parents hated me until now that this incident happened.

Thinking of it now, even though I was scolded it was more of the pampering than the scolding but then I was too blind and childish to notice that. I guess they did care about me the most, more than I’d care to admit.

With time, I started seeing more of Dylan. You know, Dylan was twelve years older than me so my parents were against us seeing each other despite the fact that they feel like they owe him for saving my life the other time.

I don’t know exactly what happened but it was like I was drugged, no charmed, with a long-time-lasting drug or potion and then one day I just decided to leave home with my so-called lover.

We stayed at a motel where my mother came to beg me to go back home with her but…I was addicted, addicted to the façade Dylan was putting up for me. I was too addicted to realize that the kind of perfection he was putting up for a show was something beyond this earth, beyond this world; anything no, anybody like that should be checked again to see if they are from the same world as us.” I stifled my tears while smiling bitterly.

“Well, moving forward with the story, I slapped my mother who came to beg me to go back home, I assaulted her, I should be in prison now I mean with the influence of my family; I could even serve life imprisonment for it… Hehe... just exaggerating but you get the point. Maybe my mom begged on behalf of me, or maybe, just maybe they still cared after everything. The next day, I and Dylan relocated to a remote place in the middle of nowhere and someone called Kirsten who I later discovered was Dylan’s sister came to live with us. However, Dylan and Kirsten always slept in the sitting room, Today I don’t know why I woke up in the middle of the night but I did, I went to get a cup of water since the one that was supposed to be on my nightstand table was empty. And then I heard it…I, I, I," my voice broke as I struggled to let the cat out of the box.

"I saw it even though it was dark and there was no light to illuminate the place. How could they do something like that to me? In the same house, we all are habiting?” I wiped the tears out of my face with my palm while using the long sleeves of my shirt to dry my eyes. I raised my head and saw that it was almost dawn. How many hours have I been here with this stranger?

“I’ve got to go; I got a year-plus baby waiting for me. And I’ll also let Dylan and Kirsten in on the fact that I know about their doings behind my back.” I stood up to go but suddenly dropped down flat on my buttocks as I thought about something that never occurred to me earlier.

“Could it be that I was hallucinating? Maybe, just maybe they were just making weird sounds in their sleep and they rolled up into suggestive positions unknowingly? Yes! That has to be it.” I reasoned out loud happy to have solved the puzzle.

“It’s okay.” I heard a feminine voice coo.

“It indeed is okay,” I mumbled.

“It’s okay to want to give excuses for the actions of loved ones but you must get a fact clear, you may consider someone as a loved one but that loved one might not even consider you as a loved one in return. Whenever you notice that you are in a one-sided love or relationship…”

“But…” I tried to interrupt the person who obviously was a girl or a lady.

“Let me finish, I really don’t want to be candid considering the fact that you are at your breaking point right now but you need to figure out your feelings. From what you just narrated, you may be building your relationship on a one-sided love or maybe you are infatuated or simply just crushing on him. If you can’t get a hold of your feelings, it may be your destruction.” She spoke so calmly that I envisioned her as cool…

“I have to go.” I reinformed her. “I got a year-plus baby girl to care for.”

“One more thing.” The person called out to me as I made to leave this environment. “Always trust your judgment, if it’s right, your luck but if it’s wrong” she shrugged her shoulders “you’ll just have to learn from it.”

“Thanks.” I appreciated as I turned to look at the face of the kind stranger. With the help of some street light in the distance, I noticed that she had almond eyes sculpted in a heart-shaped face with wild untamed curly hair. I can’t see more details than this since it was not fully dawn yet and the street light did next to nothing while illuminating the place from afar.

Simply put with the little I’ve seen so far, she’s a beauty to behold. I always had a thing for almond eyes I don’t know why. I walked a bit forward but turned around to see the girl or lady – I can’t really distinguish, still sitting on the floor, in the same position she was in when she spoke to me, eyes looking lost. Was that the same person that was giving me advice a while ago? ‘Cause, she looks like someone who would need one right now.

“What’s your name?” I tried to distract her from whatever she was thinking since I can’t sit with her and listen to her rant out her problems before advising her.

“Valerie. Valerie Strongman, you?”

“Barbara Darren. You can call me Barbie–that’s what only Dylan calls me but I’ll permit you to do that also.”

“Hmm.” I heard her make a sound without so much as moving her lips. I looked at her, she really looked pitiful but I can’t spend any more time here anymore. I was never meant to be outside in the first place.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered guiltily as I turned on my heels and took off into the forest where the cabin, I live in was located.

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"Sometimes, people have their demons to fight but they must be brave for you to be able to fight yours."—Unknown