Nightmares

needs editing....

The following night after my second encounterment in the study, I havent been able to fall asleep. I tossed and turned in my bed trying to ignore the mysterious hand appearing before me. When that wasnt enough, I walked in circles in my room. I tried reading some books from my library but, they didnt amuse me like they did before.

My mind was too stressed to focus on reading, sleeping or even to relax. I felt super energized for some reason and not sleepy at all. All I could think of was that hand and what the shadows beyond it said. I questioned myself, "Who could this mysterious one be?".

Since I had troubles sleeping, I decided to use my energy to begin my own little reason. I had to put an end to this. I went for my old chalkboard and length it against my bed head. I gathered my markers, my pencils, erasers and my camera. I wanted to set up an investigation on this mysterious one. I tried switching my camera on to rewatch the video, but the screen kept on blacking out each time.

I remembered that my brother was an expert on fixing things. So I ran to his bedroom immediately. The guards were on duty tonight for some reason, I didnt know. They were walking about the palace when I looked downstairs. Anyways, I walked up to my brother's room and knocked on the door. He didnt seem to have heard me so I decided to barge in and wake him up. To my surprise, one of our maids daughter Carolina was in my brothers room. I was in complete shock, carolina was sitting on my brothers bed giing through the box of stuff that was very important to our family. What was my brother doing with Carolina and why was he showing her our family heirlooms? I knew that he was already an grown man but, I didnt want to accept that a poor maids daughter would be my sister-in-law.

I asked my brother, "Whats happening here?". And he said, "Oh, Thyra you could have knocked; you know Carolina, we are together now"

I was fuming. How could he be with such a poor steak? Does he really want to ruin the families representation? Besides, who knows if carolina is just in for his wealth or maybe she just wants to take the throne from him as queen. Well that wasnt going happen on my watch. If anyone is going to take my brothers throne, that would be me and only me.

Carlina said, " Hi thyra, hows it going" I gave her a polite answer and a fake smile. Lord knows how much I couldnt stand her.

"Umm I should get you ladies something to snack on and we could watch a movie", said Adrian.

"Actually, I came here for your help not to lazy around", i said.

Adrian acted confused as if he forgot about our agreement. "What do you need help withy?" he asked.

"My little quest! Remember? ; and theres something i need to say to you outside" I replied.

I grabbed my brothers hand and dragged him outside. We walked a little further from the room so that carolina would hear me.

I asked my brother why he was dating Carolina but, he said, " because, she is kind, caring and talented".

"Talented in your pocket you mean", I shouted.

"Look I know you two had some history but, just forgive her and move on; besides weather you like it or not, am marrying her", said Adrain.

I was stunned by his words and thought, " Her trick has started to work. Adrian ahd become a total fool by Carolina".

Anyway, I turned back heading to the room. I creeped up near the door just to suspect anything from Carolina. I heard ruffling in the room as if she was directly searching for something. As i entered the room thinking I would have caught her red handed, I saw carolina sitting peacefully with box of stuff my brother was showing her before. I called down and thought maybe I was just taking things too far. However, i still had doubts of Carolina and i had to give her a warning or something to make her aware that i know of her sneaky ways.

"Look, I know we didnt get along in the past but, i know what your capable of; hurt my brother and I swear you will hav eto kiss thi job goodbye. Understood!" I shouted.

Carolina nodded saying, " Dont worry, I will keep your brother in my right hand" Then she had a awfully evil grin covering her face. Darn did she look scary. I sure wanted to slap it out of her face but, Adrain returned with chocolate smoothies and cookies. I couldnt stand carolina and her fake act anymore. So I grabbed my smoothie and cookies from Adrian. Just before leaving, I asked Adrian to come to my room whenever he is finished and he agreed. Then, I stormed my way out. I sait in the corner of my room, where my bean bag chair was. There i ate my cookies and drank my smoothie. I was miserable with myself for everything that happened to me the passed few weeks but, I was more miserable with my brother for being in love with Caroline. She had turned him into a complete lunatic. More than he ever was. He invested all his time and patience into her, not caring if the world around him was burning. Overthinking was my therapy whenever I am stressed. I have always thought that I had the mind of no other. Then, weird thoughts about the whole situation between carolina and my brother stared forming. Thoughts taht burned my head sick. I wondered if, my brother wanted to marry Carolina, how havent their relationship become public. I surely seemed like a secret. Who hides their future fiance in their bedroom. And thats when it hit me. Adrian was hiding Carolina not only because she was a maid but, because my parents despised her. Turns out, that mysterious one isnt the only thing I have to investigate. I needed to start a research on Carolina. I wanted to know what she was up to.

I threw my body down and sighed, awaiting for Adrian to show up. Then, finally, he did. He came with his so call girlfriend. "This must be a joke!" I thought. Why would he take her with him? I didnt want her involved. Just like usual, I stomped my feet heavily into the ground. Grabbing my brother by the ears and yanking him aside. I whispered to him, " What made

you think little miss gold digger should be involved in our little secret?" Adrian explained that he coulnt leave her all alone and she was scared. Those words are meant to be said about babies. I was filled with laughter and couldnt hold it in any longer. I knew that I may seems crazy to be laughing hysterically but, I could have cared less. I mocked both of them and made weird baby noises that annoyed them. Adrian insisted on giving Carolina a chance to prove her worth. I allowed her to stay but, in my guts I wanted to kick her out.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Carolina. I never answered. I was just too busy with my own life. Keeping secure of my secret, knowing that Carolina could be a threat. I just couldnt answer her. She didnt look worthy of anyones trust, especially not my brother's. However, Adrian decided to be a gentleman and not make the situation look too obvious or awkward. He convinced her into thinking that i was just joking and trying to be funny.

Carolina reluctantly believed, acting like a dump cat. Where in what I said was a joke? I really menat every word I said. However, I reached for my chalk board underneath my bed and revealed the investigation I had drafted from earlier. I keenly explained to my brother what my plans were. Adrian thought of a better way in carrying out our research. He suggested that I start by recording my first encountering. From there, I should link each and every event that took place. Then, I would find the answer I longed for.

I handed over my camera to Adrian and asked him to see what was wrong with it. He patted the back and the sides, before attempting to switch it on. This time, the camera didnt switch on and go off like it did before. The screen was now completely blank. There must be a way in which we could mend the camera. It had recordings of what took place. I was feeling more frustrated to see that my brother had lost his touch in fixing things. My overthinking mind started to spin again. This time, my thoughts were useful. "What about the memory card?" I asked. I told my brother to check if the memory card my parents inserted into the camera was damaged. Luckily when he did check, the card was still in place. Like expected, we couldnt reach to the card anyway. It was stuck in place. We had no other choice left but, to pull the pieces away. This meant that my camera would be gone for good. Though, al my memories are stored on the memory chip, I was still upset has the camera had been through the thick and the thin with me. I though of it as a childhood friend or perhaps a childhood toy whom you had to say goodbye too. I sat in sorrow watching the pliers pluck each piece off and boy did I wanted to cry. I loved that camera more than anything else in this world, but I had to give it up. From the past few weeks, I have realised that I will have to loose a lot in order to solve this puzzle. I learnt it only from the best, Uncle Odon. As quirky as it amy seemed I kept the remains of my camera. I placed the pieces into a zip lock bag and put them amongst my box of memories.

Adrian plugged in my old video player and inserted the memory card into the side. We waited for the the video to show up on the screen. Eventually, afer the start up, Adrian took the remote and stared to play the recording. The recording began with my face backing up from it, videoing me kneeling down at the shelf side. The video played smoothly. There was no signs of dark shadows nor mysterious hands. The video showed the camera being mounted across the room but it didnt showed what through it. I could see that Carolina was terrified by what she saw and trust me I was too. It was quite questioning but, mind blowing at the same time. I could have almost hard my brain quarreling with my inside voice, from outside my head. :I could have sworn that I saw that hand Adrain! We both saw it!" I shouted.

" This only shows us that this creature or being is immortal. We are facing great danger here!" Adrian claimed.

"Creature?" Asked Carolina.

She didnt have a steady look on her face. In fact she looked as troubled and horrified as I am. Carolina got up and with trembling feet and a stuttering voice.

"I think I should go and leave you too to the fun"

I surely loved the look on her face; I have never seen her so scared before. Being the thoughtful person my brother was, he decided to escort his cry baby back to the kitchen where he belongs. I wondered how he was going to carefully carry his darling when he shouldnt be caught dead with her. My curiosity took the best of me and I just had to peak on them. As expected, I witnessed my brother and the maid walking along the dark halls covered in long robes. I tried to be unnoticed and followed them around a corner. Then, I heard talking coming closer to our way. I dashed myself from a afar hiding behind some antique statues. I heard the voices of two of our body guard calling out with flashlights in their hands. "Who is there?" They asked. My brother turned to them and I heard him shouting, "This is the second time in a row! I swear if you keep messing up my laundry, I will get you fired!" I was shocked. I have never seen my brother so angry before ; I always knew him as a calm person. Anyhow as suspected, it was all an act to call the guards off.

The guards said, " Prince Adrian, whats wrong? Has she done something to you?"

Adrian said, "Nothing as worse as mixing my laundry with my sister's"

I could not believe how much of a liar my brother was. It showed that people arent always what they seemed to be or maybe not. As the guards went further beyond the wall, I crept my way out of there immediately. I ran back to my room and had to pretend as if I saw or heard nothing. This whole Carolina things was getting pretty annoying. I had to get rid of her somehow. Since I now know her weakness, I thought maybe I should drive her crazy by scaring her away from my brother and back to washing dishes. Just then, my brother came back and decided that he wanted to continue our research.

Going back to the research, a lot of mixed thoughts stirred up. I felt like someone or something was stumbling in my path and I wasn't going to let them. My drive for this theory sped up and I started to replay the recording continuously. I set the video's setting to slow motion . After doing so, there was a glitch on the screen exactly when the camera was tossed away. I called for Adrian's attention. By the time he had come to see, the glitch had disappeared and I found it really suspicious. "I could have sworn I saw it glitching", I said. So, I described it to him. After a few more attempts, there was nothing more than glitches. I really want an image of that strange looking hand,but I had to improvise some way or the other. Since everything that took place was still in my memory, maybe it would be best If I

sketch a representation of what I saw. I searched for a pencil and an old notebook. Though I had little to no artistic skills, I still had to try. I sat down with my eyes piercing the book as I knew what I saw but couldn't put it on paper. I kept on drawing and erasing the illusion until the page started to rip. Giving up wasn't my call, so I pushed even harder. By the time I was done. I had a representation of a foot with fingers instead of an entire hand itself. My drawing wasn't perfect , but it got the job done anyway. I decided to keep all of my research hidden and away from Carolina's reach. I went inside my library and hid the board beyond a secret path I discovered a few years back. I was sure, it would be kept safe there.