—15—
"Dalia is that really you?" I squeal into the phone, she stays silent and then she hangs up.
"Wha-"
"Cara, I didn't mean to be rude earlier. I apologize." The door opens to reveal an apologetic looking Lucero.
"Oh, I see." Still bamboozled from the phone call, I toss the phone on the bed.
"It's just, the book belonged to my grandfather and it's very precious to me." He inches closer and sits on my bed.
"Right," I walk to my vanity mirror and pick up the ring showing it to him. "Do you see this?"
"Why did you take it off?" He stands up and is going to take it but I step back.
"So you can see this but not Jenna?" I play with the ring.
Luce clears his throat and puts his hands up, "I gave it to you. Only you can see it because it belongs to you and me because I created it."
"What is it for?" I tilt my head to the side curiously.
"To get rid of your nightmares."
"What do you mean?"
"You're bound to have nightmares if you're living on the same roof as me, because I am the nightmare. I cause nightmares when I walk past your room, I cause nightmares when I'm near you, I cause nightmares when I want to. So either you keep having those dreams where you're in hell suffering everyday for the rest of your lives or wear the fucking ring Cara." He commands, it's not even a question anymore it's a wear it or I'll show you the hard way.
I glance down at the ring and place it back into my index finger as I feel a weird sense of relief washes over my body. "You're saying you cause nightmares? Are you kidding me? How can someone-"
"Because, I'm not human Cara."
"W-" Before another word can come out of my mouth he sends me a compelling look that shuts my mouth, I can't move my lips!
He looks anywhere but me and hands me the previous book, "Here you can read it, but don't soak it, tear it, burn it, you get me?"
I only nod as an answer and he seems satisfied enough with that.
I try to open my mouth that seems to be glued together before and oddly enough, it opens easily. "Can I meet my cousin I really miss her." I plead and round my eyes.
"No, but you can call her like you did just now." And with that he walks away.
Was I speaking that loud?
A couple hours gone by, I continued reading the book in my room, skipping dinner. I hear one of the maids call out to me and says my dinner is just outside but I still can't find it in me to move my leg, still obsessed with the story.
Part of me feels bad for the girl in the book, she keeps getting abused by her lover but despite the violence and hate she received from him, she still loves him for who he is. It's sad and pathetic, I don't want to be like her but it's a good read.
I feel myself getting sleepy and look at the sage ring on my finger, should I prove it? That whatever Luce says is wrong?
I take it off and put it on my bedside table, feeling a bit heavy on the inside. I look up at the ceiling and feel my eyes close on their own.
My body is warm, screw that it's hot, burning like I'm on fire. I opened my eyes and found myself standing in the midst of chaos. Fire surrounding my naked body, a lot of people running and screaming for help. People being cooked alive. Bodies torn apart by a giant monster that looks nothing like the movie, if possible, it's scarier.
I try to run but I'm rooted in my place, why can't I move?!
Huge rocks rolling over the ground, it's coming my way!
Move, Cara! Fucking move!
Right before the rock hits my body it turns into a gooey looking monster with one leg, its eyes green and red, with sharp sharp fangs inside his mouth.
He speaks loud and clear in my ear, I can hear it, why does this feel so real?
"Give me your soul Cara!" It opens up its palms and with its sharp claws, they tear through my heart and pull out my heart from my chest. "So tainted." It laughs evilly and suddenly the red eyes bulge out and it evolves into something weird, a phoenix, red one.
It flies across the low ground and up into the high sky, charging toward me for the second time. "No." I mutter breathlessly, sweat trickling my forehead like fountain water, my body is melting from the heat. It's getting hotter and harder to breathe. "Help- me."
Like a wish come true, I feel something sliding into my finger and that woke me up from the nightmare. My eyes open but I can't move, I can't breathe. I scrunch my eyebrows in pain and try to claw at anything in my reach.
A hand holding mine tightly but not tight enough it'll bruise but tight enough to tell me that I'm going to be fine. I move my eyeballs to my right and see Luce moving his lips. I can't hear you. I want to say but the favor is not working my way. I feel very hot, burning, melting.
My ears clear out and I can hear again, "-told you to wear the fucking ring Cara! Why don't you ever fucking listen to me you stubborn girl. You could've died if I didn't pull you out of there, do you understand!" He starts yelling and cursing me and all I could do is just shed tears. I think the whole bed is soaked from my tears.
Thank God I put the book away or else he's going to curse me even more.
"Fucking hell man!" He breathes out and walks away.
Luce comes back with a glass of water and I didn't even realize I could move again until he picks me up into his lap and makes me sip on the liquid.
The chilling water glides down my throat making me groan from the relieving feeling and I pray to not go back to that kind of nightmare again because for a second there I don't think that's a dream.
"It's a real place isn't it?" I find myself asking Luce the one thing I don't want to know the answer to.
He doesn't say a word, instead he nods and caresses my hair gently and pulls my body against his chest.
After a couple minutes of silence he says lowly, "Another dimension. You shouldn't have been there. The soul catcher probably mistook you for a dead person's soul wandering the earth. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this, you have the right to know about the world you're living in. I'll tell you everything but promise you're gonna try to understand?"
I look into his eyes, they're filled with something I can't comprehend.
I nod and that's when I realize, he's in pain.