Always So Beautiful

Pharai

My morning alarm rang loudly pulling me out of my sleep, I reached over to shut it off as it rested on the bedside table. From there I reached over for the bottle water next to it then took a big and heavy gulp. Once I had screwed the cap back on, I laid down on my back like a starfish.

Last night was unlike anything I had ever experienced. There were so many unanswered questions and I wondered what had happened to the mysterious man who had invaded my house. I ran my hands down my face but froze when I felt my bare skin.

With large eyes I looked at my hands to find they were perfectly healed. I sat up with a gasp, which seemed to be my typical morning routine these days. There was not a scratch, blister or any other sign of what had happened last night.

In fact the bandages themselves were completely missing. I pulled off the sheets on my body to find even my feet were perfectly healed. My body felt none of the pain it felt yesterday and the eye watering migraine I had felt just before I passed out, was non-existent.

I twisted around on the bed trying to feel out if it was all just an illusion but my body had never felt better. All the exhaustion and lack of sleep that had been haunting me seemed to have completely evaporated. I felt refreshed and energized for the first time in months.

When I climbed off the bed I was surprised to find the pile of sand in my room had also disappeared. I dropped to my knees to look under the bed to further inspect the wooden floor, to discover there was not even a speck of dust.

From there I went to the bathroom. I remembered my blood was still smeared on the tile and there was not a chance I could easily get the stains out of the grout unless I used a high concentrated bleach. When I entered my bathroom was flawless.

It looked exactly like how I always left it and by close inspection, there never looked to be blood on it in the first place. I was deeply confused but my confusion only became worse when I looked into the mirror. The dark circles under my eyes that had become accessories to my face had completely vanished.

My skin had a healthy glow to it that made me look like I had a sun kissed tan. My hair looked beautiful and silky which was a rarity since I barely found the time to condition and take care of it. It almost felt like I was staring at a stranger as I inspected my face close to the mirror.

The only other thing that could prove what had happened last night was not a dream was the first aid kit. So with another quick walk to the kitchen, I fished it out from under the sink then took it out.

I rotated it in my hands when I saw it was still perfectly sealed as if it was still brand new.

"What is going on?" I whispered to myself as I cradled the first aid kit close to my chest then dropped down to sit on the floor. Was everything I experienced last night a dream?

Maybe a dream within a dream?

It felt too real.

All of my dreams felt too real.

I ran my fingers through my hair as I let out a heavy and stressed sigh. Maybe the tea Lobdell made me had me hallucinating terribly. Yet none of the ingredients had any psychedelic effects.

I could not even blame the time zones and moving to a different country anymore. The dreams had started since I had been in New York but seemed to get worse now. It felt like I was going crazy and losing more of myself night by night.

Why would I dream of walking in the desert? Why would I dream about a strangely psychotic and possessive man? Why had my brain even fantasized of such a being when I had seen no one like him before?

None of it made sense.

I stayed seated on the floor until I felt my stomach growl then forced myself up to go to the bathroom. Maybe after a good shower I could make sense of the situation.

I scrubbed my body clean, from there I dried my body with a towel then wrapped it around my waist as I got ready to brush my teeth. I wet the toothbrush before I spread the toothpaste. As I brushed my teeth I stared into the mirror that was slightly misted from the shower.

I lowered my head to spit into the basin and when I looked back into the mirror, the same large man with golden molten eyes stood behind me with a cocky grin. I spun around instinctively to find there was nothing behind me.

My heart was beating against my ribcage so violently I feared I would pass out. It took me a few minutes to get over my shock before I looked back into the mirror. I took a step back in terror and collided with his strong bare chest.

His arms wrapped around my waist before he placed a kiss to my cheek, "always so beautiful."

I opened my mouth to scream but just as I did that, I fell through air and collided with the tiled wall of my bathroom. I slid down and let out a painful groan as I held the back of my head. There was no way that could have been a hallucination!

I scrambled to quickly brush my teeth then rinsed my mouth with mouthwash before I ran out the bathroom to quickly get dressed. The only person I knew was Lobdell and at that point I was so freaked out that even though I knew he would think I was crazy, I had to find out if I had really lost my mind.