“Hey, they tricked you! You didn’t know any better! Don’t beat yourself up over that. I’m sure if you had known, you would have never given up that house.”
“Yeah…” I sighed. “But it means nothing, now, anyway. I can’t even buy it back since it’s already been sold.”
“It’s okay, Mira.” He smiled.
“Can we just go to sleep now?”
I was aggravated. I just wanted to take my mind off of everything.
“Of course.” He said.
We both slid back down and put our heads on the pillows. He wrapped his arms around me. I felt much better, already.
“Goodnight, Mirabelle Frances.” He whispered, kissing the side of my head. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Goodnight, Johnavon Sinclair. Thank you for taking care of me.” I yawned. “And if all my belongings are gone in the morning, I know where you live.” I said, completely serious. Joe lightly giggled.
“I’ll remember that.” He mumbled.
He repositioned his arm and kissed me again. I wrapped my fingers in between his and then closed my eyes. I said a prayer and told my mother I loved her. Slowly but surely, I fell asleep.
* * *
It was a rough night for me. I could feel myself constantly moving. My dreams weren’t pleasant when I was sleeping, either. They made me wake up in a panic so many times, I was utterly exhausted. I just wanted to sleep heavily.
Each time I woke up, too, I saw Joe sleeping so soundly. He never even budged. It made me angrier. Not to mention, I was starting to feel like I knew this Sebastian guy. I wasn’t getting any memory of him, but his voice sounded so familiar. It had to be somewhere in my memory. I just knew it. It was torture.
By the time I woke up and light was shining outside, I welcomed it. The entire nights’ endeavors made me feel as if I hadn’t rested at all.
I watched the rays come up through the window onto my wall, waiting on Joe. He was sleeping hard. I realized he had never woke me up like he was supposed to. Did he not have an alarm? Did he forget to set his cell phone? We had been up all night talking, maybe he’d just forgotten. I’m alive still, I still remember him, so nothing went wrong. Everything’s okay. Maybe later today I’ll get the rest of my memory back and figure out what happened at the arcade and such.
“Morning, beautiful.” Joe mumbled when I sat up.
He rubbed my side and pulled me back down.
“Morning.”
I exhaled before I was next to him so he didn’t smell the worst of my morning breath.
“What’s wrong?” He mumbled into my chest.
“Nothing, just didn’t sleep well.”
“Yeah, I could tell.”
“How so?” I asked. Maybe he had woken up for me.
“Mira, I was sleeping in the same bed as you.” He laughed.
“Oh, sorry.”
“No, no.”
He rolled on his back and stretched very awkwardly. Well I guess there really isn’t a way to stretch that doesn’t look awkward.
“Still tired?” I asked him.
“Sort of. You?”
“Yes.” I laughed.
“Well, get over here!”
He pulled me onto his chest. I snuggled up and yawned. For some reason the morning made me feel better. Everything was comfortable. I wasn’t afraid, anymore. My eyes were getting heavy and I felt like I could finally sleep soundly in the safety of the daylight. There were no monsters in daylight, everyone knew that.
Joe saw me drifting off. He gave me a kiss and pulled the covers up over me. Just before I faded out, I heard him whisper that he loved me. I smiled.
* * *
The monster, the darkness, I had to get away. A black lion was chasing me; he had something in his hand. There were creatures all around, staring and screaming at me. All of them, except one, were telling me to drink the potion. For some reason, he seemed to be helping me.
He dove through the crowd and ran by my side. When I saw his face, it gave me a strange feeling. I knew him. Trying to call out his name, the lion had caught up and pulled me down. All the creatures rushed over to hold me down. They were forcing me to be still. The one that had tried to help was being held back. He was screaming and kicking his legs out in every direction. When they finally got my mouth open, they poured the contents in.
Suddenly, I sat up choking. I gasped and panicked. Searching my surroundings, I was alone in my room. Covering my face in my hands, I took a few deep breaths. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. I am home and I am safe. I remember everything that happened up to this point. Everything was okay. My body was still a bit shaky. I needed to walk around. I reached over for my glasses.
I let out a call of pain when my hand hit something sharp. Looking where my hand had just been, there was a square glass paperweight. My mother had gotten it for me when I’d complained about the window in my old room always blowing my papers around. It was cheesy, but I loved it. I didn’t remember moving it on the windowsill, though.
The glass was magnifying something below it; I couldn’t make out the letters. Moving the weight, I lifted up the letter. It wasn’t on any paper I was used to seeing; it looked like something out of kindergarten, when they made paper out of jeans. There was only one sentence on the paper.
“Mirabelle, I’ll see you soon.” I whispered, reading it.
I looked around my room. Were my windows open? Where was Joe? Where was Spike? Either of them would have heard someone come into my room. Quickly grabbing my glasses, I rushed out. I tripped over everything in my hurry. I stumbled into the living room, gasping for Joe.
“Mirabelle? Mirabelle, what is it?!” He jumped up from the couch.
I was in a complete panic. I handed him the note. As he read it, I waited for his jaw to drop or some sign of rage, but all he had was confusion.
“What does this mean?” Joe looked at me.
“What do you mean? It’s a threat, obviously!” I screamed.
My fear mixed with fury, I was shaking again.
“Mirabelle, I’ve been here the entire time. There’s no way someone walked in. Maybe it’s from the day before yesterday, when he was here?”
“It was on my windowsill, under a paperweight. I don’t remember all this stuff getting moved in here, so I can’t honestly say it wasn’t already here, but I’m sure I would have seen it. I set my glass right there last night!”
“You think he came in from the time you went to sleep to now?”
“Well, duh!”
I was still shaking, but from anger.
“But how? I told you that I’ve been here the whole time. There’s no way he got in, left that, and then walked out unnoticed.”
“Apparently, there is. I mean you said he was my roommate, he obviously has a key to this place.”
“I never said he was your roommate...” Joe said.
“Yes, you did. When you came to get me for breakfast, you asked where my roommate was.” I said.
“You remember him, now?”
Joe rushed in front of me and held my upper arms. He stared into my eyes.
“No, I don’t. I just remember you. He’s all blank.”
I jerked my arms away from him. How could he have let this happen? Why wasn’t he focusing on what was important? He was supposed to be protecting me.
“Are you actually mad at me? I told you, for the third time, now, I was right there!” He pointed to the couch.
“Well, maybe you fell asleep.” I hissed.
Sebastian could’ve killed me and Joe would’ve been completely unaware.
“This is ridiculous. Mirabelle, you’re freaking yourself out. He could have easily helped you move everything in, watched you pass out for a nap, and left this note so when you woke up you’d know he’d be back.” He said.
He tried pulling me back over to him. I wouldn’t budge.
“Now you’re calling me crazy?”
I went towards the kitchen and grabbed my purse off
the hanger.
“What are you doing?” He asked me with a huge sigh in his voice.
“I’m calling the cops.” I said, nonchalantly.
“Don’t be dumb. They’re going to show up here, read a letter, and then walk out.”
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Mirabelle, please. Just trust me. There is nothing to be worried about.”
I didn’t trust him, though. He was supposed to be taking care of me. Instead he had let the man, that apparently had hurt me and then had just disappeared, waltz right back into my apartment and leave me a threatening note by my bedside. Not only that, he’d called me dumb and crazy for thinking any of that was true. I wasn’t dumb or crazy. I would have remembered that note being there. Every ounce of me told my heart he’d written it for me sometime in the night.
This is the way
it’s meant to be.
((with these wings you will learn to fly))
When I finished my conversation with the police, I set the phone down. Joe had apparently been waiting, because when I turned around and faced the hallway he stormed out of my room. There was no way it had taken him that long to get dressed. In spite of my need to get dressed, I still had to insult him; I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
“Leaving? So soon?”
I rolled my eyes, taking a step towards him. I wanted him to know I was attacking him.
“No. I’m going to stay here with you until they show up. That way we know you’re safe.”
“If you think Sebastian was never here, then what do I have to be safe from?” I said, very snobbishly. I was so angry at him.
“Nothing. Forget it. You know, all I’ve done is try to help you. You were the one who couldn’t remember anything and I stuck by your side until you could. And now you’re getting pissed at me because you got a little scared?”
“A little scared?! There is a note from the guy that broke into my house and hurt me!”
I patted myself down to try to find the paper. I couldn’t find it. Joe interrupted my search for it.
“Believe me-”
“How about you just believe me?” I cut him off. I was tired of hearing his excuses.
I picked up papers and anything else that was lying on the countertop. Then I remembered that Joe had never given it back. I looked up for him and saw him walking out the window.
“Joe?!” I whimpered. Was he really leaving me? “Come back.”
“What for?”
He jumped the railing to his apartment. I rushed over and looked out the window. He was gone. I sat on the couch and started crying. I wasn’t being ridiculous, I wasn’t. I was terrified; however right he was. All I knew was what he had told me. I didn’t remember this guy. I didn’t remember the rest of Tuesday or much of Wednesday without Joe in it. This isn’t fair.
“Mira, I’m sorry.”
Joe was in front of me. It scared me. I hadn’t even heard him open my window back up. Had he ever closed it?
“No, it’s my fault. You were right. You’d never let anything happen to me, you’ve more than shown that.” I wiped my tears away.
“I’m glad you realize that. Can you call off the cops now?” He smiled.
“What? No.”
I felt my temper rise up again. What had just happened?
“Are you serious?”
He stood up. We were right back to square one.
“Yes? Joe, I want to make sure I am safe. You can only do so much. If I don’t get a police report in on this guy, then when something does happen, it’ll look like I let it happen, like I was just asking for it.”
“They are just going to waste your time.” He laughed.
“Why are you so against this?”
I watched him pace nervously around my living room.
“Nothing. Look, I support whatever it is you feel you have to do, okay? I just don’t want to be here and flip out on them. I know they are going to treat you like crap and laugh in your face. Can you let me know when they leave? My number is in your cell, I programmed it last night.”
He walked over and held my cheeks. He had a nervous smile across his face. I was desperate to understand what was happening, but I knew he wasn’t going to explain himself.
He kissed the top of my head and rushed back over to the window. Leaping out, he disappeared over the railing to his balcony. I was just standing there. I looked down and realized I was still in my pajamas. I was sure that as much as the cop would appreciate me keeping the “crime scene” as authentic as possible, this was highly inappropriate.
I raced off to my bedroom to put on regular shorts and not boxers. Thank goodness I chose a normal spaghetti strap shirt rather than a pajama top; it made that part much easier. All I needed to do was swap out my sports bra with a legitimate one, and I’d be presentable.
I found some cargo shorts that matched and slid them on. Right as I was snapping my bra, Spike was snorting down the hallway. Perfect timing. The cops arrived. I opened the door right as he knocked.
“Ms. Frances?” The officer asked.
“Yes, that’s me.” I said.
I was struggling to hold Spike back and keep the door from slamming in his face. He didn’t seem to notice much, though.
“Hi, I’m Officer Johnston. Says here that you think the man that is trying to hurt you is in your house or...was in your house?”
“Yes, sir.” I nodded.
I finally managed to pull Spike back far enough so that the officer could get into the apartment.
“Do you have any sort of an alarm set or anything like that?”
He had a funny country accent. I watched him tap his pen on the pad in his hand and look around my living area.
“No, sir.”
“Alrighty. And how do you think he got in?”
Officer Johnston pulled up his pants and sat on one of the stools at the bar in the kitchen.
“Not sure, sir, if I had to guess I’d say one of my windows. As you can see, anyone can access my balcony.”
I pointed behind me. He tilted his head to look around me. With a deep breath, he got up and walked over to it. He opened the window and climbed out. I watched him look over the railing and around the corners. He came back inside rather quickly.
“Tell me a bit about this fellow so I know how to identify him and what to expect.”
“Well, that’s the issue. I don’t remember him.”
“You don’t remember him?”
He looked at me, dumbfounded.
“Yes. Yesterday morning I woke up in my room and I couldn’t remember anything. I spent the whole day at the hospital getting tested and turns out I got a concussion. Apparently, my friend seems to think, or well, seems to know that it was this man, Sebastian.”
“Is this friend here?”
“No, he just left.”
“Well, now…” He stopped to keep himself from laughing. “Why on earth would you send away the one person that can identify this person?”
“I didn’t send him away.”
I was severely offended by how the cop was talking to me. Joe seemed to be right. I could see him cursing out the officer right about now for the way he was acting. Of course, if Joe were here, then he probably wouldn’t be laughing in my face.
“Well, can you call him back?” Officer Johnston leaned close. He sort of whispered it in a threatening manner.
“If I had his number, yes.” I hissed back.
I wasn’t afraid of him and I wasn’t about to try to call up Joe when he had specifically said all of this was going to happen.
“Well, there’s not much I can do.”
“You can’t write up a report?”
I didn’t want to let him leave that easily. I held my ground in front of the door.
“For what, now?”
“This letter that I got.”
I touched my pockets, I didn’t have it. I’d forgotten to get it back.
“You okay?” He asked when he saw me panicking.
<
br /> “I lost it.” I said.
“Then no, I can’t write up a report.”
“You can’t check the premises for me and make sure I’m safe?” I was pleading.
“Not if I don’t know who I’m looking for.”
He started to walk towards the door. He seemed as if he were going to leave no matter if I was in the way or not.
“Excuse me! But I am the only one who lives here. So if you find anyone, and I mean anyone, in this apartment, then they don’t belong here!”
I took a step towards him to claim alpha.
“Are you sure?” He asked looking at me curiously.
“Yes.” I stared back into his eyes. He was a terrible man.
He sighed, then told me to hold on a second. I watched him close his notepad and put that and the pen into his shirt pocket. Then he carefully reached for his belt and pulled out his flashlight. Great, that’ll do a lot of good. He adjusted his belt over his bulbous belly and then disappeared down the hallway.
I quickly stopped Spike from following. We sat on the floor together, waiting. After a few doors opened, and a few windows creaked, I heard him walking back towards me.
“Well, Ms. Frances, everything seems to be fine. Whoever left you that note has long left the area. I can assure you.”
For the last time, I hoped, I watched him adjust his belt. It was really rather worse from this angle.
“Thank you.” I said.
I stood up and let Spike go. He ran around the corner to see what all the fuss was about.
“If he’s not afraid, then you should know you’re safe.” Officer Johnston winked.
“And if you feel at any time that you aren’t safe, you just call us again or call me directly. But I checked every room and every closet. I looked under all the beds, and as you can tell, I checked the balcony. There is no one else in or around this apartment.”
He handed me his card. I thanked him for everything in a very dry voice. At least he was trying to make up for things. He smiled and nodded, then opened the door. I closed it and locked it behind him. I let out a huge sigh. It was more of a scream of frustration. Why was this happening? Staring at his card, I wanted to just rip it up. How pathetic. I tossed it on the counter. I’d throw it away later.
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