CHAPTER ELEVEN
I'm lying in my bed with my light blue cotton T-shirt and fuzzy blue pajama pants, because Laden insists that I be as comfortable as possible. He puts a cold, damp, washcloth over my tired, red eyes. It feels really good.
“You just relax for a little while. I'm going to stay with you in case you need me. If you happen to fall asleep, and wake up, and I'm not here, I'll be back very shortly with some lunch for us. If you're ok after that, then you can go to class. Or just stay here with me, and I can really help you relax.”
Reassuring me that what happened between us really did happen, Laden kisses my lips so soft and gentle. With my eyes covered by the washcloth, the kiss seems to be so much more intense. Butterflies flap wildly in my belly. He pulls my blanket up over me, tucking it under my neck, and then sits down on my computer chair.
I ask, "Laden, why do you think that I'm having these visions now, at this stage in my life, even though I've never had one before?"
He answers, "That's a good question. I don't have a definitive answer, but in my opinion, I think it has something to do with your age. Most of the kids here didn't have any abilities until after maturity. However, some kids are as young as thirteen." Laden pauses for a few seconds. "I've asked myself that question a lot. I have no answers for you, but I'm working on it. No more talking, you rest."
I’m quiet for about a minute before I can stand it no more. “What are you going to do between now and lunchtime? Please don't just sit there and stare at me.” I really hope he finds something to do to keep himself busy. “You really don't even have to stay, I feel fine.”
“Ok, I tell you what... I'll go get my laptop so that I can work on some of my own school work while you sleep; that way I won't be staring at you. I'll be back in a few minutes. You stay in bed.” With that said, Laden leaves my room.
It's so quiet, and I'm so exhausted. I welcome sleep. I must have drifted off quickly, because I don't even hear Laden come back in the room. Did I fall asleep? I take the washcloth off my eyes and look around. I guess I didn't fall asleep. Where is Laden when I need him? I feel weird… queasy almost.
I flip the blanket off, and slide out of bed. I'll just step out of my door to see if Laden is out there talking at the nurses’ station. If so, I can tell him that I'd like to go to the mess hall and get a ginger ale or something.
When I open the door, the scene unfolds. In a heartbeat, my fear level is at its highest. I’m not half asleep, I’m wide awake, sort of, I think. I turn to run back to my bed, but my room isn't behind me anymore. I am asleep, I think, right?! Obviously I'm not getting out of this dream, so I think I'll just get it over with quickly.
I step through the doorway into the food court in the mall. The ceiling has already collapsed and some people are screaming. Some are obviously dead, and others are just standing in one place, looking around. I think they're in shock. I tell myself to breathe, and it'll be over with soon.
Reluctantly I turn around to my left. Sure enough, there he is, the man with the bloody face. His ear is still hanging off his head, of course. Blood is all over him. I can smell it, and it's nauseating me. Wait, I can smell in my dream?
He speaks, “Young lady, can you help me?”
I'm trying desperately not to run screaming from this man. I remember what Dr. Jennifer had said about maybe he's talking to someone else, not me. I turn around to look on the opposite side of me, to see if anyone is standing there. There is no one.
I turn back to him. “Can you see me?”
“Of course I can. Since you're not hurt, maybe you can help me.” The bloody man isn't trying to be scary. He can actually see me. I can talk to him and he hears me. How can this be?
“What can I do? I'm not really here. This is just my vision. Besides, my body is frozen and I can't move… see.” I attempt to make a step, figuring that I'm not going to be able to, but I do; my body can move. How can this be happening? I feel the urge to do something, but what?
I look down to see that I’m wearing the same light blue cotton T-shirt and fuzzy blue pajama pants that I was wearing when Laden tucked me into bed.
The bloody man takes my hand in his. OhmyGod! He can touch me. Am I actually here somehow? While pulling me along behind him, he starts to talk again. His voice is so soft and monotone. I think he's in shock. “I need you to come over here and help this woman.”
“Wait! The best way that I can help you sir, is if you tell me where we are and what mall we are in. And tell me the date and the time. Please! I am seeing this from the past, and I might be able to stop this from even happening. Do you understand?”
I can do something. I can help. That's why I'm here. That's why I can see these visions. They're not coming to me to scare me, it's because I'm supposed to prevent tragedies that are shown to me. I'm not scared of having visions anymore.
The bloody man tells me the time and date, and the city and the name of the mall. I thank him and wish him luck. I turn around to go back to the doorway that leads to my room, but where is that? There's no tunnel or hole that I'm supposed to climb through. Am I stuck here forever? Wait, I remember how I got out of the vision from earlier, when I first saw the bloody man. I screamed. That brought me out of the vision.
It can’t hurt to try. I take a deep breath… I look up at the ceiling as straight and tall as I can, preparing for the pull back to my body. I close my eyes and scream as loud as I can.
Suddenly, I'm weightless, and being sucked backwards through the colours and the blackness so fast that I want to throw-up. I open my eyes to see Laden sitting on my bed with his hands on my shoulders, shaking me and anxiously repeating my name.
“Laura! Laura, wake up! It's just a dream, come back to me.” Laden looks scared. His eyes are huge, and even in this very dim room I can see that he's a little pale.
“Ok, ok, stop shaking me, I'm back now. What happened?” I know what happened from my perspective but I want to know why he was shaking me. Did I scream bloody murder in this world too?
“You were sleeping, and obviously dreaming, but you didn't look like you were having a bad dream, so I let you sleep. Then all of a sudden you sat up, looked up to the ceiling and screamed so loud. You scared the hell out of me! You just kept screaming until I shook you, and you woke up. What the hell did you dream?” Laden still looks scared, but the colour is starting to come back to his face.
“Is that a pop for me?” On my computer table is a tray full of food, and what looks to be a nice cold pop. He opens it and hands it to me. I take a long drink and of course, burp. Yeah that's sexy. I apologize.
“I know where the vision takes place and when. I can prevent this. I have to tell someone.”
Laden picks up his cellphone and punches in some numbers, and hands me the phone. “Arianna Phillips, how can I help you?”
“Hi, it's Laura Sadie here. I had a vision earlier with Dr. Jennifer's guidance, and just now, when I was asleep, I dreamed it again. But this time was different.” For some reason my stomach goes all queasy when I try to tell her about the man talking to me, and touching me, and that I could walk around. I decide not to mention it. “I know when and where it's going to happen.”
“Ok, first of all, how are you feeling?” Arianna is trying to keep her voice calm, but I can hear the anxiousness that she's trying to repress.
“I'm fine, Laden is here with me and he checked my vitals.” I wonder if I should have told her that, but then realized that Dr. Jennifer was the one who told him to stay with me, so it’s ok. “But I need to tell you where, so you can make it not happen.” I go on to tell her when and where I see my vision taking place.
“Laura, how did you get this information?” Arianna is really curious.
What do I tell her? I can't tell her the truth, because my stomach flips around and won’t let me, every time I try to. I have to lie, but I'm so bad at it. “I'm not sure how I know. I just do. Maybe I saw a sign or something, but I
'm absolutely, positively sure that the information is true. I just deep down really believe it.” I hope I sound convincing.
“Ok, don't you worry about a thing. I'll call the necessary people, and we'll do everything we can to prevent this from happening. So you just rest and take care of yourself. If you have any symptoms arise, then make sure you let Laden or Nurse Lorraine know about it.” Arianna sounds so strong, so in control. I wish I were more like her.
I hang up the phone, and hand it back to Laden “I'd really like to eat something. Is that our lunch?”
Laden grabs me and holds me to him. He wraps his arms around me, and I melt into him. I really do need someone to hold me. Normally it’d be my mom but she’s not here. I miss her.
After a few minutes, Laden releases me, kisses my forehead, then reaches over and turns on the light. He puts the tray in front of me, pulls up a chair next to the bed, and leans in to kiss me, but he stops abruptly. His eyes open wide, and he pulls a penlight out of his pocket. He shines the really obnoxiously bright light, in and out of my line of vision.
“Can you look up? Down, to the left, now right?” Laden takes the light from my eyes. “Can you see alright? I mean, is your vision clear?”
Ok, now I'm getting scared. “No, I have a bunch of little red spots in them because of your penlight. Otherwise, yeah, why?” I hop up almost knocking the tray off the bed, quickly walk to the bathroom, and flip on the light. I'm horrified by the reflection staring back at me.
My eyes look like balls of blood, and the bags under my eyes are purple. I look like I've been punched in both eyes; a few times. All I can think about is what is everyone going to say when they see me? They're going to freak out. I look like a monster.
Laden comes into the bathroom and stands behind me with his hands on my shoulders. In comparison to my ugly mug, his face is as perfect as an angel’s would be, maybe better. I still can't believe he likes me.
“Don't worry, Laura, it will go away in time. Come eat some lunch”. Laden pulls me away from the mirror, and guides me back to my bed to eat lunch.
Nurse Lorraine comes to my room. Wow, news really travels fast. Arianna must have called her, and asked her to check on me. It’s a good thing that Laden wasn’t hugging me or kissing me when she walked in.
She does a quick blood pressure test, and gives me a pill to take. She says that it will help me get some real sleep with no interruptions. I gladly take it. Sleep without dreams sounds amazing. I'm kind of scared to close my eyes. Maybe this pill will ease my anxiety and let me rest.
After I am almost forced to eat lunch, Laden insists that I lay back and rest. So I climb back under my covers and drift off into a dreamless sleep.
Colours In Blackness - A New Life Page 11