Tags:
Suspense,
Psychological,
Romance,
Literature & Fiction,
General Fiction,
Mystery; Thriller & Suspense,
Contemporary Fiction,
romantic suspense,
Contemporary Women,
Women's Fiction,
Mystery & Suspense
Rose,” I whisper.
After she leaves, I change into a silk night shift and go to bed.
Chapter Nine
Bad dreams haunt me that night.
In one of them, I am a dove. I’m stranded in a deep pit and can’t fly up. There are snakes slithering around me, coming closer and closer…
Suddenly I’m myself again. I’m standing over the counter in the kitchen. There’s a big butcher’s knife in my hand. The blade is soaked red with blood. I look down, expecting to find the bird—and see Stonehart there instead. I’ve severed his head from his body. Dead, glaring eyes look at me, full of accusation…
I drop the knife and scream.
I’m back in my mom’s apartment as a teenager. It’s a school night, but I can’t sleep. Mom and her latest boyfriend are in the other room, with the TV turned up full blast. The news anchor’s voice penetrates the paper-thin walls.
I know they’re not watching TV. Mom always turns it up this loud when she’s having sex, as a warning for me not to interrupt.
I turn over and hug the pillow over my ears. There’s a big chemistry test tomorrow, and I’m not going to get any sleep…
I’m by myself in the rundown apartment I can barely afford. It’s spring of my senior year of high school.
I stare at the collection of letters in front of me. Admission decisions . Finally, the culmination of everything I’ve worked for my whole life is staring at me.
And I’ve just been sitting there, filled with the worst type of nervous anticipation, looking at them for hours.
Most of them are small. Rejections, I’m sure. But there’s one big, heavy envelope from Yale…
I’m walking through campus my first day in New Haven. I’m still struck by disbelief that I’m here. I am actually here .
The buildings are all so pretty. The architecture is wonderful. I promise myself that I’m going to take advantage of every single moment I have to be outside over the next four years.
A fat raindrop lands on my nose. I look up—and am suddenly being pelted by hundreds of them. I shriek, half in delight and half in excitement, and run for a big willow tree where the grass is still dry.
I get there, and find two other girls who had the same idea to take shelter.
“That’s one hell of a welcome,” one of them says. She’s really pretty, with long, straight black hair and olive dark skin. “Are you two freshman?”
“Yes,” I say in unison with the other girl. She’s pretty, too, but in a more subdued and understated way.
“Great,” the first one says. “Me too. I’m Fey.”
“Sonja,” the second girl offers.
“I’m Li—” I start to say, but am cut off as one long branch of the willow tree whips down and wraps itself around my body.
I open my mouth to scream. Another branch forces its way into my throat, cutting off my air supply—
I come to and find myself sputtering and thrashing. For a moment, I’m still stuck in that dream. The branches are tight around my body, and I can’t move. I cannot move…
When reality dawns on me, I wish that I had never awakened.
I’m not alone. Stonehart is here with me. I can see his shape towering over me in the dark.
My wrists are bound to the bed posts around me. There’s a gag in my mouth. I try to speak, but manage to produce only muffled sounds.
“You’re up,” Stonehart intones. He sounds vaguely amused. “You were moving around so much in your sleep, I was afraid you’d hurt yourself.”
He trails a finger along the length of my arm and clutches the strap holding my wrist. “I thought I’d help keep you safe.”
My eyes widen in a mixture of fear and indignation. He came in here while I was sleep, then gagged and bound me?
“Of course,” he continues, his eyes glimmering in a cruel way, “I can’t pretend I went through all this trouble just for your benefit.”
He takes something out of his jacket pocket. Fear and indignation turn into full-blown panic when I catch the glint of a silver blade.
I fight