Free Between by Lisa Swallow Page A

vision.
    "Is she going?" asks Clarissa. "She can’t go yet."
    Alek says nothing and turns back to me. "Don’t let her touch you."
    "Why would she touch me?"
    Alek sits on the arm of the chair and takes off his jacket, eyes fixed on Clarissa.
    Her eyes flick between us. "She can’t go yet!"
    "She’s not going anywhere."
    Folding her arms across her chest, Clarissa shakes her hair back over her shoulders. "You don’t need her right now. She can help me."
    "No , she can’t! Look at her!"
    The girl edges closer and peers at me. "She’s faded." Then she looks at Alek. "And you’re stronger. Did you do it? Why?"
    "I haven’t touched her! And nor should you…" His voice growls enough of a warning the girl backs off.
    "But you’ll share her? Lizzie said you'd help me do what I needed and I can't do that on my own. I need..."
    "Just fuck off," he interrupts.
    Clarissa snorts at him. Alek stands, moving toward her. "It wasn’t me; it was one of you. The one responsible has gone now. For good. And if you don't leave me alone, you’ll be next."
    The pale girl’s face turns whiter, and she steps back. "No. You didn’t…wouldn’t."
    "Try me."
    Throughout the conversation, my hearing dulls and keeping my eyes open is gradually more difficult. Why can’t I go to sleep? Alek and the girl continue their mysterious conversation about me, their words adding to the sensation I'm dreaming. Being talked about as if I’m some kind of commodity to be shared would normally get me up and yelling at them, but I can’t be bothered. The pain subsides as my mind blackens and sleep approaches.
    T he muted colours from the alleyway outside the pub are replicated in the lounge room, as if I’m in a black and white version of the house. I’m the only person here now; besides a strange whooshing noise in my ears, I can’t hear anything. Alek and the girl have vanished and I’m no longer cold. Bed. I need sleep. Dreaming about going to bed? Weird.
    I climb the stairs, step by step , and pause when I get to the landing outside Alek’s room. The greyness darkens around me and the whooshing becomes a humming, voices clamouring in my head. I know I should go to bed, but my dreaming self wants to look in mysterious rooms. Not Alek’s, the one next to it where the girl came from that day. As I step closer, I notice light beneath the door, which relieves me because I didn’t want to walk into a dark room, even in my subconscious. I step closer to the door, hand outstretched. I know what’s behind the door: peace and quiet, away from annoying guys in leather jackets and freaky girls with red hair .
    Am I in the shower? I jerk awake and open my eyes. Alek looks down at me, holding an empty glass. Cold water trickles off my face and soaks my hair.
    "What the hell?" I yell at him, sitting up.
    "I said don’t go to sleep!"
    I want to push him, throw something at him, scream, but surprise prevents me. I blink at him. Never mind he threw water at me, he’s luminescent. "Are you glowing ?"
    "Am I?" He says it as if he doesn’t realise or thinks I shouldn’t notice.
    "Yeah. I’m dreaming again, aren’t I?"
    "Where did you go?"
    "When?"
    "When you slept just then."
    "Nowhere, I was in the house."
    He tenses. "This house? Where?"
    I wipe water from my face and smooth back my damp hair. "Just upstairs. I was going to bed. In my dream. Which is where I’m going now. In what I hope is a bad dream."
    I get to my feet and wobble slightly, grabbing the sofa arm for stability.
    "Rose, if you sleep, you won’t wake up." Alek says the words quietly, like a doctor trying to soothe a patient.
    "Don’t be stupid." But his words trigger goosebumps across my skin.
    Alek faces me and I shiver; from the water cooling my neck and shoulders, and from his proximity. His expression holds a frightening intensity, darkened eyes filled with concern and something unknown. An unexpected desire for his touch shudders through, the arousal edging out the fear.
    "I’m