"I don't understand how I can know so little about love and how it works. How I can be so bad at it when it's all I've ever wanted.
All I've ever known is about leaving or being left."
— Carrie Ryan (The Dark and Hollow Places)

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Chapter 18 – Omen

I was running. Running without a stop, with nowhere to go. The darkness did not frighten me. I was more afraid of what lurked behind me; following my trail with a heavy disgruntled breathing. My feet became sluggish in a slow motion as though I was in a movie being paused frame by frame. I glanced back. My attacker soon came into view, his livid features fixed in a snarl.

A pair of gnarled hands clawed on my shoulder with a grip so violent as though to rip me apart.

Help! I mouthed but no words came. My clothes were being torn piece by piece when a pair of furious hands sprouted from behind my attacker, fingers raking through his beady eyes, before he was hurled out into the gnashing darkness. The monster vanished.

And there he stood — my savior, still wearing all that fury over his delicate features, which diminished almost instantaneously as he glanced fondly at me, almost as if he were afraid.

I reached out my hand for him but he too was swallowed by the darkness. I screamed his name over and over with the tears freely flowing, as I ran aimlessly in a frantic attempt to search for him through the pitch black sea. But I couldn’t find him. So I kept running and running without end.

The warm rays that passed through the window touched my face. I bent forward almost robotically, leaning on the bed frame for some support.

It was just a dream.

My head hurt like hell. It must’ve have been the wearing effects of the sedatives. I ran my hand on my temples and found a huge bump, like a golf ball split into two with the other half glued onto my scalp. I palpated it impulsively.

“Ow…” I winced at the pain that started to throb violently.

My scalp stung all over where the tall man in the trench coat had yanked a clump of my hair. It felt like my head was burning. There were tender soft purple-bluish marks on my arms and for all I knew I could have turned into a zebra with blue stripes.

A wave of lightheadedness gushed when I tried to stand up, but I did anyway, groping on the dresser, then to the study chair to keep my balance, cursing under my breath as I did. As if I needed this. As if my coordination wasn’t horrible enough to keep my left foot for tripping on my right in a perfectly good day.

Buzz!

The sound of something vibrating against hard wood knocked the wind out of me. The buzzing sound reverberated three times, then I saw it. The phone Leon gave me was on my side table, skidding to a slight angle as it vibrated in regular intervals.

I wobbled to it and grabbed the mobile phone with trembling hands that I almost dropped it on the floor. I fumbled with the buttons but found none then tried swiping my hand furiously on the screen.

Ugh.

It was a touch-screen phone for god’s sake. It occurred to me how I sometimes I hate technology which was ironic for a nerd, I know.

“Hello…” I placed it on my ear, without looking at the caller I.D.

“Sarah!” Leon’s voice was urgent but I felt a gush of relief in my chest. “Sarah, Sarah…” He sounded frantic then kept silent for a few seconds.

I would reply but my mind went blank as his voice flooded my system. I closed my eyes and waited as I knelt down, leaning on the side table as my knees started to weaken.

He sighed. “Are you… okay? What am I saying? Of course you’re not okay. Hey, can I come… as in now?”

“I—I’m fine… A little dizzy, but perfectly fine.” I was genuinely perplexed that my voice sounded eerily calm.

There was a short pause. “I… I’m sorry, Sarah. I’ll never let you deal with this ever again. I shouldn’t have let—“ He groaned exasperatedly as he argued with himself. “This isn’t right. I’m so sorry.”

“For what? Leon, you saved me.” His words confused me.

“For everything…” A short pause again. “I should go… Maybe for good.” His voice almost broke making my stomach twinge in agony.

There was a sudden wave of misery in his tone that I didn’t like. His words seemed to have more meaning than the superficial as though he was to bid me goodbye and I was never to see him ever again. And I couldn’t be happy anymore. My chest pounded viciously as my breathing became erratic. I knew he could sense it from the other end of the line.

“Sarah… what’s happening?”

I paused to appease my tension then managed a croak. “You’re scaring the hell out of me…”

“I know,” he said flatly. “I saw how I scared you… And I’m sorry.” There was disgust in his voice.

Did he think I was so much of a coward for his taste? Perhaps I’ve become too needy and that made him decide that he didn’t want me anymore. But was it just a dream when he said… he loves me in front of my mother? Or was it just another pigment of my imagination? Nothing made sense anymore. But then, it did not made any sense since hour one.

“Y-you can come… if you want.” My voice broke as I fumbled on the phone once more to hang up.

A tear rolled down my cheek. Please come.

I didn’t know what for, but deep inside, the answer was screaming at my face. I was just too terrified to acknowledge it. Denial was and will always be my best friend.

I rushed to the shower and froze my brain with cold water.

The agonizing feeling made me sink to my knees, gripping on my wet clothes so as to assure myself that I still existed. I closed my eyes, feeling the cold water run from my head to the rest of my body, as though thousands of minuscule daggers of ice stabbed me from all directions. At least, it numbed the throbbing torture that had amassed in my chest.

“Yes, I think she’s still asleep though.” Mom’s voice was drowned by the rush of water against the tiled floor. “Could you bring this up to her just in case she’s awake?” she said to someone.

That someone replied curtly and said something I couldn’t hear. Or perhaps, I refused to hear. I didn’t know whose voice it was but it lingered melodiously in my ear. Or at least, I refused to remember.

“Sarah,” The strange silky voice called my name as my door creaked open.

I would’ve stormed out of my bathroom and yelled out to the unfamiliar guest to get the hell out of my room but couldn’t. Instead I remained frozen, curled up with my face buried on my knees as the torrent of icy stream washed away my fears and what little was left of my sanity.

There were soft knocks on the bathroom door.

“Hey… It’s me,” the enchanting voice said. The door swung in by itself as his knuckles knocked gently against it.

I caught a glimpse of his stunned features and stared blankly at his widened eyes for a moment then buried my face on my knees again. I did not recognize him.

The shower ceased down pouring icy droplets on my nape as a warm sheet flitted onto my shoulders.

“Sarah,” he took my shoulders and pressed on them gently. I wasn’t aware how he got there so fast. “What on earth are you trying to do?”

I lifted my gaze and saw his livid but mostly apprehensive face, thinking that it would’ve been perfect without the furrow between his brows and the stiffness of his jaws. His crystalline blue eyes smoldered for a few seconds then softened with a sigh.

I shivered at his touch and it was the first benign sensation that occurred to me since all these pain and fear started to overwhelm my thoughts.

And then it all had begun to register in my brain; his dark wispy locks, the rosy perfect lips, his slightly angular face, those brows that angled flawlessly and those orb-like blue eyes, so much like the sea in a tranquil moonlit night that seemed to probe so deeply into my soul.

Suddenly I woke up from my self-imposed coma.

“Leon…” My voice was harsh from the cold, barely even audible.

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Hi there! I couldn't belive that we've finally arrived at 18! This all because of your support! Please VOTE you know so that I have an idea whether people actually read my work... *sighs* Thanks :)