Monsters & Fairytales (46 page)

“I guess you’re right. I just hate seeing him so unhappy.”

“Maybe he’s unhappy because he feels alone.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“But you telling him what he should do to feel better, when he has it in his head what will work,
isn’t
helping. I’m serious; you should just ask him what he wants. I bet he has a lot to say.”

“I’ve-I’ve never tried that.” He admitted. He was sad.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s okay. You lost her, too.”

“I know. How are you so wise on this subject?”

“I guess I just want the same thing.” I mumbled.

“I’m here for you.” He promised.

“I know.”

“There’s really nothing you want?”

“I want my house back.” I blurted out.

“Why’d you sell it then?”

“Because I’m a coward.”

“Whoa, hey, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” He begged.

“I signed over my mothers’ house after she passed away.”

“My question still stands of why”

“I know. It’s just a long story. But, okay. I sold it because the bank insisted I wouldn’t be able to afford it. See, what really happened, is that the property value went up. They knew that they could get more for the house than I realized. So I signed the mortgage over to them to be able to not go into debt. Once I did that, they gave me the account to my trust fund both of my parents had left for me. I have a total of $873,000.36 in various bank accounts. That was more than enough to save our house, but I just did nothing.”

“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.