Chapter Three

She could feel his presence even before she saw him. He was sitting at the counter top, his fingers wrapped around a beige coffee cup.

Her feet stopped moving, and she stood there, several feet away. Slowly, he turned his head to see her. A smile crept onto his face.

“It’s okay. You can come closer,” he said, his voice beckoning her to move forward. Carefully, she crossed over to the other side of the counter.

“There is coffee in the pot,” he said, nodding towards the pot. She turned to get a cup but his voice stopped her. “The cup is already in front of it.” He knew she was going to come down. He was waiting for her. Her hand shook as she poured the coffee. He was watching her every move. Observing. Memorizing.

“Come and sit down next to me,” he instructed, his eyes motioning to the chair next to him. She nodded, her eyes not leaving his, and sat down. Every motion her body made was forced, and his eyes were the controller. “You are one of the unbelieving.” His voice was direct, warm. Electric.

“So what if I am?” she queried, her voice making its way out, though how, she could not say. Maybe he controlled her ability to speak as well, and was simply allowing her to speak now.

“You’ve been of the dead for far too long Riley. Tell me how you cope with the realism that has taken over your body and soul.”

“You already know.”

“I do, but you do not. It is in your subconscious. I want to draw it out of you.”

“I escape. I know what is real. Sometimes I shun it, on purpose. When it becomes too much to handle.”

“Has it ever occured to you that the borders might be blurred? That the escape may be the true reality?”

Rileys head whipped up to look at him. Her eyes were holding his gaze. She was attempting to search him. She couldn’t. His barriers were too strong.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

His eyes pierced hers, and he smiled. “You know what I mean. I know your escape. I know your hidden worlds that you’ve created in your mind to cope with the disgust in this world. I know the friends you’ve invented, and the worlds you’ve destroyed. And I know you’ve thought that maybe the dream is more real than this world you’re in now.”

“It’s not possible,” she whispered, her eyes widening with shock and realization.

“You are remembering, aren’t you? You are remembering your first creation. The one you have carried in the back of your mind all these years. The one you shut away so long ago.”

“You weren’t real. I created you. You helped me through. And then I locked you away.”

“I told you sometimes the borders blur.”

“Then where have you been all these years? When I’ve needed you?”

He smiled. “Just because I was part of your escape doesn’t mean I don’t have a world outside of your mind.”

“Why have you come back?”

“It’s time to make you breathe.”

Reviews

[Edeline Wrigh]

I really like the end of this chapter; I like the way you've used the repetition of "sometimes the borders blur" by making it "more meaningful" to Riley the second time.

I also like the concept you seem to be presenting overall. It's certainly a personal bias because of my own experiences, but I really like the way you're introducing the idea of a creation meant to help oneself "reappearing" years later when one needs it.

The way you end your chapters is really interesting. You have a tendency to change the entire "feel" of the chapter with the last line without it seeming forced.

Kudos.

[Jamie Lee]

Alright, you've got my attention. At first I was thinking Inception with the creating new worlds bit, but now I'm realizing it's nothing like that. This is incredibly imaginative.