Greeted

Ch 2. Cliff Hanger, sorry :)

The day I saw the tree move went normally. Nobody, other than my few close friends, interacted with me, and I made no attempt to interact with anyone. That night, though, my mind couldn’t running back to that moment. My gut instinct told me that I wasn’t supposed to see that. I just about fell asleep when, I heard a tap on my window. I jumped from my bed and looked outside. Nothing was there. The pine tree must have tapped the window. The night was dark, and lightly covered in gray misty clouds. A few clouds twinkled brightly. The moon glowed brightly in its quarter stage, just like in all the picture books. A cool, refreshing wind softly gushed through the trees. I was really a quite beautiful night, except for the fact that I felt like I was being watched.

Suddenly, I heard 3 more taps on the window, they were hard and short. No tree could have done that. I glance up at the window, frightened at what I might see. I have never felt more queasy, uneasy, scared, and apprehensive before. My heart pounds. My body shakes.

I see a man, sitting on the tree branch outside of my window. He is clothed in all black. He sits stealthy, like a ninja, ready to attack. I pull the covers over my head. I must be imagining this. Slowly, I lower the cover. He is still there. We make eye contact, he stares into my eyes and motions for me to come with his hand. I feel like I have to. My muscles tense, forcing me out of my bed. I am not incontrol. What am I doing? I am standing at the window. My body longs to go out and be with this guy, but my mind knows I am crazy. Why would I go with a complete stranger in the dead of night. I go back to my bed and hide under the covers. I should have screamed, or cried, but I was too overcome with shock to even comprehend what was happening.

I feel safer under the blankets, but then I hear him speak.

“Interesting, I must say. No one has ever disobeyed me before,” a man’s voice says to himself, but he clearly intends for me to hear him speak. His voice is deep, but it is not the voice of an old man. His voice is too close, and I shudder. He is in my room.

“Follow me,” he commands in a harsher tone.

“Why?” I ask in a surprisingly brave way.

“I won’t hurt you. It is simply protocol. I believe you were riding the bus this morning and saw a man in the trees. Is that correct? Assuming it is, as we are rarely wrong, then you probably have some questions and we have some, ahh, requests” he responds. His words are precise and clearly calculated.

“Fine.” I pull the covers off of my head and see him standing in front of the window on the floor in my room.