Pg 1

‘Cold…wake me up inside…Save me! Save me…please…’

 

Matt woke with a start, the girl’s voice echoing in his head. He brought his hands up to cradle his skull, his elbows on his knees. Still the girl’s voice echoed in his mind, a call for help he couldn’t answer. Just who was this girl, exactly? And why…how…could he hear her voice? Over the last six weeks, his dreams had been filled with this stranger’s voice, gradually growing more distant, more desperate and weak every time he dreamed…

A knock at his door startled him out of his thoughts.

“Matt! Are you up yet? We have to leave in ten minutes,” his little sister, Sophie, called.

“Okay!” he yelled back, rolling out of bed. It was almost eight o’clock already; he only had fifty minutes until school started! He couldn’t be thinking about some strange girl’s voice in his dreams…he had school today, and not to mention a girlfriend. He couldn’t be thinking about this girl. But then again, Michaela had seemed distant lately…

Shrugging into his hooded jacket and pushing his feet into his shoes, Matt headed towards the door. Eight minutes to spare…

*

Matt walked home in a bit of a daze. Michaela had broken up with him. Right in the middle of the school canteen, too, in front of everyone. Just like that. And then later, he had seen her hiding in a corner kissing his former best friend, David. He had expected to be shocked, angry…but he was actually…relieved. His thoughts turned to the voice of the girl he had heard in his dreams for six weeks. Who was she? Why did she need saving?

 

Nodding to his mum as usual, Matt headed upstairs to his room. He hadn’t had an email from his pen-pal, a person who used the name cat_lover; for about six weeks…was something wrong, maybe? Or maybe they just hadn’t been able to get to a computer. Even after six months of talking to the person, Matt didn’t know if they were male or female. It was difficult to tell. Matt made his way upstairs and turned on his computer, opening up his inbox as he dumped his bag on his bed.

 

Fifteen unread emails!

 

He groaned, but then brightened slightly. Perhaps one of them was from cat_lover… He sighed in disappointment when it mostly turned out to be spam. He had never realised just how much he looked forward to cat_lover’s emails. Matt brightened slightly when he saw a non-forwarded message, but then slumped. He didn’t know the sender. Wait…the subject was cat_lover. Maybe it was a friend or something like that… Clicking on the message, he waited impatiently for the page to load. When it had, his face paled and he almost fell off his chair as he saw the contents. No…this wasn’t good.

 

Dear lion_on_the_plains; (it read)

My name is Deborah, and I am cat_lover’s mother. I feel I need to tell you what has occurred recently, as my daughter would look forward to your emails eagerly, and I know you were good friends…

Matt was surprised for a moment. Cat_lover was a girl? He shook his head and continued reading.

…Six weeks ago, my husband and Imogene, (cat_lover), were in a car accident. My husband died instantly, and Imogene has lapsed into a coma. I am terribly sorry to tell you this way, but I had no other way of contacting you. Sorry again;

Debbie.

Matt fell off his chair, then yelled out to assure him mum that he was alright when she asked what had happened to cause the crash she heard. His face was pale, his thoughts running haywire. Imogene was in a coma. Wait…six weeks since the crash? Did that mean that…somehow…Imogene was contacting him through his dreams?

 

When he had recovered from the shock, Matt climbed back into his chair and clicked the reply button. He had to find out more…

 

Dear Deborah, (he wrote)

My name is Matt Evans. Thank you for letting me know what happened, but I feel like I already knew something was wrong. You said six weeks ago…which day was the accident? It is just that I felt like something bad would happen on the Wednesday six weeks ago, and I don’t know what happened to make me feel like that.

 

I am sorry about Imogene and your husband, I truly am. I hope you will accept my condolences and that I am not intruding with my question.

Sincerely;

Matt.