Dream

It is more of a memory that she has remembered during her sleep. so she dreams about it.

 I was crawling toward the door. More like searching for the door, because it was pitch-black in the small deserted room. I heard a small rustle behind me. "Who's there?" I frantically asked, my voice cracking on the last syllable. No one answered. I decided to ignore whatever it was and began to inch forward on my knees. I stretched my hands out in front of me, feeling for a wall. My hands hit cobble; the momentum made my body jerk back. I slowly moved my hands west, searching for the texture of a door. I went along like that for several minutes, finding nothing. I slumped on the floor, figuring that the only way out was probably through a secret passage of some sort. I sighed, my voice echoing in the small space. I heard a sound come from the far right of me. I turned my head, "Who's in here?". I tried to keep my voice calm, with no prevail. "Hello?" A male's voice called out. My body tensed, "Hello." I said, acting like it was a casual conversation. I heard a rustling sound and when his voice spoke again, it was much closer to me, "It seems that we are stuck in this room." I didn't answer. Wasn't it kind of obvious that we were stuck? It was silent for several minutes before he spoke again, "Well, might as well not be rude while we sit here in the dark. My name's Albert. Albert Mjupe." I stifled a laugh, imagining whoever the man was, standing in the dark with his hand outstretched, ready for a formal introduction. "Is your last name french?" I asked. "Why yes it is. I guess it sounds french from the sound of it." I nodded, not caring if his eyes had adjusted and he could see me or not. "And your name?" He prodded. "Kerii Roon." "Ah. Interesting name." "Thank you." We acted like nothing was wrong. We were sitting here in the dark discussing our name like we were in no danger at all. And maybe we weren't. However, my gut feeling and conscience disagreed with that. 

 

A pounding on the door made both of us jump; I knew because I heard both of us gasp at the startling sound. Somewhere on the other side of the room, a door was opened. If I had only crawled for a couple more minutes, I would have found that door. A voice spoke as it entered, "My diseased children. Sitting in the dark must be fun. Not anymore, though. Come to your feet. Follow me." I scrambled to my feet, hoping to conjure up an escape route. Albert stood silently and followed the voice to the door. I jogged to catch up. The light outside of the little room was blinding, making me blink several times before I was used to it. Looking ahead, I saw a long hallway, and searched it unsuccessfully for the man who had spoken to both of us.

 

I saw someone turn the corner swiftly, and began to walk after them. I heard Albert's footsteps behind me and realized I didn't know what his face looked like. I faced him and my breath was cut short. He was gorgeous. Auburn hair with blonde highlights at the front, and a face like one I had never seen before. His eyes were sapphire blue, they shined brighter than the scintillating lights. The cheekbones placed upon his face were raised up a little, but that wasn't too noticeable. His lips were so defined, so enthralling. Even his nose, bent slightly to the left, looked flawless compared to his complexion. I had to force myself to look away, and remind myself the matter at hand. I had no idea where I was, and that man who had spoken to us before was now long gone. 

 

"Coming?" The voice that belonged to the man said. I jerked my head toward his voice. I had heard him, but the man himself was no where in sight. "This way." Albert said, grabbing my hand and leading me down the hallway. I couldn't bring myself to focus on what might happen when we came face to face with the man, because my mind was entirely centered on the warmth that came from Albert's hand. We reached the corner, and turned right. A man with a white beard plastered across his chin stood there with his arms crossed. I choked back a gasp at the sight of him. He looked so angry. He almost looked like he was about to throw his hands around my throat at choke me to death. He didn't move, thankfully, but he did speak. "Find the clues. The antidote. I wait. In a place. Where you have gone. But have not been to yet. You will be there soon. Check each place. Each place a clue to the next. Places that you haven't been to, but will go to soon. Good luck." That was all he said, and by the time I had processed what he had said, he was gone. I turned my eyes on Albert, wondering if he knew what the strange words, that had no meaning to me, meant. I could tell from his eyes that he was just as confused as I was. 

 

I tried as hard as I could to remember how we had gotten out of that building, but try as I might, I had no clue. I couldn't even remember where that building was. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere I assumed. All I knew was that I was in a car. I remembered walking for a long time. Had we walked to this car? Was it Albert's car? It had a sense of familiarity to it. Maybe it was my car. My brain wasn't working with me, my head hurt like crazy. Everything was spinning. I saw Albert look over at me with a worried expression. "I'm fine." I answered to his anxious look. He looked back at the round, not quite satisfied. We drove for who knew how long. I hadn't even known where we were going to. When the car screeched to a stop, the spinning in my head wasn't as severe, but it was still there.

 

I watched as Albert got out of his side of the car and came to open the door for me. He helped me out, and I finally realized where we were. We were in Carson City, Nevada. That is where I lived. How did he know that? I wasn't sure. I looked at him and he locked his eyes with mine. "How?" Was all I asked. "I live here. About three blocks down. I thought that maybe you could stay at my house for a couple of days, so we can sort some things out." I shook my head. "I live here, too. I'm not sure how far away from where we are. But it is in this city." He thought about this, and then made me get back into the car. He slammed the door behind me and then crawled into the driver's seat. And then off we went. 

 

We were only driving for at the most fifteen minutes, but it felt longer than that because of the awkward silence. I wasn't quite sure why the feeling of awkwardness was in the air. But it was there. It seemed like one of us was destined to say something, however, we both kept our mouths clamped shut. I averted my eyes from his flawless features, and stared out my window. The outside began to look familiar to me, and I pointed out landmarks that I recognized. He turned into a neighborhood, and I realized that this was my neighborhood. I darted my eyes over to him, "How did you know this was where I lived?" Albert seemed surprised, "Oh, I was just going to drive through all the neighborhoods, until one looked familiar to you. I guess I got lucky. Tell me when we get near your house." I nodded and stared out the window again, trying to remember my address. I looked through the front window at saw a house coming up over the hill. It looked very familiar. "I think this is it." I told Albert, pointing out which house I meant. He pulled up the driveway, and cut the engine off. We sat there in the dark for several minutes. He looked over at me at the same moment I looked over at him. "What are we going to do about this?" I asked, trying to contain the fear in my voice. He shook his head, "I'm not sure. We can talk about this later, though. It's late, and I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." I nodded quickly, I had completely forgotten about my parents. I wonder how many hours its been since I've been gone. "What about the disease? What should I tell them?" "You are not going to tell them anything. We aren't going to tell anyone. We can't. If things get out of hand, that's when we'll have to let someone know. For the mean time, no one can know about this. Understand?" "Yes." I searched through the darkness for the door handle. Right as my hand was placed on it, I felt something grab my other hand. It was Albert's hand. I turned to him, and his face was only inches from me. I sucked in air, knowing I wouldn't be able to take another breath with him so close. Was he going to kiss me? Isn't that a little soon? I barely knew him. But he was so beautiful. And then I realized with so much intensity that I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted that so badly it was almost painful. I leaned forward a bit, while I stared into his sapphire eyes. "Don't worry. I'll figure something out." Was all he said. He leaned back, and I expected that meant that I was dismissed. I quickly found my mind, pushed the door out, and stumbled my way out of the car in the darkness. 

 

When I looked back so I could see his face one more time, he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were focused on something right behind my head. Albert's eyes were huge in terror. By the time I realized something was behind me and I had turned, Albert was out of the car with his arms around me, protecting me. I never got to see who it was who he protected me from, but I heard a snap of bones, and my stomach lurched at the noise. I made my eyes adjust as Albert left me where I stood to go punch whoever it was again. I stood up straight and strained my eyes through the darkness. The person I saw was a man, dressed in a light green robe. He had dark hair and thin rimmed glasses. My eyes hurt from them being strained so much but I had to figure out who this man was. I finally realized, from his wardrobe, that he was a doctor. As him and Albert fought, I heard them whispering violently to each other. The doctor spoke first, "I just want a sample." "A sample of what?" "The disease. I won't hurt you. I want to help the man. The man who gave it. I can spread it to everyone! We will rule this world. Him and I. We will be kings." I couldn't hide my shock. He wanted to take a sample of the disease and spread it through the whole world? How vicious could you get? When Albert spoke his voice was filled to the brim with anger, "But why?" The doctor laughed and responded, "That stupid scientist used the whole dose of the disease he had on both of you. If I can get a sample, we can make thousands of doses. And each one will be different. Of course, each one will have the main symptom: half your life span is gone." At that moment, Albert was stuck in a headlock as the doctor finished up his speech. Albert wasn't too found of what the doctor was doing, neither was I but Albert was the one fighting, and he elbowed him real deep in the ribs, releasing himself from the headlock. The doctor was on the ground, trying to get as many breaths as he could. I ran up to him and kicked him in the side, making him cough up blood, "LEAVE AND DON'T COME BACK!" I yelled at him. I looked over at Albert, who's face was full of bemusement. "I'll take it from here, Kerii. You go inside and make sure your parents aren't worried sick." I nodded and ran up my steps and in through the unlocked front door. 

 

When I was safe inside, I peered out the side window, and saw Albert pick up the doctor and thrust him into the car. He got into the driver's side, and drove off quickly. I sighed, wondering when I would see him again. I hoped soon, because I knew that I would be losing a lot of sleep over this strange boy. This boy named Albert. I walked to the living room, following Albert's orders to make sure my parents were okay. They were. It was as if I had only been out with my friends, and had not been forced to drink liquid from an insane scientist, only to be diagnosed with a strange and new disease. Who's consequences were unkown. My mother looked up and said, "Dinner's in the fridge. Put in the microwave for 2 minutes." My dad didn't even look up, just continued to read his book. I headed to the kitchen, and while my food warmed up, I cut up an apple. However, I was so tired I wasn't really paying attention, and I cut my finger. My ear drum shattering scream was not what I expected. It was only a little cut. But there it was, brick red color dripping from my finger. My head suddenly felt dizzy again. I didn't really care about the cut. I missed Albert, if he were here, he would know what to do. Or would he? I knew so much about him, but I couldn't seem to get my mind off of him. I watched as the floor underneath me became closer and closer to my head. I heard my mom call out, "I think she's about to faint!" And then my dad's voice, "What did she just say?" "Albert." I said. "Halberk. That's what she said." My father concluded. "Isn't that a kind of soap?" My mother's voice pondered. "ALBERT!" I screamed. And then everything went black.

 

 

I woke up screaming his name. But no one was home. It was just me. It was just a dream. A dream that wasn't a dream, but a memory. My memory. Of that night that I got the disease. The night that I met Albert, and knew I was in love with him. But more importantly, the crackly-voice man had said something. He had said that each place holds a clue. And that the places that have a clue, I have never been to, but I will soon enough. Did that mean the places that I kept getting 'transported' to? Good thing we were going to Mexico. That was the first place I had disappeared to. Maybe, after all these years, Albert and I would find the cure, and make it out alive. How I yearned for that.