章 8: Part VIII

Sitting all alone in the room, I stare through the window into the forest, looking deeply but seeing nothing at all as it has only my eyes but not my mind. Since Dylan left to God knows where, I've been thinking, trying to understand my situation, asking myself a lot of questions that I can't seem to find an answer to.

I look down at the key in my hand. "Let it lead you", were the last words he spoke to me, leaving me hurt, scared, confused and clueless. I still can't believe Dylan's been lying to me. About his birthday, his brother, Selena, everything.

I can't trust him anymore, I don't even know if this key is a trap.

"Pfft, who am I kidding", I say to myself as I lay down with my face in the pillow. I know I still love him. It's like I'm programmed to love him that I can't help it even if I tried and in a way, I still trust him. He's my husband after all.

My stomach grumbles and that's when I remember I haven't had anything to eat all day and it's past eight. I get up, looking for my slippers so I could go get something to eat. "You should eat alot, we'd never know when we're eating our last", Betty's words come running back into my head and the image of her sinister smirk gives me chills making me sit back down, deciding against going downstairs anytime soon.

Has she always been this way or did it just start? Why do I have to die? Why does Dylan have to die? What about Jake, what's his role in all this? Why did Dylan have to succumb to coming if he knew exactly what was going to happen? Why do I keep seeing bulls in my dreams and why do I keep hearing voices and seeing things?

I never thought twenty two would be the number of years I'd live. I never thought nine would be the number of months I'd spend with Dylan.

We had plans, big plans. He wanted baby girls..only girls and I always disagreed because all my life, I've always wanted a small baby boy that'd look like my husband. I think I know why he only wanted girls now. I shouldn't have argued so much. I must've hurt him with my baby boy fantasies. A rogue tear escapes from my eye, and the others follow quickly like birds released from their cage.

This is the complete opposite of what I thought this vacation would be.

"Crystal?", A knock on the door startles me and I quickly put the key in the dresser, wiping my face with my sleeves and clearing my throat.

"Yeah? Who's it?", I say aloud without opening the door, my heart beating a little faster than normal.

"It's Jake. I brought up dinner" I hear Jake say from outside the door. Why would he bring my food? Where's Dylan? I don't know if I should open the door or not. My brain tells me to stay put but then, it'd be rude and suspicious not to.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door slightly only enough for my head and one hand to go through, leaving the other on the door knob.

"You didn't have to," I try to smile at Jake whose standing with a tray of covered food in his hand, "thanks. The room's a mess" A somewhat believeable excuse for why I'm not letting him in.

"Oh, it's fine", he says smiling equally, handing me the tray which I take with my free hand, "I just wanted to check up on you since Betty told me you're awake already."

"I'm fine, as you can see", I smile widely to prove my point and he laughs a little, nodding his head.

"Alright then, have a good night's rest"

"Thanks, you too." I say and close the door behind me, resting my back on it and releasing a sigh of relief. Although nothing seemed off about him but I was still scared.

How did I go from being overly comfortable with them, to being scared and cautious around them. This is all so crazy.

I put the food on the table and open it. It's a simple dish of chicken sauce and pasta with a bottle of water and orange juice. It smells delicious and I my hunger suddenly triples. Without much time wasted, I sit in front of the dresser and take a large gulp of water before diving into the food. Few minutes and only chicken bones and a small quantity of juice is left.

"That was good", I sigh and tell my satisfied self in the mirror. So far, nothing's gone wrong and I've been alone for a while. I'm sure if there's something in this house, maybe a ghost, it'd have taken it's chance to come for me. Dylan was probably just exagerrating. But he lied about his birthday and Selena.

"No, no," I tell my reflection in the mirror, "I won't think about it". The dark circles around my eyes are really evident and my hair's a mess. I look sick. Sighing, I put my hand in my hair, trying to make it a little better when I notice something off. My eyes. It's usually a bright blue when I'm relaxed and happy and it becomes dull when I'm overly stressed but this time, I don't think it's blue at all.

I look closely at myself in the mirror and see it's red. Blood red. My eyes widen and my heart jumps into my mouth. I blink a couple times real quick and look deeply but it's not changing, it's still red. How did this happen? Why is my eye color red? Suddenly, my reflection smirks, opposing my frowning face. My eyes widen even more and my heart races, beating so fast I'm scared it might explode.

The smirk turns into an eery smile, revealing really long canines I don't remember having. Out of reflex, I try to get up and run but I only knock over the chair, falling to the ground. Not having the strength or time to get up, I crawl hurriedly to the door and just as I'm about to open it, it opens by itself, hitting me and making me scurry away quickly into the room, scared of what might come in this time.