Curiosity killed the cat.
The floor boards creaked, the winds heavy against the house, the fall leaves rustling along the cement walk way, and the distant smell of vanilla.
Katie had been woken for the third time this week covered in sweat and smelling faintly of vanilla. For some reason Katie had been having dreams, not nightmares, just bizarre dreams in some she'd see blue eyes staring back at her passionately but in others she'd feel herself being tugged downwards in to a pool of water as if she were being drowned then suddenly she'd awake in a blanket of sweat. Of course, Katie hadn't told any one. Who was there to tell? Her mother Genevieve barely paid any attention to her spending most of her time at the country club or droning on and on about how Leanna, the housekeeper, wasn't doing a good enough job except Katie knew her mother was jealous and afraid that her husband was attracted to Leanna.
Then there's her father Paul who spends more time at the office than at home. He'd say he was tired when he came home but we knew it was because he had no intentions of being around us . So who else is there in her life? No one. Katie had family but no true friends. She was a cheerleader but she hardly hung out with the others. She was into books and music not fantasizing about boys and her makeup. Her only true friend was herself and Burt Hummel, a senior at McKinley, who she shared two classes with and they'd instantly become friends even though she was only a sophomore.
She then contemplated calling him or not since it was four a.m but decided to call anyway. She went downstairs and grabbed the house phone careful not to be to loud as she dialed in the numbers. Katie listened as the phone was picked up and a deep voice became clear on the other side.
"Hello." Burt said voice dripping with sleep.
"Hey Burt its Katie." She spoke slowly and thought of how the gears in his head were probably trying to process the words.
"Hey princess. What's up?" Burt said suddenly awake.
"You think you can meet me by the park in ten?" She asked hopefully.
"Yea I'll be there. "
They said their goodbyes and Katie began climbing the steps to her bedroom.
The chill of her room hit her instantly as she walked in. The air was hauntingly cold as if she had been transported to Antarctica. As Katie began getting dressed she heard laughing but it wasn't throaty and deep like her fathers or airy like her mothers it was kid-like and nervous. Suddenly the eyes popped into her head they were oceanic blue like her own and she had began to feel like she had seen them before. The smell of vanilla wrapped her body like a silk scarf something about it too was vaguely familiar but it was nothing but loose strings. Katie staggered down the stairs again and out of the door down the concrete driveway and to the park. She was surprised to see that Burt had made it there before her
but was happy that she didn't have to sit alone and wait.
"Hey what's the emergency?" Burt said walking towards her. It was something about Burt that she had never seen in the other guys at McKinley maybe it was maturity or maybe how he never took life too seriously the way he seemed to breeze by in a let-it-happen type of way.
"Have you ever had a dream that scared you?" Katie asked not wanting to waste any time.
"Yeah once."
"What was it about?" Katie asked quizzically.
"Well in it this girl woke me up at four in the morning." Burt said a sly smile creeping upon his face.
Katie shook her head before walking to sit down on the bottom of the slide. "No I mean one where it's like a puzzle where it's nothing but bits and pieces as if well I don't know Burt but like its haunting yet intriguing." Katie said letting the last few words be drawn out.
"Nope. But when did yours start?"
He said taking a seat on the riding horse.
"Monday. In the dream I was walking in some woods when I saw eyes look at me through a tree. ApparentIy I thought nothing of it until I heard a scream then a little laugh. Ive been hearing that laugh a lot lately. So, I kept walking until I reached a lake and it was somewhat shallow."
"What do you mean "somewhat shallow"? Either it is or it isn't."
"It was like a kiddie pull except I wasn't able to stand you know? Like quicksand maybe I don't know anyways I was being pulled down and the scream only got higher and the laugh closer as if it were a prank for someone but dreadful to someone else. All I remember vividly is the eyes. They were blue and sharp but their were tears like the person was in pain." Katie hadn't realized it until now how much she had actually remembered.
"Do you know anyone who could of drowned or been killed in the woods?" Burt's eyes were steady as he looked down at the wood chips, then up at Katie.
"No. I just don't understand any of it. It's scary to think of it and annoying to not have any answers." Katie said standing and making her way to Burt.
"Have you ever heard of Lily Rose Dying Day?"
Burt shook his head no.
"What's that?"
"It's a tale my nana would tell me. Lily Rose was a six year old girl from Pennsylvania she and her family moved here in 1902. She was found dead on her seventh birthday near the willow tree by Crass st. That's where her family's house was before the city tore it down. Its weird because her brother was apparently close friends with the mob that killed her. Actually my nana said that she was walking to a friends house to give her a slice of cake and her brother was who sent her. Then they stopped her in the middle of the street and drug her to the water. All because some people believed her family to be a group of witches and they drowned her in Gum Bayou then left her by the tree to symbolize a religion. My nana said that her family immediately moved without taking the body with them." Katie finished.
"Why wouldn't they take their daughters body?" Burt asked.
Katie shrugged looking down at her watch. 6:10. They had been out there for nearly two hours, she hadn't even noticed how long they had been talking until Burt muttered something about practice and offered to drop her at home. They drove in complete silence nothing making noise except for the light sputter of the trucks engine. They pulled into Katie's driveway and Katie noticed that the lights in the house were on.
"Dads home." Katie said to herself.
Getting out of the car she says goodbye and says she'll see him later.
Sometimes I feel like a stranger walking into my house and I can't even help the feeling of being watched sometimes.
I walk into the kitchen only to see my father standing in pajamas, hair scattered, and a bowlful of cereal on the counter in front of him.
"Hey dad." I say walking closer to him.
"Hi honey." My father said turning around.
"Dad can I ask you a silly question?"
"As long as you don't mind me giving a silly answer." He says with a throaty laugh.
"Have you ever had a dream that scared the crap out of you?" I ask grabbing the bowl of cereal and taking a bite.
"Yeah I have why?"
"Because lately I've been having them some where I drown, others where I only see eyes. I just don't understand daddy." I say sitting onto the counter.
My dad looked at me intensely before drawing in a breath and releasing.
"When I was 15 I started having the dreams, it was like yours right before my sixteenth birthday as well. I was scared at first but my mother told me it was nothing more than a dream weeks after I stopped having them. " He said suddenly intrigued by the hem of his shirt. My father looked up at me with green eyes and an earnest smile before saying.
"Katie whatever it is be careful."
I looked at him startled by his sudden tone.
"Why dad?"
"Because Katie curiosity killed the cat. " With that he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
Something about the way my father had looked at me made my heart beat faster and nerves shake. Why'd he think that I'd go after anything if it was just a "dream". Strange things had always happened to me like this around my birthday. Last year was noises. The year before was visions. I don't whether it was my mind playing with me or not but I was going to find out.