I bolted upright into a sitting position. Sweat was trickling down the sides of my forehead and my breathing was labored. The dreams were becoming more vivid as time passed and for the last couple of years, I had gotten less and less sleep.
Dark circles were forming beneath my eyes, making it look like I had gotten a good beating. It drew too much attention to me. My coworkers were constantly asking if I was okay and I knew some of them thought I got bullied or beat at home.
I never paid them too much attention, I was to preoccupied with what my dreams could possible mean.
Sometimes I dreamt of a world of red but the dreams switched between two versions.
One night, it would seem beautiful, with red grass covering every inch of the ground you could see. There would be two suns and the sight of it would be gorgeous as the rays of light hit the silver leaves of the trees.
All of it was so strange and I stopped questioning it long time ago. But then there would be nights when it was downright horrid. Piercing screams penetrated the silence that used to be there and painful wails would tare your heart apart.
You could hear mothers calling for their lost children and war cries as men attacked these metal-looking things. I remember as some of the men called them Daleks when they rushed to protect the young children. I remember how that simple word made people run in the opposite direction in fear.
These were some of the dreams that disturbed my sleep.
But then, there were days when I would dream of a man. A wonderful man and possibly the most impossible. In these dreams, he always had a different face but deep down, I knew it was the same man.
From what I could tell, he often had a close encounter with death but almost always got saved at the last minute by someone. And over the years, I learned to care for him, the man that only existed in my dreams.
I swiped the back of my hand against my forehead and slightly closed my eyes. A groan then escaped my lips as my alarm produced loud annoying beeps.
Not wasting any time, I grabbed the alarm and threw it into the wall, smashing it into pieces. I was surprised that this one had actually lasted longer than the other ones.
I let out a growl as I heard the doorbell ring. I was not a morning person and wasn't planning to be one anytime soon.
Shoving off the bed sheet, I sluggishly got to my feet and headed toward the front door after I slipped on a silk robe, not bothering to tie it. Whoever decided to grace me with their presence better have a pretty good damn reason to be knocking at this time.
After tripping on all the junk that wasn't packed and scattered around the living room, I managed to open the front door.
Without looking up, I opened my mouth. "Who summoned me? You better have a good damn reason because if not, I will skin you alive." I managed to growl out before a large yawn escaped my lips.
I finally looked up and my eyes widened as I saw my landlord standing in the doorway with a glare.
Instantly my cheeks began to redden as a noticed I was in shorts and a tank top that showed way to much skin for my liking. I pulled the robe closed and tighter around my body as I saw my landlord observe me from head to toe before speaking.
"Bay."
"Mr. Anderson." I gave a slow nod and swallowed the lump in my throat.
"You haven't paid me in a while." He resorted.
It was true. I was planning to move to London to get a fresh new start. The stares here in Arizona were too much. I lived in a small town and everyone knew
each other, making it impossible to keep secrets. Everyone knew about my lack of sleep and the dreams.
I don't even know how they found out, one day they just knew.
"I'm going to have to kick you out." He tried to hide a smile that threatened to escape.
I didn't even bother to look offended. He had been trying to get me to move out as soon as I got here. He didn't like me very much but I really didn't care because the feeling was pretty much mutual. He sort of gave off a creepy feeling with his eyes that were too small and the overflowing mustache that curled at the ends.
Slowly nodding I spoke softly, trying to speak with remorse.
"Give me three hours."
A surprised look appeared as he heard the time I told him to give me but it soon was replace by a scowl.
"Hurry up." With those last words, he turned around and disappeared around the corner.
I shuddered as a shiver passed through me.
I scrunched up my nose in disgust as I remembered I was still full of sweat before I headed to the shower.
After I showered and was dressed in black sweat pants, a blue hoodie and a pair of blue converse, I headed toward the living room where all my packed things were. I was ready to go and there where only about an hour left until Mr. Anderson came for the rent.
I wasn't really going to pay him, I just needed him out of the way. Before anyone starts to judge me, I had paid months in advance and he just kept saying I didn't pay. It was most likely one of his schemes to get me to move out.
I pulled the little luggage I had, outside the apartment and carefully locked the door before I walked toward Mr. Anderson's room and slid the keys in the mail slot.
Just because I didn't like him didn't mean I was just going to leave before giving the keys back.
"Crap." I muttered as a suitcase rolled over my toes.
Pulling the suitcase down the stairs of the apartment building, I approached the road and got into the taxi that was waiting for me.
I let out a breath as I put my seatbelt on.
"Where to?" The taxi driver asked me.
"Airport, thanks."
After about an hours drive, we finally arrived and I was beginning to get nervous about the idea of London. It wasn't too late to back down. I could just go back and pay Mr. Anderson and stay holed up in my apartment.
No. I couldn't do that, I didn't like him enough to do that and I would still have to see everyone in town . My dislike for him and the people in the town erased the doubt in my mind or at least for the moment as I opened the door to the taxi before handing the correct change to the driver.
Walking inside, my gut twisted in discomfort as I headed toward the short line. There weren't many people that were traveling and for that, I felt grateful. I wasn't very good socializing as I tended to scare people with my personality.
I couldn't exactly blame them, I got over exited with the smallest of things and always had a mischievous twinkle in my eyes that seemed to annoy people.
After a while of unsuccessfully avoiding a few people I recognized, I managed to board the plane without too much trouble.
I let out a sigh as I got to my seat but immediately tensed up as I saw who was sitting in front of me.
Two girls around the age of twelve were sitting together and holding hands while singing. It was really creepy. It didn't help that they were twins and were looking in my general direction with a blank look. I was trying not to judge but they were making it really hard.
I let a frown form as I sat down, feeling like I was forgetting something.
Crap.
Jason. My younger brother. That's who I was forgetting.
I was going to meet him in London since my parents were letting him move in with me. Lately my parents were always fighting and after arguing with them for a while, I convinced them to let Jason live with me for a while.
He was only a couple of years younger than me and we got along pretty well.
While I had just turned 18 about a month ago, he had turned 13. He was such a sweet boy and had the looks too.
I could tell that when he got older he would be a heart breaker.
"Excuse me." I apologized as I almost tripped over an old lady who was waving her cane around.
I left her alone when she kept muttering about teenagers now a days.
Shaking my head, I sat in my seat and glanced at the woman beside me. She had an adorable baby girl on her lap.
Pigtails were perched on the top of her head and a blue dress brought out her eye color. For the rest of the plane ride I kept making faces at her and hearing her giggles.
