A/N Thank you so much to my reviewer! I'm going to do a double update today so you can really get inot the story, hope you like it! R&R
Chapter 2 – Lamp
I panicked. My eyes flew open but I could barely see. I tried to stand only to find my legs held in some kind of prison. I thrashed wildly on the surface I was pressed against and attempted to get free. I choked back a scream of terror, trying desperately to convince myself that there was a rational explanation for why I could not move my legs. My blood turned instantly to ice in my veins as I heard movement from a far, dark corner. A light flickered on.
Sammy stared over at me from her bed, which was parallel to mine with a slightly amused expression. Suddenly the wave of panic that had swept through me was erased instantly. I looked down at my strangled legs, encased in a bed sheet. I breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Having a fight with your bed over there, Natalie?" Sammy was grinning from ear to ear, finding my entangled and very undignified state hilarious.
"No, but the bed's winning anyway!" I answered smiling at her, " How'd I get here anyway?"
"We carried you, me and Charlie, I mean. He's the boy from the bus, by the way." She began, grinning when she said Charlie's name. "You were just out of it, we kept on thinking you were awake though. You kept on saying "No!" like you wanted someone to stop. It was freaky." Her clear blue eyes were filled with confusion, I sensed I was in for a rather awkward question. "What were you dreaming about?"
She looked at me with true concern filling her expression. The last thing I wanted was to share my dream. I told her that I didn't remember very well and mumbled something unintelligible about ghosts and a scary house. She was very sympathetic and told me that it was just a dream and that I was okay now.
I normally told Sammy everything; we had been best friends since nursery school. Closer to sisters than friends really… But what was I supposed to tell her? Scary red eyed monsters, blood pouring from their mouths, but its okay, one of them saved me from the others. I was pretty sure I would have been put in some kind of mental home. And I wasn't too keen on that idea.
Sammy got up and sat on my bed. Unlike me she had her pyjamas on instead of normal clothes. She explained to me were we where – Italy apparently, and gradually the memories returned; The long coach ride, the dark roads and falling asleep. She also told me that today was our 'recovery' day; we were expected to sleep in late so we wouldn't be too tired for tomorrow.
"Please, please, please tell me we do not have an early start tomorrow or I just might go back to sleep." I instantly regretted the words. I had sounded a little too enthusiastic about sleeping, I hoped she hadn't been paying close attention to my tone of voice.
"Afraid so, Nat," She laughed. I almost breathed a sigh of relief. "But the place we're going almost sounds worth it."
I'm sure my expression showed my amazement - Sammy had been known to sleep in on her birthday – she didn't get up unless she had to.
She saw my incredulous expression and her face slipped into a pout.
"Oh I don't get up that late!" I gave her a look. She gave up on that one quickly. " Well its not everyday you get to go to a castle, a real one too. Like the ones in fairytales, turrets and everything Nat!" Her voice was higher than usual in excitement and her unwavering enthusiasm was rubbing off on me. I suddenly found myself looking forward to tomorrow. Odd, I was normally very grumpy after long journeys.
No matter whether I had slept or not.
Sammy and I spent the rest of the day unpacking our massive amount of luggage into the shabby, too small hotel wardrobe and the dressing table. The room was very bland, the walls were a nondescript off-white colour and the floor was covered in terracotta tiles with a cream stone at various intervals between them. The furniture consisted of two single beds in the same colour as the walls, a wardrobe and dressing table in a pale wood, a mirror and framed paintings of the beautiful Italian countryside. There was a small fridge and a kettle but no actually cooker in the room. We also had one bathroom with a door leading to straight in front of our beds. On either side of the beds sat a small end table with a lamp screwed to it.
I pointed this small detail out to Sammy.
"The lamps are screwed on." I informed her seriously, she gave me a confused look.
"What?"
"The lamps are screwed to the tables," I repeated. "I wonder why."
"In case someone tries to steal them I suppose."
I raised my eyebrows at her in confusion and fought to keep a straight face.
"What kind of loser tries to steal a lamp?" I asked her, a smile breaking through. She laughed and opened her mouth to answer my question, however another giggle swallowed her reply. We couldn't stop laughing then.
A knock at our door caused us to stop and, still smiling, go to answer it. It was our teacher telling us it was time for dinner. She gave us a rather puzzled look when Sammy pointed out the lamps to her. She said the same thing as Sammy and walked off to the next room. We quickly got ready and grabbed our bags. I locked the door behind us, fully recovered from my fit of hysterics and able to think clearly.
We walked down the carpeted corridor to the dinning hall and I turned to Sammy.
"Where are we going tomorrow? You never got round to telling me." I asked her curiously. She looked at me and smiled excitedly.
"Volterra."
