Chapter 10
I don't remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew, I was thrown into a frightening dream. I was standing at the side of the pool, staring down at myself, listlessly floating at the bottom. Then the world melted away and I was standing in a dimly lit stone corridor. A plain black statue of a strange creature that resembled a woman with a lion's head sat before me on a pedestal. I reached out to touch the statue, but my surroundings melted away again, and I landed with a jolt into the darkness.
Once my eyes adjusted to the lighting, I realized I was now standing in a room filled with books. It seemed to be a small section of the library, but which I was unsure. The books were all the same mute tone, except for one, which glowed an odd red color. An unseen hand lifted it off the shelf in front of me and the whole bookcase swung back as if on a hinge, revealing a passageway masked in black. Then, once again, everything melted away, leaving me alone, but not for long.
Someone was here, with me, in this pitch-black place. I couldn't see them, but I felt them, I knew it, I sensed that someone was there. "Who's there?" I called into the darkness. A rich, velvety chuckle answered me. "Who's there?" I repeated dumbly.
"You are not yet ready to know that, Elizabeth." A man said, in the same rich, velvety voice.
"Where are we?" I asked, looking around, unable to see whom I was talking to.
"Nowhere, yet everywhere." He answered. "This is nothingness. Absolute, unrestricted, complete nothingness. Do you like it?"
"No, no, I really don't. Who are you and why are you here?" I replied, shaken.
"That's a pity. Oh well, you'll grow into it. I have already answered your first question, Elizabeth, but, as for the second, that's simple; I'm here because you are." He replied.
"Okay, that doesn't help." I muttered. "If you're here because I am, why am I here?"
"It is your destiny, Elizabeth. You are to come to power in the near future and I am to help you make the choice." He answered.
"How do you know my name? Why can't I see you?" I asked, completely unnerved.
"I have known your name since the beginning of time. When I first drew breath, I knew your name, even before I knew my own. It is a part of my being." He said.
"Okay, that's creepy beyond all get-out. What about my second question, why can't I see you?" I muttered.
"You cannot see me, because I wish it so. This is my world, of which I am the ruler, and you are merely a peasant. The vision of my true self would terrify you into never-ending despair. Do you still wish to see?" He inquired.
"Uh, well, yes and no."
"Choose! I will show myself to you if you wish it. I can disguise myself, if you'd prefer that." He said.
"Yes, that's perfect. If you're so ugly you'll scare the crap out of my, I'd rather see you as something else." I replied.
"What shall I be?"
"A person, whoever you want to be, just as long as I can look at you face to face." I answered.
"As you wish, Elizabeth." Said the man solemnly. Out of the 'nothingness', as he called it, stepped a tall, dark man who looked exactly like the actor who plays Angel on TV. He smiled at me and said, "Is this better?"
"How did you know he's my favorite guy on TV?" I asked, looking him in the eye.
"I know because I know you, Elizabeth. I know your dreams, desires, thoughts, wishes, and nightmares." My Angel answered.
"How do you know all that?" I questioned. My Angel took a step closer, so he was standing inches from me, making my blood boil, my heart slamming in my chest unfamiliarly, his hot breath in my ear.
"I know, because they are my dreams, desires, thoughts, wishes, and nightmares, too. I feel what you feel, when and where you feel it." He whispered in my ear, drawing circles on my neck with his tongue.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I croaked as he nibbled on my earlobe.
"Because you want me to, Elizabeth. Because you let me. Because you need me." He whispered. I mustered all my strength and shoved him away as hard as I could. My Angel laughed, grinned, and turned serious again in the blink of an eye.
"Stop it. I am not a toy to be played with. This is a dream, it must be, and I'll just wake up. I don't need you, I don't need anybody. You're a figment of my twisted imagination and I can control you. Besides, even if this is real, I don't need your help to choose anything, I'm a big girl." I yelled at him. He laughed again, a full, rich, velvety laugh that chilled me to the core.
"Okay Liz, go somewhere nicer than this place, somewhere warmer and brighter and far away from here, wherever the hell here is. Wake up!" I shouted at myself through his constant laughter, somewhat hyperventilating. "Wake up! WAKE UP!
"You cannot leave, silly girl! I am your master now, you belong to me. You must obey me, you must do my bidding." He commanded.
"Since when?" I snorted.
"Since you came here and disturbed my place of thought!" He bellowed.
"I didn't mean to, you brought me here!" I bellowed back.
"You brought yourself here, and I wish you to stay!" He laughed.
"How?" I gasped.
"You wished to be here, you wished for answers to your newfound skills, and wish granted. You should be grateful, bow before me, you sniveling twit. There are consequences to every wish, Elizabeth, and these are yours." He explained. "But it's not that bad, if you think about it, darling. You can either serve me here forever, or become my queen and rule with me."
"What, in this place?" I snorted again.
"For now, yes, but soon, we will have our own kingdom, and the earth itself will bow at our feet!" He laughed.
"No thanks."
"Then you will serve me forever."
"No!" I screamed. "No! I am my own person. No one owns me; not you, not that idiot Brock, nobody!"
"I own you! Your mine, girl! Come, serve me, do my bidding, Elizabeth! It is your destiny!"
"No!" I screamed again. "Never! Go away! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
"Liz, Liz, snap out of it! Wake up, wake up, girl!" Someone said, shaking me. At first the voice was muffled, then, clear as a bell, then I could hear more voices. Voices saying, "Shut her up!" and "For God's sake, stop screaming, Liz!" Soon, I realized who those voices belonged to; Cara, Monica, and Laura.
I sat up straight in bed, panting for breath, and looking around me. The same old bed in the same old room surrounded by the same old things. No sign of a strange statue, a secret passage, or a terrifying power crazed man. The girls standing beside my bed looked disturbed, groggy, maybe even worried. I sighed and let myself fall back to the still-made bed, pulling at the collar of my sweater.
"What happened, Liz?" Cara asked quietly.
"Just a nightmare, Cara, that's all. Nothing to worry about." I lied.
"We're not worried," T teased, gently punching my leg. "Just sleepy."
"You could wake the dead with those pipes, woman!" LA laughed.
"Are you going to be okay?" Cara asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll just read myself back to sleep, no more nightmares, I promise. Go on, go back to bed." I replied, brushing off the chill I still had from the dream. I looked over at the clock and winced. It was nearly two!
