Annie drove to the darker side of town. She rounded Jayden's corner, and soon pulled into the shabby little driveway. Annie got out of the car. She hesitated, and then walked to the front door. She knocked once and then twice and received no answer. She sighed and headed, disappointed, to her car.
"Are you looking for that boy that lived there?" A voice said from next door.
Annie turned to see a woman in a house dress standing on the porch to the left of Jayden's. "Yes, I am." She answered, a little shaken.
"Well, he moved." The woman said. Annie looked once more as if she would cry. "But I got his phone number and address if you'd like." The woman added.
"Really?" Annie said. It was the first truly wonderful thing Annie had heard in days.
The woman nodded. "Come here, and I'll get a pen and paper."
Annie walked over to the house next door, as the woman disappeared into the front door. By the time Annie arrived at the front step, the woman had returned. "Here you are, Hun." She said, finishing her scribbling on a yellow 'post-it' note.
The woman handed the paper to Annie. "Thank you very much." Annie said. "You'll never know how much this means to me…" Annie turned and ran to her car.
She looked down briefly at the paper, and then she started the car and pulled out of the driveway, waving at the woman on the porch next door.
Annie pushed speed limits and stop signs all the way to 1031 east and 1400 north. She pulled into the apartment complex's parking lot and parked in one of the slots labeled, 'visitor'. Annie sat in her car for several minutes, and then she flipped down the mirror to check her face. She wore no makeup, but her eyes were no longer red and puffy from crying.
Annie took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. She brushed off her shirt and jeans and started for apartment 2B. She stood on the doorstep for a moment, and then knocked lightly on the door.
About ten seconds later the door opened, in front of Annie stood a shocked looking Jayden. "Annie?" He said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Jayden, I shouldn't have…" She started, but Jayden interrupted her.
"It's cold out, come inside please." He said, moving to the side to let her in the front door. She excepted the invitation and entered, slowly.
Inside was a small living room, with a couch and a lounge chair. Through one doorway she spotted a kitchen and through the other a small bathroom. There was a third on the other side, but the door was closed.
"Please, sit." Jayden said, taking her jacket from her shoulders.
Annie sat, far more comfortably in Jayden's home than she would have in her own. Jayden sat on the lounge chair, across from Annie.
"I know I shouldn't have come here, but I had nowhere else to turn." She said.
"I see." Jayden said.
"Jayden," Annie said, seriously. "I ran away from home."
"Annie!" Jayden said, looking horrified. "You can't. Your grandparents will be worried sick." He exclaimed, standing.
"I know, but they know I ran away and I wasn't kidnapped, and I told them not to call the police." Annie said.
"Well, I hope they do!" Jayden said.
Annie stared at him. A large tear rolled down her cheek. Jayden knelt down before her. "No, no.." He said. "It isn't that I don't want you here… it's just…" He trailed off.
"What?" Annie asked softly.
"You…" He looked like he was at a loss. Then he finished. "It's Josh."
Annie hung her head. "No." She said. "It's Hayden…"
"No." Jayden said, but Annie interrupted him.
"I dream about him." She said, he stared at her with concerned eyes. "I dream about his eyes. Glossy and dead, staring at me."
"Annie, its just a dream…" He said taking her hand into his.
"No, it isn't!" She said, standing and removing her hand. He followed her and they stood in his living room. "He is haunting he, Jayden!" She cried, quietly. "He's haunting me through Josh." Annie felt the tears pour down her cheeks and onto her shirt. "I can't sleep. I can't eat. I'm just so tired… so tired."
Jayden grabbed Annie, and embraced her. "You can stay here." He said. "Take the bed, and I will sleep on the couch." Annie tried to protest, but Jayden insisted and was soon showing Annie where the bedroom was.
Annie pulled off her shoes, and slipped into the silky black sheets. She knew Jayden was watching her. She sighed, and trying hard to go to sleep, she closed her eyes.
After a few moments, Annie heard Jayden sit on the side of the bed. She tensed up for a moment, and then he softly whispered, "Its okay…"
She relaxed and suddenly, Jayden began to sing. "Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness wakes and stirs imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses, helpless to resist the notes that I write. For I compose the music of the night." Annie recognized the song Jayden sang as the Michael Crawford version of 'Music of the Night'.
"Slowly, gently night unfurls it splendor. Grasp it ,sense it; tremulous and tender. Hearing is believing. Music deceiving: hard lighting, soft as candle light. Dare you trust the music of the night?" Annie's eyes began to droop. She felt her whole self relax as she had not for weeks.
"Close your eyes, for your eyes will only tell the truth, and the truth isn't what you want to see. In the dark it is easy to pretend… that the truth is what it ought to be…"Jayden felt Annie's hand find it's way into his.
Softly, deftly music shall caress you. Hear it feel it; secretly posses you. Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness which you know you cannot fight. The darkness of the music of the night."
Close your eyes, start a journey through a strange new world." Annie did as instructed and closed her eyes. "Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Close your eyes and let music set you free… Only then can you belong to me."
"Floating. Falling, sweet intoxication. Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation. Let the dream begin let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write. The power of the music of the night." Annie was relaxed and in a very deep, and dreamless sleep.
Jayden stood, and walked to the doorway, switching off the light. He smiled, looking back. "You alone can make my song take flight. Help me make the music of the… night."