The thing that woke Arienne was the intense discomfort of the cold air and the pain in her neck. Groaning softly, she sat up and felt how woozy she was all at once. Arienne scooted until her back was resting on the screened in patio door and tried to orient herself. What was I doing again? She fished her phone out of her pocket, sneezing and shaking as she did so. There was a large spiderweb of cracks running across the screen now, and her finger was cut when she swiped it open. Shivering, she noted that it was already mid-day the next day. I've missed my AP classes for sure. Although, I'm feeling so sick perhaps not going to school at all today is the answer.
Arienne began trying to gather her strength so she could hoist herself up and crawl inside. It took a while, because every time Arienne turned her head a little stars exploded across her vision and she was almost sick with the following dizziness. Slowly but surely she turned around on her knees and unlocked the house, letting herself in before immediately and firmly locking it behind herself. Then Arienne crawled to the pile of cushions and blankets in front of the couch and tv kept on the covered porch and collapsed. The dizziness had worsened from all the motion so she allowed herself to lay there feeling weakened for a time. How much blood did I lose? Where did it go? I wasn't stabbed. My jacket would be covered. Arienne sat up and began to take a better stock of what had happened.
Nothing broken. Head hurts, which is understandable. I've got some bruises and scrapes on my knees and elbows. But...I'm alive. Downside, whoever it was that attacked me also dragged me home. He knows where I live. The idea sent a sudden shudder of danger through her, and Arienne lifted her head looking out at the woods on the edges of her property. He could be watching right now. She shook it off and dragged her aching body up the fifteen stairs to her second floor. It took her exactly as many minutes because she needed three breaks to mitigate the dizziness. She turned the shower on hot, leaving the drain open and crawled into the bottom of the tub, letting the water wash over her until she felt good enough to peel off her sodden clothes.
Then she lay there awhile more, listening to her phone ringing off the hook. Then her alarms for her various volunteering commitments started going off. Arienne just lay in the slowly cooling water and gathered her thoughts, curled in around herself. I'm...so unbelievably exhausted.
x
Sean ruffled Arienne's hair. "You can't be a priest like me, Ari. I'm sorry. But your unending faith is amazing for someone so young."
"Sean, I'm almost as old as you and Camille." She tried to say, but instead out came a child's voice. Someone maybe half her age. "I'm going to do so much volunteer work they'll have to let me be a priest." Then she stuck her tongue out at Sean and ran off laughing. I'm probably dreaming. I always did call him big brother, despite the rather small age difference. I miss Sean. Perhaps I should check up on him. When did I fall asleep? Passing a mirror in the church hallway Arienne saw she was herself again. Older. Am I asleep after all? Might just be tired. The sermon was a little dry today, even for me. Hearing a noise somewhere behind her, Arienne looked up nervously remembering a vague sense of upset from somewhere. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her rosary, intent on praying. If I can't find help in God's house, there is no helping me. The rosary however was dripping with blood and slipped right out of her fingers. As she furrowed her brow and resolutely reached directly for it, another hand touched her own; closing around them first. Arienne brought her gaze upwards slowly and almost screamed. It was the handsome injured man from the alley. "I think I'll keep these." He said, looking much less cocky. "You've probably prayed enough."
Arienne's protective nature stirred within her. "Are you alright? You look...burdened by worry. Pain, maybe."
The young man scoffed, expression equal parts disbelief and annoyance. "I'm not in pain. But I should more in control of this. But now that I'm here, I'm just as stuck as you."
"Here?" She was a little perplexed at first. "Oh because I'm probably dreaming and you can somehow be in those." Arienne looked at him a little wearily. "In control? As in lucidly directing my dream?"
"Bingo, sunshine." The man winked at her and Arienne remembered herself.
"Well, you attacked me and took advantage of the kindness I would've freely given you. So you don't get to call me that. Arienne or just Ari is fine." Her stomach fluttered a little at the thought and she was confused. Of all the times to actually start experiencing physical attraction, why now?
"You don't know me. So you can just call me daddy. Or sir." He was smirking.
Arienne felt her smile drop. "Uh, no. I'm just going to call you Weirdo. I don't do dirty nicknames. So, Weirdo...If you think you're supposed to be in control of this...What would the purpose be?"
"Oh, just to fuck with you really." He grinned at her. "You tasted so...unique. I decided to play with you for a bit."
Alright, so now I'm having dreams about a schizophrenic serial killer. I really need to get ahold of Father Kieran after this. "Huh. You're kind of crazy."
"You're the one having a dream with an attractive man who pinned you down in an alley before this." Weirdo wiggled his eyebrow at her and Arienne wanted to scowl at him. This too she swallowed down, turning and walking away. The hallways were twisting before her, a nightmarish maze. Weirdo kept pace behind her, watching. "Maybe if I just kill you, we'll both get out." Arienne shot him an alarmed look.
"No. Shh. I'm...trying to figure out how I got lost in my own church."
Weirdo laughed behind her. Arienne headed deeper into this explicable maze, following the distant sound of a choir raised in praise. She started humming along, recognizing the individual voices the closer she got. "How are you so religious in such a modern world?" Arienne ignored him again, stopping outside the double doors leading to the sanctuary where she'd spent many evenings in divine peace. A sudden dread overcame her. The voices were wrong and they echoed weirdly. Oh no. I remember this nightmare.I had this nightmare the very night Father Kieran stopped answering any texts or calls. Swallowing the sudden lump of horror that had washed over her, Arienne swiveled to look at Weirdo.
"I can't..." Weirdo laughed at her. "I don't want to open that."
"What? Are you afraid to show me off to-" His voice trailed off and his eyes popped ever so slightly in shock as the doors creaked open behind Arienne and displayed the scene inside. Ariene shook, not wanting to see it again. Tears pricked at the corner her eyes as she shook, fighting the urge to turn around even when she felt hands on her shoulders. Blood dripped from them down the front of her shirt as the song turned to wails of the injured and dying.
Arienne locked eyes with Weirdo quivering and her heart dark with fear as the thing wearing Sean's skin tightened it's grip on her. Sobs began to silently wrack her as she plead with her cruel watcher. "Please just kill me. People usually wake up when they die." She reached for him at the exact moment she was yanked backwards.
x
Elena swore a little, slipping as she and Caroline hauled the pruny and cold Arienne from the sputtering shower that now ran at an icy temperature. Arienne coughed and sputtered as they clumsily dressed her the fluffiest pajamas she had, groaning feverishly the whole time. "I think she's caught a cold in the shower. Maybe pneumonia. Should we take her to a hospital just in case?"
"Good idea. I'll pack her an overnight bag just in case."
"No." Arienne started to vocalize, thrashing a little. "No, let go of me!" She shot up, coughing and grasping her chest as she sat on the couch. She stared at the two of them for a second, then glanced at Stefan on the front porch before she doubled over, wretching miserably on the floor. Then she raised her head, wiped her mouth and rasped like she'd been screaming for hours. "Guys, I don't feel so good. And I think I'm being stalked."