Apparition

Chapter 7: Disappear
I woke up the next morning with a sudden jolt of my body.
Just ten seconds of the dream made my heart race. There was a face and it came at me in seconds. It was obvious she was a ghost but the difference from her and the rest of the ghosts I knew was that her eyes were pitch black. The picture was so frightening. I shook my head to get it out of my mind.
“Nathan?” I called. There was no answer.
Usually Nathan would never leave the room with me still sleeping. That was one of rules we set because if he ever left the room, I would have my dreams.
I dragged myself out of bed, changed out of the crumpled dress, leaving it on the ground and walked to the bathroom to see if he was in there. It was empty. The was no noise coming from downstairs but I decided to check it anyways.
“Nathan?” I called again. No answer.
I peaked out the window to see if Nathan’s car was still here and it was. Where would he have gone? Well, he wouldn’t be long. I went to the kitchen to make myself breakfast. A thing I haven’t done in such a long a time because of the meals Nathan would always cook for me.
I kept it simple with cereal. I sat at the kitchen table and the only sound was the crunching of the cereal in my mouth and my spoon sitting the bowl.
I was home alone. My parents already went to work and my brother and sister were at their daycare.
I sighed when I finished my breakfast and Nathan still didn’t show up. I decided to go watch TV. The only things that were on were the morning news and talk shows.
Half an hour past by and still no sign of Nathan. I got bored so I ran upstairs to change. I was going to visit Lawren and apologize to him for ditching him last night.
I grabbed an umbrella and opened the front door.
“Oh gosh!” I gasped. “You scared me,” I laughed.
“I’m sorry,” Keith responded. He was soaking wet and was just about to knock.
I stared at him. “Keith, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Natalia, you have to come with me.”
Without my response we transformed and turned around for me to hop onto his back. I got on and he started to run.
“Where are we going?” I asked. The rain felt like sharp as it hit my face at full speed. In seconds I was already soaking wet just like Keith.
“To my house,” he responded without emotion.
I wondered what was so dire that he needed me to come with him so urgently and used this type of transportation. We usually never ran and when we did it was for something important because of the risk of someone spotting us. But Nathan liked to brake that rule occasionally.
“Follow me,” he said in the same tone when we got to his house. We were dripping wet and instead of taking the time to wipe his feet on the mat like he usually did he walked straight up the stairs.
I followed his direction and followed him up the staircase and down the right hall to Nathan’s bedroom.
“What’s going on?” I asked worriedly and my teeth chattering. Sarah was sitting on the edge of Nathan’s bed holding a piece of paper. Her expression was the same as Keith’s. Blank.
No one responded but Sarah held out the paper to me.
“Read it to me.” I was too cold and too wet to do anything. My whole body was shivering and there was no way to warm myself up with my soaking wet clothes.
Sarah took a deep breath but not to start off what she was going to read but it seemed like it was to stop herself from crying. Just the sight of her like that made me want to cry.
“Dear Keith, Sarah, and my lovely Natalia,” she began. “I know this is sudden but I decided that I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry I can’t do this in person but it would just be too hard. I’m done trying to hide the fact that I hate being who I am. I’ve gone back to Boston to be with my parents and be a part of our family business.
“I won’t be fighting with you against the Vanburens. I’m sorry but I hope you succeed with just the three of you. I know you can do it. It wouldn’t be much of a difference it I was with you or not so don’t worry.
“And Natalia, I’m sorry for what I did to you. I’m sorry that I forgot to be with you on one of the biggest dances of your life. I’m sorry that I changed you into the complete opposite of who you used to be and who Clarabelle was. I realized that I’m not right for you. I never was. Someday you’ll find the right person. Or maybe you already did and he’s living a couple doors down from you. I’m not what you need. He is. And if it will calm your nerves; nothing happened in the lounge room with Taylor and I. At least nothing that I know of.
“I’m sorry I’m doing this to all of you but I’m finished. Sarah, please don’t go looking for me. Keith, please make sure Natalia stays safe. Natalia, if you love me move on. It’s the last thing I want from you. Goodbye.
“Love, Nathan.
“P.S. I love you,” Sarah’s voice trailed off into a whisper. She shut her eyes and took another deep breath but still a tiny tear escaped and she quickly wiped it away.
I stood there, frozen. I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t think anything. I couldn’t fathom what was going on. This had to be a joke. I didn’t want to believe it was true. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. I waited for the hysteria to wash over me but nothing happened. My eyes felt dry because of how long they were open but I couldn’t find the strength to blink.
Sarah threw the note on the floor and ran out of the room. I heard her stilettos make sharp pang’s as they hit the wooden floor. She swung open a door and slammed it shut, making the house shake.
Why was the earth shaking? Was there a earthquake? I then realized that it wasn’t the Earth that was shaking, it was me. My knees were buckling not because of the cold but because of the way I felt debilitated.
Right before I fell over Keith jumped off the bed and caught me. “Lay down,” he whispered. He swung me up into his arms and he laid me on Nathan’s bed. Keith sat in front of me but I turned around to face the window and curled myself into a ball.
I wondered why I wasn’t crying. Did I not care? That couldn’t be right because I did care. Nathan meant the world to me. This was wrong. Did he leave because of what happened last night? That wasn’t a good enough reason. It must be something else. Something deeper. But I was too confused to think about the reasons. I just wanted to disappear like the way Nathan abruptly did from my life.
Was last night the last time I would ever see him? I hated myself for not cherishing the moment. I hated myself for letting this happen. And most of all I hated myself for what I became. Was the reason I wasn’t crying was because I was now cold hearted and made of stone?
“I’m going to give you time to yourself,” Keith murmured and walked out of the room.
I watched as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky and it became afternoon. I hadn’t changed my position since Keith left and I didn’t want to move even if I was able to.
I shut my eyes tightly, praying that I would just disappear.