Nightmare

I yawned, stretching as I walked into the kitchen, going over to the refrigerator, sticking my head in it to search for the orange juice. I smiled finding it, grabbing a glass and pouring the liquid into it before replacing it to the shelf I had found the carton, before leaning back against the counter, sipping on the juice.

Another restless night where I can’t fall asleep.

The nightmares weren’t as bad as they were before—or maybe I’m just saying that because I’m used to them now. Johnny has been helping me learn the ancient language of the dead, so I can kind of understand what they’re saying, but even then, it’s like I’m picking up on three words in every sentence. And trust me, that doesn’t do much when these zombielike creatures as coming to you.

I sighed lightly, putting the glass into the sink, before going into the living room, turning on the TV. I quickly found Fuse, watching as a Green Day video played. I must have sat there for about fifteen minutes, before a shirtless, sleepy Zacky came shuffling in.

“Starr?” He called out, rubbing his eyes lightly. “Baby, what are you doing up? Do you know how late it is?”

He sat down next to me, his tired eyes looking concerned.

I shrugged lightly. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Nightmares again?” He asked with a sympathetic smile.

I just nodded. He quickly wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug, kissing the top of my head. I smiled, hugging him back, hiding my face in his neck. We sat there watching music videos for a while, but Zacky eventually fell asleep. I let him rest his head in my lap, running my fingers through his dark hair as he slept, flipping through the channels, getting bored with music videos once kiddy-pop songs began to play.

I found CNN, leaving it on there, figuring that I could get up to date on what was going on with the world, what was happening. I was about to change it once more, when the news report suddenly caught my attention.

It was a missing person’s report.

I watched as the news anchor spoke of a missing girl, who had been missing for some time now, with no one having any idea where she was, or what had happened to her. She had disappeared, most likely in the middle of the night, after work, not showing up the next morning at her job. Her friends had gotten one email from her, but nothing else, and that was months ago. Her father hadn’t heard from his daughter since her disappearance, begging for help, hoping that someone had seen her, knew where she was.

I stared in shock as they showed a picture of me. I was the missing person.

I suddenly felt overwhelming guilt crash onto my shoulders. My dad. I hadn’t spoken to my dad in so long. He must be losing his mind, not knowing where I was and what had happened to me.

How could I have forgotten about him as I had? Was I really that selfish? After everything that my dad has done for me, and I just forget about him like that? I didn’t even call him to let him know I was okay?

What kind of person was I?

“Starr, you can call him,” Zacky said softly, his eyes still closed.

I looked down at him just in time to see him open his enchanting eyes. He sat up slowly so he could look at me right way up.

“You can call your dad, if you’d like,” he said again. “I know you must miss him, and he must be worried sick about you.”

“But what do I tell him?” I asked with a light laugh. “Hey dad, sorry I haven’t been able to call, but don’t worry, I’m just tied up in the underworld right now, ‘cause a few vampires kidnapped me. Oh, and guess what, I’m a necromancer, and the future queen and ruler of the underworld.” I shook my head. “I can’t do that Zack.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to advise telling him all that, I was just going to say that you miss him, you’re fine, but you needed to take a break from thinks for a while, so you’re on an extended vacation until things get sorted out.”

“My dad will never buy that,” I told him looking down. “He knows that when things get rough, I always go to him. I always talk to him when things get hectic.”

“Then just call him and don’t explain anything,” Zacky told me.

“If I call him, the first thing he’s gonna ask is where I am and if I’m okay,” I replied. “And if I tell him all this, he’s gonna think I’m insane… I mean, who wouldn’t? Sometimes I think I really have lost my mind and that I’m imagining all this.”

I felt Zacky’s eyes studying me, but I didn’t dare look at him—instead, I kept my eyes on the wall in front of me. The silence that hung in the air made me so uncomfortable, but I wasn’t sure if what to do to get rid of it. What do I say?

Nothing.

There really wasn’t more for me to say. I felt like I had lost my mind, and that this was all some sick fantasy that I was trying to live through, while I was really locked away in a loony bin somewhere because I couldn’t deal with life anymore.

I sighed, getting up, bit I felt a cold hand grip my wrist, squeezing it lightly. I turned and looked down at Zacky who was still staring at me. He slowly stood up, moving so his body was barely touching mine, looking down at me.

I know this must be sounding ever so repeated, but this man’s looks never seems to really be absorbed by me. Each time I see him, it’s like I’m seeing him for the first time, left speechless by his gorgeous face, his god-like features.

“You think you’re insane?” He asked me.

I said nothing, not able to stop my eyes from staring into the depths of his. They were like some sort of hypnotic device or something, I swear. I could stare into them forever, until the end of time, and have no sense of what was going on around me, loosing contact with the outside world.

A small, almost sadistic smirk crossed his full lips, making me suddenly question what exactly was going on. Did he know something I didn’t know?

“I’m not insane,” I whispered.

Again he smirked. “Denial is the first step towards it,” he told me.

I tore my eyes away from looking at his face, staring down at the wooden floor, thinking about what he was saying. Was I really in denial? Was I really going insane? Had I lost my mind a long time ago, and only now was it finally catching up to me?

It was possible. I believed that I was in the underworld of all places, a necromancer, the future queen of this realm, as well as living in a house of vampires. Tell me that doesn’t sound psychotic.

“I’m not insane,” I repeated again. “I might be in a situation that’s still hard to believe, but I know it’s real.” I looked up at him. “You’re real. Me being here with you is real. I have no doubt about that.”

A small smile broke across Zacky’s face as he reached out, gently running his thumb over the side of my face, kissing me softly.

“You need sleep,” he said.

I gave a small smile, feeling a bit tired. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Zacky took my hand, leading me back to his room, shutting the door, and getting into bed. I felt him drape his arm over my waist, pulling my back against his chest, the entire time, replaying what he had said just a few moments ago, about me being insane.

“Halloween is coming,” he said suddenly, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Oh?” I wanted his to explain the significance.

“All Hallows Eve,” he said. “There is a ball being held that night. That is the night that you are to be presented to Prince Tristan.”

My breath caught in my throat at the mention of that. Suddenly, it all came rushing back to me, the importance of that date. That was the day I was to be handed over to Tristan, where the guys would no longer have to protect me, where I would no longer be in their care. In other words, I would no longer be here with Zacky.

“Oh,” I whispered, my voice hinting sadness.

“After that, you’ll be joined with him, becoming queen, with him as your king,” Zacky said. “You two will be together for all eternity.”

With each word that Zacky spoke, I felt my heart sinking deeper and deeper. The thought of being with Tristan, not Zacky, was actually causing a pain to shoot through me. It started with a light paper cut feeling in my chest, a stinging feeling spreading through my body via my blood.

“Starr?” Zacky’s voice sounded concerned. “Starr, are you okay?”

I didn’t answer him. All I could do was keep my mind on the fact that I would be leaving Zacky, going to be joined with some other guy that I didn’t even know. I would have to walk away form Zacky, without a look back. Could I even do that?

All my life I had always felt like there was something missing. I’m not talking about your typical love-story cliché, where the girl has a space filled in her heart when she meets a guy; for me, it always felt like something didn’t make sense, that there was something out of place, that I wasn’t getting.

I had always wondered about that, not knowing what it was, why I was feeling like that, wanting to know what would make it go away. But after I met Zacky, it did go away. Things made sense. I didn’t feel like the lost little person that was wandering aimlessly around. I understood who I was, what I was doing.

Everything made sense when Zacky was around. Even in all this insanity of me being brought to the underworld, finding out that I’m a necromancer, everything made sense when I was around Zacky. I didn’t question it; Zacky made me feel like I could trust him, believe him.

My blood told me I could trust him, believe him.

“Starr, you’re shaking,” Zacky whispered, turning me so I was lying on my back, with him hovering over me.

I looked up at him, not even realizing I was trembling.

“Starr,” he touched the side of my face. “Baby, what is it?”

I shook my head. “I’m not going with Tristan.”