The Fools That Fall in Love

The days rolled on, each day longer and more agonizing than the last. I hadn't seen Michael since that night one week before. Why wasn't he coming around?
I went on a mini search for him, wandering around the wet streets of Seattle in the dead of night, taking in all the smells from the just passed rain. It was calm out, not one person in sight.
I came across a little book store that I'd somehow never seen before. It was the size of an old bank, painted black and red in a very Gothic looking style. I stared at the building, debating on going in or walking on.
"The Devil's Book Store" The sign read. How had I never noticed this place before? I walked into the building, feeling like I'd just walked into a simulation of Hell. There were flames carved into the wood and painted realistically. This pattern went around most of the building.
"Hello ma'am." I was greeted by an older man, obviously of the Gothic culture.
"Hello." I smiled, almost fearful of the man, but knew that he was nothing to fear.
"Can I help you find anything?" He asked.
"No thank you. I'm not really looking for anything, actually. I just never noticed this shop before. I felt like I couldn't just walk by, I had to come in." I smiled.
"Well, take your time. If you need anything let me know." He smiled and walked off.
I started walking around, and came across an open book that I recognized as the Satanic bible. I'd only known what it looks like from Internet and things I'd learned in school. I decided to read the open page, which read;
"Eleven Rules Of The Earth
1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
3. When in another’s lair, show him respect or else do not go there.
4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.
5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
6. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved.
7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.
8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
9. Do not harm little children.
10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him."
I found myself smiling. The rules made me almost laugh at how blunt they were. I liked how they were written in a way that a modern person can easily read and understand.
I walked on, keeping as many of those rules as I could in mind. Something struck me to look for books on dreams, if there were any. The dream I'd had, and started having again the night after Michael stayed with me, came to find and all I could do was hope that something here could help me figure out what is going on.
I walked up to the shop owner and smiled. "Can you help me find something?"
"Of course I can. What are you looking for?" He seemed to know I was going to ask for something, but never seemed bothered.
"I want a book on dreams, deciphering what they mean, more or less." I explained.
"This way." He smiled and lead me to a shelf on the far side of the room.
"Thank you." I said, automatically scanning the shelf as he walked away. I found a book called "The Dream Interpreter," so I picked it up and flipped through to the introduction. It read;
"Welcome to your personal dream interpretation! In this book, you'll find every kind of dream the human mind could muster! Absolutely every dream can fit into at least one of these categories. All you have to do is know what you're looking for. Dream on!" I smiled at the commercial advertising of itself and flipped through the glossary.
I found three categories that somewhat fit the description of my dream; Chase, Demons, and Love. I went to the chasing section first, where it read;
"Being chased in a dream connects with your underlying need to escape a situation or person. In short terms, you're trying to get away from someone or something. This connects closely with the people and situations around you and you will be able to make a connection to your life easily, if you can admit your want or need to get away." It was right. I did know exactly what I was getting away from. On to demons..
"Demons, in dreams, often symbolize guilt and fear. Maybe even if you are hiding something, a demon can show up in a dream to tell you that tie is running out and it won't stop haunting you until it's off of your chest. Try telling someone whatever it is you're hiding, the demons should go away." It took a moment to realize what it was that I was hiding. It was the abuse. I hadn't told anyone except for Michael, but the dream went away when he stayed with me, so why had it come back?
I looked on to the love interpretation. I was most curious to find out why it was him, in particular, and why was he dying. "If a lover, or someone you appear to love, shows up dying in your dreams, then you are most likely facing problems with your relationship with this person. You may want to be with that person, but the feeling is not returned, or love at first sight is also a common reason for supposed lovers to die in dreams."
I wasn't sure what to think of all of this. I put the book down and slowly walked out of the shop, waving and saying goodbye to the owner.
I walked back outside, realizing it was 2:30am, I could have sworn it was only midnight when I went in. I disregarded the odd feeling of something being wrong and kept walking down the street until I realized I had no idea where I was. I started getting an odd feeling of being watched, or even followed. I kept looking behind me and walking faster.
I felt as if I were about to get caught up in one of the SAW movies. Something wasn't right and I knew it. Something was terribly wrong and I could feel it in my stomach. My heart raced and my palms got sweaty. My whole body started to shiver in fear and I walked faster. Faster.
I found myself almost running down the street, and the silence of the calm city streets broke. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the pitter patter of what seemed to be feet, running. I knew they weren't mine, seeing as it didn't match my pace. Seconds after I stopped moving, so did the sound.
Fear welled up inside of me until I felt like I had to explode. Something in me told me that I was in danger, and I really started to believe it when an involuntary voice popped into my head. "You're dead tonight." It said, in a almost high pitched, screetching way. It was fast and I could just barely understand it.
Unknowing what to do, I got down on my knees and held my stomach, trying to to cry or scream. I was incredibly scared and had no idea what to do. If I ran, I'd hear the foot steps again, what if it caught me? But maybe if I sat there too long it would talk to me again. I didn't want that either.
The screeching i my head started up again, except there were no audible words. The sound got terribly overwhelming and all I could do was lay down and scream, in hope someone would find me.
Out of nowhere, the screaming suddenly stopped and I felt full control of my body again. I looked up and around, feeling incredibly relieved, but not finding anyone around. I somehow knew that someone was there, someone good.
A hand found it's way to my shoulder, and when I looked up to see who it was, all i could do was try and focus on breathing. After all, Michael was the last person I thought would be around. Was he the one making everything okay? Or was he the one making me feel so scared?