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Where were the crickets? The nocturnal animals who scurried along the ground?
I stopped walking when I reached the clearing in the woods. Sets of eyes all stared back at me as my eyes trailed over the tree line surrounding me. What were they waiting for? Why were they watching me?
I felt the pounding of my heart as I stared back at them, waiting. I was frozen in place, afraid to move. I had no idea what these beasts wanted from me, and I was not about to invoke a prey and predator situation.
Out of nowhere, I could hear clapping. Turning around, I tried to find the source of the clapping, but it was echoing through the trees. The clapping was nowhere and everywhere at once.
My heart started to race. Was this some type of trap? Why was I here? The sound of palms slapping together ceased, and the animals started to retreat from the darkness, each making their way toward me in the woods.
Spinning in a circle, I watched as they surrounded me. I realized this was how I would die. I would be torn to pieces by these animals. The snarls caused shivers to course up and down my spine. This is it, the end of my life on this earth.
“What are you doing, little lamb?” I recalled his voice. It was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. My eyes scoured the woods, searching for the owner of the voice, but found nothing.
“What do you want?” I screamed. “Why am I here?”
“Oh, little sis, don't you remember me promising to make things worse? Don’t you want to die anyway? Don’t worry, it should be a swift death thanks to my friends here.” It was then when he finally emerged from the woods.
“Stop, Kane.” I turned my head toward the other voice. Who was it? A second figure emerged from the other side of the clearing. “Don’t do this.”
“Who?” My voice sounded weak.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes, not while his remained focused on his brother.
He laughed. “Jealous I finally have a better sacrifice to the gods than you, brother?”
“You cannot sacrifice our sister, Kane.”
“You cannot save her, and she was never our sister. You saw the way they treated her. Like a prized possession, a princess. I told her I would take her out of this world, and I intend to keep my promise.”
“You’ll have to go through me first.”
Kane brought his hands together again for another clap, and at once, the animals started for me. There was no saving me. It was too late.
“NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
A rough shake woke me from the dream. “Wren... Miss Carrington, wake up. The plane is preparing to land, and you need to put on your seat belt.”
“What?” I asked, feeling discombobulated. I was groggy and still reeling from what was apparently a dream.
It felt so real.
“You need to put on your seat belt. The plane is about to land.” He repeated it again very slowly as if I were illiterate.
I followed his direction, making sure the lock clicked on my seat belt as I felt the plane start to descend. It was the thing I hated most about airplanes; well, next to the takeoff.I braced myself against the seat as I watched the buildings below us come back into view. I could see the ocean, the beach with tiny people littered all over it, and what seemed like one resort after another.
I felt the tires touch down and bump as the plane met the asphalt on the runway. The captain pumped the brakes as the plane slowed down enough to make the turn into the airport flight line, where the rest of the planes sat awaiting the next group of passengers.
“Thank you again for traveling Eastern Airlines. We hope you’ve had an enjoyable time on your trip. Please remember to remove all bags and luggage from the overhead cargo locations as well as under your seats. As always, we’ll see you next time!”
It took forever for our bags to finally appear at the luggage carousel. I couldn’t wait to get out of this place. The airport itself wasn’t busy, but I was restless. I wanted to get out of here, and to this hellhole of a destination my parents had chosen.
“Your luggage, Miss Carrington, will not carry itself.”
“Then fucking grab it. I am sure my father is paying you well enough, isn’t he?”
He rolled his eyes but proceeded to grab my bags and made his way behind me as we headed toward the exit.
The first thing I noticed was the breeze. The air was different. It almost seemed lighter. Like perhaps it was less polluted than the city in which I’d been inhabiting for the past several months, which had so much smog you couldn’t even see the stars at night.
