Page 27 of Dark Encounter
Chapter 11
Erik
Ijerked around in my sleep, my skin sticky, my heart racing. My dreams had never been so bad. I wasn't even capable of telling that they were dreams anymore.
"Where is she?" I glanced around the living room as my father stood over to the side of the room, his arms wrapped around his chest, his skin ghost white.
"I don't know, son." He brushed his fingers over his mouth and walked out, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Delaney was missing, her dolls all over the floor. A splattering of blood covered the floor beside the doll house, leaving me with one conclusion. Someone took her.
Turning, I jogged out of the room and screamed at my father. My teenage voice wavered as emotions pounded against me.
"Dad! What the fuck. There's blood on the floor. Where is she?" I screamed as my hands begin to shake.
He glanced over his shoulder, his demeanor far too calm for the situation.
"I told you. I don't know." He walked into his office and closed the door as the world grew dark around me.
Someone had my sister. My sweet little sister who wouldn't hurt a fly or talk down to a flea.
"Erik?" Her voice was thick as if there were something caught in her throat.
"Delaney?" I turned and stiffened, my blood running cold. A young girl stood in a body bag, blood and black grime smeared from the inside. I couldn't make out her face, nor would I want to. I'd been there that day they pulled her out of the river.
There was nothing left but hair, bone, and teeth.
Bile rose in my throat as my voice broke. "Please don't do this to me. Please."
"Why didn't you save me? You had two weeks. I was alive for two weeks while they abused me, Erik."
"Stop!" I covered my hands over my ears as tears burned my eyes. It was a dream. It had to be a fucking nightmare. I turned to run and found myself knee deep in the river just beyond my house, the water icy cold. "No. Please. Fuck."
Her body bobbed in the water just a few feet from me, her long silky hair matted and tangled. Her little arms were pale with splotches of skin missing.
"God." I turned and ran out of the water, dropping to my knees as I vomited until my sides hurt. I'd been the one to find her, to first see her dead and decimated. "Please make it stop."
My voice grew deep, my hands larger and I sat back on my heels. I wasn't a boy anymore, but a man. Had I been the man I was now, she never would have been taken. I could have saved her.
A cry ripped from my throat, and I dug my hands into the dirt as anguish and disgust rolled over me in thick waves. I had no one left but the ghosts of those I loved and lost.
"Erik." Soft, wet hands touched the side of my face, and I screamed and jerked up.
"Fuck. Fuck." I got out of the bed and walked around my room, my body covered in sweat, my heart racing as if it were trying to get out of my chest. I'd had plenty of dreams about my sister over the last ten years, but none so vivid.
My bedroom door opened and my father walked in. "Erik. What's going on?"
"Bad dream." I reached for my pillow and covered my nakedness before sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I was there again. At Delaney's death. It was horrible. Disgusting. I hate myself for leaving her that day. I knew something was off, Dad." I glanced up to receive the same stony look I always got from him.
"There was nothing you could have done. Believe me." He let out a long sigh and glanced around the room. "Why are these dreams fucking with you so much now? Did something happen?"
"No." I flopped back on the bed. "I'm fine. Seriously. Close the door behind you."
He did, without another word. I needed to start staying at my own place. My father's house had too many demons, but it was closer to Grace's apartment, and I was so fucking weary the night before after leaving her place.
Grace.
Just the thought of her brought a warmth racing through my chest that scared me. I'd never been in love before.
