Oleander

Chapter Nine:

SWATTING AT THE air, I woke up screaming. Legs tangled in the sheets, I threw myself off the bed and kicked to free myself.

Anthony leaned over the edge of the bed turning on the bedside lamp. I smacked him across the face and scrambled backwards. With a hiss he got out of bed, rubbing his cheek. "Damn it, Abbigail, what's going on?" He croaked, tired and freaked out.

"Stay away from me!" I shrieked, and covered my head with my arms. My face stung, salty tears washing over my cheeks. I wiped them away, hands coming back smeared with watery pink. There was skin underneath my finger nails, clotted with blood.

"Jesus, look at yourself..." Anthony tugged at his hair, breathing heavily. He bent down and pulled me to my feet, despite my struggling. "Hey, hey, calm down." Not knowing what to do he smoothed a hand over my hair and held me in his arms. "Fuck, it's okay, Abbigail..." He said desperately as I kicked at him, digging my elbows into his stomach.

"Oleander!" I screamed, hiccupping. "Oleander!" I pushed at Anthony's chest and flailed until he let me go. I flopped back onto the bed with a gasp, and crawled to the side furthest from him.

Oleander, a frantic mess, stumbled into the room. "What happened to her face?" He asked Anthony as he hurried over to me. Thank god he was here. I leapt off the bed and on my shaking Bambi legs, I stood. Oleander gripped my shoulders and held me out at arm's length. I stared down at my hands and sniffled.

Footsteps soft, Anthony grabbed a cigarette from his vanity and lit it. Beatrice stood in the doorway and flicked on the overhead.

I was trying to calm my breathing.

I blinked, and looked back at Anthony and noted his boxers. He'd had them on when he got out of bed.

With a frustrated cry, I shrugged away from Oleander.

I'd dreamt that all up. Everything.

"Honey," Beatrice cooed and came closer when she saw me step out from behind Oleander. "Oh, what did you do?" She cupped my head in her hands. "You're bleeding."

"I must've scratched myself when I was sleeping..." I glanced down at my hands again and shivered.

"Bad dream?" She asked, petting my hair.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Let's go get you cleaned up?" Beatrice prompted, rubbing my shoulder reassuringly. I nodded, jaw setting, gums aching from clenched teeth. Following my aunt out into the hall, my footsteps were heavy, just like the tremendous weight on my shoulders.

Yes, I was mad at myself - for being so... so stupid.

I balled my fists and released them, and balled them again. There was still a small tingle in my palm from hitting Anthony. I sighed, and realized I'd have to say sorry to him. Not a second afterwards, I looked back at his door, opened wide and saw Divalè standing in the doorway.

With one blink of his dark eyes, he drew in all my fear and left me calm. I tilted my head to the side, questioning him. He dug deep into my eyes with his, making me twitch. Right then, I had no doubt he'd seen into my soul, my brain, my whatever... Divalè was inside me, captivating and conquering my veins.

"You coming, honey?" Beatrice asked and I tore myself away from him.

"Bee, we need you in here." Wes called from a room down the hall and she jolted in her spot, caught between running to his aid, or sticking to mine. "Trè!" She called. Wes turned back into the room, calling his name as well, and out Trè came. "Help her?"

"No problem." He lilted down the hall on his stilt legs and came to stand beside me. Still wearing the latex gloves, he offered me his hand and we departed down the hall.