Found, ... at last

Chapter 8

The darkness around her was disorientating; scrambling her mind even more than his touch did.  Did he really reach out and touch her?  He had never done anything like that before.  No matter how much she had wanted him too; he had not done anything but sit across her night after night and listen to her ramble on and on all night.  Breathing deeply she willed her heartbeat to slow down; it was not as if this was real; so why was this affecting here this way?

Bronwyn spent the rest of the morning trying to solve this puzzle; and when the sun shone brightly through her bedroom window; she shrugged the single sheet off of her and placed her feet on the soft carpet; no closer to an answer than she was this morning.

Reluctantly she moved down to the kitchen to find something to eat.  It was Saturday and her parents had most likely left much earlier like they told her last night before she went to bed.  They had some errands to run that would keep them away from the house for the whole day and most likely a big chunk of the early night as well.  That meant no distractions from worrying about the dreams she had been having lately.

At first she had been surprised that she even remembered what she dreamt about; but what surprised her even more; was that she kept dreaming about him; Wesley, or rather Mr. Simmons; her science teacher.  For the whole day she ventured from room to room; thinking of nothing else than her dreams.  By the time her parents arrived later that evening; she was close to a nervous wreck.  She did not know if she wanted to carry on dreaming about him like that.  At some point during the day she had decided to be honest with herself and finally admitted that she had enjoyed all the time she had spent with Wesley in her dreams, much more than she should have.

When she had finally allowed herself to admitted that; she was forced to admit that she was upset because he had taken so long before touching her; she had been waiting for it for a long time.  Her admission had shocked her; and made her realize exactly what she was hoping for.  But no matter how much she enjoyed her dream Wesley’s company; any kind of relationship between them was doomed.  He was like what; ten years older than she was?  There is no way that a relationship between them would be allowed by her parents; and there would certainly be problems at school if anything happened between them.  Wesley could lose his position at the school.  And yes!  She cared too much for him to let something like that happen to him; even if it only is in a dream.

After her parents went up to their room; she stayed behind and put on the first DVD she found.  She sat through three full length movies and at least ten cups of coffee before she decided it was safe to go to sleep.

Turned out it wasn’t.  She was stuck at the mall again; only this time she was walking around; trying to stay ahead of someone.  She could not see his face; every time she turned to face him; he would twist his body so that she could not see his face.  At first she had thought is was Wesley because she was avoiding him; but after a while she concentrated on the stranger’s figure.  He and Wesley had the same build; but the way this man moved reminded her more of a caged animal; and it was as if he was trying to hunt her down.  There was no trace of the control Wesley always exerted; none of his gentleness; and deep down she knew she should be terrified of this man; but the glimpses of worry she caught in his eyes in the reflections on the windows and mirrors made her feel safe as she continued to stay ahead of him.

Wesley was frustrated to say the least.  It had been in the early morning hours before she fell asleep and now she was leading him on a wild goose hunt around the blasted mall.  Could she not rather have chosen a nice forest or grassy plain where the tiger would not feel so trapped?  Reluctantly he reigned in the tiger when he turned another corner just to see her dart around the next bend up ahead.  She was not going to talk to him tonight; might as well let her get some rest; he sure could use it.