Shining Hill

Chapter 5

Annette was disoriented when she woke up. The room was dark, and the sheets around her were drenched in sweat. She sat up quickly, unsure where she was, before she remembered.

Annette sighed, rubbed her eyes, and paused. Her eyes were wet, and she rubbed the tears away. She sat there, blinking into the darkness, and she tried to recount her dream, but it was slipping away quickly.

Annette looked around the room, wondering why everything was so blurry, before she remembered she wore glasses. It took her a while to find her glasses, which were entangled in the sheets of the bed, since she had fallen asleep with them on.

Annette stood up and turned on the light. She looked around the bare room, and then she looked at the clothes she had fallen asleep in. She sighed again and rubbed her head. I'm such a mess. That was when the image of her brother filled her mind. Annette remembered the blood, the vision suddenly becoming vivid in her mind, and she gasped, her eyes widening. She yanked her door open and came to stand in front of Zander's door.

Annette raised her hand to knock, but she hesitated. What am I doing? She was just being paranoid, and she knew it, but the sinking feeling wouldn't leave. The only thing that was separating her from a gruesome truth was a closed door and her hesitation. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, steadying her shaking hands.

Annette knocked on the door softly at first. When Zander didn't answer, Annette knocked a little bit louder, more insistent. She paused, listening for any movement on the other side of the door, but she heard nothing. Her heart beat started to increase, but she wasn't fully sure why she was panicking.

She knocked a little bit louder the next time and listened, but still she heard no movement.

That was when Annette started knocking on the door insistently, almost desperately, and this jerked Zander awake from the deep sleep that he had just been in. It took his brain a moment to register what the sound was and, when Zander threw the door open to glared at her, Annette almost sobbed in relief. She didn't, of course, and instead stared at him with an emotionless face.

Zander was not emotionless, and he was furious.

"What the fuck Annette?! Do you know what fucking time it is?! What the hell are you doing waking me up at the ass crack of dawn?" Zander hissed at her, trying so hard not to scream.

Annette blinked at him, her heart beat slowing, and she crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what time it was," Annette rubbed the upper part of her arms. "I just wanted to make sure..." Annette swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

Zander continued to glare at her.

"Make sure about what?"

Annette looked at him a moment longer before sighing.

"Nothing. Forget about it."

Zander wanted to say a lot of things. Whenever she did this, avoid the question, it made his so angry that he wanted to scream. It didn't help that he was half-asleep and still a little disoriented.

"Goddamn it, Annette, just—"

"I had a dream that you were hurt," Annette interrupted him in a quiet voice, and he seemed to deflate a little.

He studied her for a few moments, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and then leaned against his door frame. He was still angry, but he couldn't scream at her just because she was worried about him. It was annoying, and this wasn't the first time she's done this, but he just couldn't bring himself to scream at her for it. If he did, he would be a jerk, and he didn't want to feel guilty.