Beautiful Dreamer

Chapter 2

The sun began to peak over the horizon to the back of us. We had been walking all night and I could feel my legs about to give in from the pure exhaustion. Just when I was ready to call it quits, I could see a small cottage up in the distance. Zachariah’s gaze seemed focused on it and I knew it was almost time to finally rest. I picked up my pace in the hopes of achieving my rest faster. Once we made it inside the cottage all I wanted was to shower and sleep. I searched the rooms and quickly discovered there was no running water here. All the furniture looked hand made from wood, the whole feel was rustic and not in the cute chic way I had read in so many of my Martha Stewart magazines. I finally gave up and just sat down as I could feel Zachariah’s eyes on me, watching and examining my reactions to our accommodations. He sat down beside me and started to twiddle his thumbs a bit. He was obviously anxious but I still didn’t know what about. He took my hands in his and looked into my eyes. I could see an overwhelmingly amount of guilt there. I was afraid of what he was going to say but at the same time I knew I needed it.

“Analise, I just want you to know that I am so sorry,” he apologized. “Everything you know about your life...” He paused as if not knowing how to say it or rather not wanting to.

“Your life is a lie Analise.”

“What the hell are you talking about? What does that even mean?”

“It means that everything you know about your life is not real. It has all been a dream. Your house, your husband, your baby, they don’t exist. The world you believe in isn’t even real.”

What he was saying did not make any sense at all, my life was a lie. How could that even be? I remembered an entire life that couldn’t just be a dream. I remembered growing up with my siblings, my parents, my first date, getting married and having a baby. There was no way I could have just dreamed all of that up. When I began to refuse even the idea that my life did not exist and that I had to get back to it, Zachariah tried to calm me down. I needed to leave but he told me it wasn’t safe to go outside. I began to freak out and ran to the door. I just had to get out of here. He grabbed my arm and dragged me back into the cottage. I was not going back in without a fight though. I pulled and twisted, then finally sat on the ground in protest.

“Will stop acting like a child and come inside?”

I shook my head and refused. He sighed and scooped me up into his arms like it was nothing.

“Put me down!” I screamed.

“Shhhhh! Do you want people to know where we are? We are hiding out.”

“Maybe I should have people find me because you are obviously crazy. I do not even know who is after us.”

“I can explain inside of you would just stop fighting me.”

He carried me inside. I was too tired to fight with him anymore and it was becoming increasingly hard to keep my eyes open. He brought me inside one of the rooms that had a bed. He took my shoes off and then laid me down in the bed and pulled the covers over me. 

“I think you should get some sleep. I have a lot to explain to you and I think it’s better you have a clear mind when we talk.”

I wanted to fight with every fiber of my being to stay awake. I needed to know what was happening. He said my life was a lie. Everything that had happened since I woke up had not made a single lick of sense though. I was in a castle away from my family, that I then had to escape, and now Zachariah was telling me that everything I knew wasn’t even real. I did need to get to sleep because then maybe all of this craziness would go away, maybe this all was just a horrible exhausting dream.

Zachariah took a seat in the corner of the room.

“Umm... you are not going stay in here, are you?”

“It’s this or I climb into bed with you.” He smiled. “I have to make sure you are not just going to try and leave again.”

I squirmed at the thought of him watching me while I slept. It just did not make me feel comfortable. 

“No, you can stay over there if you must, but I will not be going anywhere. I am so tired. Not to mention you promised me answers when I woke up.”

“I did and I will. I promise I will tell you everything you need to hear. You just have to trust me. I know you will have no reason to but all I want to do is protect you.”

I stared at him sitting there with his sandy blonde hair all mussed up, and his beautiful ocean blue eyes. His clothes were dirty and disheveled from our long walk here. I could see the tension in his body as he would not let his guard down. His face full of anguish and guilt. I wished I could just wipe all of it away and put him at peace. I didn’t want to see my friend feel anything like that. Maybe I had overreacted in trying to run away. I should have just let him finish but I honestly did not know how to react to his claim that my life was supposedly a lie. I do not think that anyone would really be able to react rationally after going through everything that I had in the last twelve hours. I trusted him though that he would at least keep us safe. The thought of safety gave me a sense of ease as I headed deep into sleep.