UNFORTUNATELY........... I FEEL

In the middle of the night, I was shaken awake by my own mother. She was dressed. Fresh. Black on black, hair pulled into a tight ponytail. There was sadness in her eyes that didn’t belong to 12:55 AM. “Hurry,” she said, voice low, urgent. “We are going somewhere.” I tilted my head, following the sound of my clock. 12:55. Anger came first. Hot and stupid. Where on earth did she want us to go at this time? I moaned out of agony. She’d ripped me from a dream. A good one. Jeffrey had just asked me to be his girlfriend. I’d said yes. We were about to close it with a kiss when I fell from his hands. I guess the physical affects the spiritual. Sleep still had me hypnotized. My vision was blurry. I rubbed my eyes and saw her again. Black clothes. Pony tail. She was pushing me, repeating the same words like a prayer. I understood her. That was the problem. I just wasn’t going to give in. I wasn’t going to travel again. No. I wasn’t going to leave my friends. My home. I was too used to this life now. And I wasn’t going to leave my prince charming alone. My mother knew I’d be stubborn. She was ready for it. She softened her voice. “My baby, we are finally going home.” Home. That word should have thrilled me. It didn’t. I’d anticipated home once, as a kid. Not anymore. I wasn’t going to be fooled again. I would have been happy to see my brother and father, but I’d heard those lies too many times. I went back to my bed and covered myself with my duvet. My mother pounced. We dragged the bedsheet, fighting over it like it was a lifeline. Then there was a bang on the parlour door. We stopped. She looked at me once. Twice. Then she ushered me out of the bed. I was too terrified to fight. She dragged a chair to the door, bolted it, and made for the window. In less than a second, my mother was on the ground outside. Who would imagine a woman so calm and quiet could jump that high? Without a sound. Without pain. It was my turn. I couldn’t. I was shaking my head, frozen, when another loud bang hit my room door. Terror moved my legs for me. I jumped. To my surprise, I landed. I wasn’t so bad. I was in a daze when I felt a drag on my hand. My mother. We ran. It felt like forever until we stopped at a tree. She looked at me with pity. Then she went for the tree ahead. “Stop!” I screamed. But the tree wasn’t a tree anymore. It was watery. Transparent. I could see the other side. I could see her through it. She outstretched her hand. I was about to take it when I was pulled back. Him. The same man from the alley. Grinning. Darkness . I woke up in the middle of the night. again. Tired. Weary.My eyes moved, surveying. I was in a thick bush. Crickets. Frogs. The smell of wet earth . His voice drew me. I stood quietly and crept towards it. There was a ball off fire in his hands. inside it, the image of a person.A mask. No eyes. No mouth. Just darkness. The masked man from the nightmares was real . And he was holding me with his eyes.