Sweet Dreams

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

I'd succumbed to the idea of it, even though it left a bad taste in my mouth. Even though this place felt as comfortable as could be in the daylight, night time was a whole other story.

I doubted that Peter would do anything to me at this point, it was the people he talked about that had me worried. What if these "elders" made an appearance? There was obviously something twisted happening there that I didn't totally get.

And on top of it all I was petrified of the dark. Which was silly and juvenile, but painfully true. And now not only was I going to be trapped in the dark, I was going to be trapped in a dark abandon shack.

"It's fine, it won't be so bad." He insisted, stopping down in front of where I'd crumbled to the floor. He wasn't used to being the comforting one, and it showed.

When I didn't respond he grabbed the book from where it laid sprawled open on the floor and began reading.

And oddly enough, it calmed me down a little bit. My heart slowed in my chest, and my brain latched onto the story, allowing it to carry me away.

I turned my phone back on and saw the inevitable texts from dad. I considered telling him that I'd gone in a run anyway, but that probably wouldn't be convincing in my jean shorts and flip flops.

I told him I was staying the night with Callie and sealed my fate.

Peter looked up and said, "You can sleep on the mattress if you want."

I waved it off and gestured for him to continue reading. He looked at the book warily.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Can I try something on your guitar."

"Sure."

He walked over to where I'd propped it up against the wall and took it out of its case. It wasn't anything spectacular looking, my dad got it from a pawn shop for fifty dollars.

He sat down against the wall and began tuning, something my short stint of guitar lessons never covered, so I was already impressed.

After a round of plucking and knob turning he actually played a little tune that actually sounded like one of the songs I'd played on my phone earlier.

"Are you playing that from memory?"

"It's stuck in my head," he said, "I'm trying to get it right."

"That's impressive."

"Elder Hamilton was very good, she taught me every Friday."

I was going to remark but instead opted to nod and listen as he gave it a few goes, each time getting closer and closer to the real song.

I played the song a few times so he could get a better feel for it and within an hour the song was near perfect.

He stood up and said, "okay now you have to do the lyrics."

"Why?" I asked, still sitting.

"Because I don't know them."

I sighed, considered arguing the subject, but settled on the fact that I have nothing to lose.

I got to my feet and grabbed an empty soda bottle, holding it to my mouth like a microphone.

That's how we spent the rest of the day, I taught him the lyrics and we danced around singing the same song over and over. It wasn't really something I normally considered when it came to my free time, but no electricity really brings out the creativity in people I guess.

Eventually the sunlight ran out and we ended up on the floor, on opposite sides of a small candle. We had to keep the light as dim as possible so it wasn't visible from outside.

"So do you know how you got here?" I asked. It seemed as good of a time as any.

"Not really." Was all he responded, staring at the back of the book we'd been reading all day.

"I mean, what do you remember last?"

He frowned and stared at the book for a few more minutes, "Just a normal day back home. I did my chores and then spent the evening with Elder Hamilton learning to play." But as he said it I saw a slight twitch of his face.

"And then you just woke up here?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "pretty much."

"Nothing else happened?"

"I don't know." He groaned, it was one of the first times he didn't look jolly. In fact, he looked tired.

"I'm just curious is all," I back pedaled a little bit, "Your life was obviously very different than mine."

"I'll tell you, tomorrow though, I'm exhausted." He said, licking his fingers and pinching out the small flame, "let's just get some sleep."

And with that he laid down under a blanket and turned his back to me. I took a minute, trying to fight the panic that was setting in.

Letting my eyes adjust I examined every crook and crevices of the room. From the shelves we'd set up to the empty bags strewn across the floor.

Nothing was going to hurt me. I was perfectly safe. Everything was alright.

I had to repeat those thoughts over and over as I laid down on the squishy mattress.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, trying not to over react to every little noise. Until I heard the growling.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net