The Life of Abby

Chapter 4

Abby is stumbling around a dark, haunting forest, trying to find her way around in the pitch-black night. Her vision was blurry from something she did not know what. Did someone slip something into her water while she wasn't looking? She looks down to see she's in the beautiful golden silk dress her grandmother made her for prom. She looks ahead of her, barely making out what she sees in front of her. She has to find Trystan so that he can take her home. She looks beyond the trees and sees Trystan's shadowy figure walking into the forest trees. What are you doing out there? She thought as she followed him, still struggling to walk. They venture deeper into the woods before stopping before a more petite figure.

The figure looked very well built like he was in the military. Abby couldn't see the person's face but could see a tattoo on the man's right arm in the little moonlight shining through the top of the trees. Abby stops next to a tall, round oak tree outside earshot. She stands behind it, listening to the conversation unfolding before her. "I'm here. What do you want?" Trystan says with so much authority that it makes Abby stagger back. "The plan isn't going to work. You have to do something about it." says the unknown man in a chilling low tone.

"The plan will work. All we need is for her to come with me tonight." "She knows too much. We can't afford for her to find out what your true intentions are." "I WILL SAY WHAT SHE CAN FIND OUT OR NOT! SHE CAN KNOW THE WHOLE DAMN PLAN FOR ALL I CARE!" "Yes, sir, but you cannot let her find out too much. If she knows too much, this whole thing goes down." Trystan grabs the man by the throat and picks him off the ground with no effort, "Don't question my authority nor tell me what I can or cannot do." "But, sir, she cannot find out. Your father is waiting for you. You need to hurry if you want it to succeed. You need it." The man struggled to say. Before the man finishes his sentence, Trystan's face morphs into something only from nightmares.

His legs grew taller; his arms extended longer, and his torso shrunk to half its original size. His face was like a lily with 25 petals and hundreds of rows of sharp little teeth down to his mouth's black hole. His hands and feet were bony, almost dead and decay-looking, and his fingers and toes were long claws as sharp as knives. He had sped like lightning before Abby could see anything; the unknown man was gone. Abby looks at the creature in pure terror, not breathing or moving. After a few seconds, her mind finally processes what just happened. She begins to stagger back towards the party she just came from.

Before making it twenty yards from the monster, she stepped on a branch, causing it to snap, holding her breathing and looking up with tears. Trystan slowly turns his head towards Abby, making an awful sound. Abby tried to run as fast as possible, but it did her no good. Trystan appears before her, causing Abby to fall to the ground. She tried to get back up to run deeper into the forest but failed. She felt something hard on her back. Knowing what it is, she accepts that she cannot run Trystan out while he is in this way.

She stops trying to run and stays on the ground with tears rolling out of her eyes like a flood. She knows she is going to die. She knows she wasn't supposed to hear that conversation. Accepting her fate was the only thing she could do. Looking up at the creature coming before her, she sees that it is right in her face. She feels nothing as she stares into the black hole. It feels as if all her emotions were disappearing or as if they were never there. Trystan screeches, bending backward, almost breaking his back in half before sucking Abby into his mouth.

Abby screams as she wakes from the first nightmare she has had in a very long time. She was looking around, confused as to where she was—not recognizing the room before her. Abby looked around the unfamiliar room, wondering why it was so plain in the room. She looks over next to her and sees the glass of water. She takes the glass of water and drinks half of the glass. She grabs her phone off of the strange nightstand beside her. She turns on her phone and checks the time before the bedroom door flies open. Jumping at the sound of the door against the wall, she looks up to see Trystan, who looks to be out of breath. She sets her phone back on the nightstand.

"Abby, are you okay? What happened?" Trystan says with an exasperated but fake voice. It's as if he was trying to pretend he was asleep but had been up for hours. His face was red, as if he was yelling at someone. "I'm sorry. It was only a dream." Abby says as purely as she could. Abby shifts uncomfortably in bed. Trystan walks into his room and sits on the opposite side of the bed. "Would you like to tell me about this dream," Abby turns to face Trystan, who looks at her like she's a meal just waiting to be devoured.

Abby takes a deep breath, leaving all the nerves she didn't know she had behind her. She begins telling Trystan about her dream, every detail, leaving nothing out. As she finishes telling him about the dream, Trystan remains silent, trying to collect his thoughts. Taking a deep breath before letting any words out, Trystan finally says, "It was only a dream. There is nothing to be scared of. Let's go back to sleep, and I will see you in the morning." Getting up from bed, Trystan felt a small hand touch his shoulder. "Do you mind staying with me until I fall back asleep?"

"Of course, Abby. I'll be right here if you need anything." Trystan said with a loving and sweet smile on his face. Abby knew that she would be his one day and tried to keep that from happening. She knew in her gut that he couldn't be trusted for the time being, but she did not want to be alone at the moment. Trystan makes his way back onto the bed, lying beside Abby but not touching her. He was giving her a comfortable distance between them.

Abby's mind is racing a million miles per second to understand what the dream meant. She had never experienced a dream that was so real. She glances at Trystan to find him already asleep. She slowly gets out of bed, taking her glass with her. Abby quickly tiptoes to the door, pulls it open, and silently goes into the hallway.

She continues to tiptoe to the stairs, not making a sound. She could hear the shuffling of a man's boots and low, hushed whispers underneath her. She squats down next to the railing, still not making a sound. She looked down to where she heard the whispers and saw a pool of blood. She gets up, too frightened to make a sound, and walks back to Trystan's room. She bumps into something hard as she turns around. She stumbles a bit. Turning around, she looked up ever so slightly to see Trystan looking down at her. She says nothing to Trystan and walks past him back into his bedroom. Once she got to the bedroom door, she ran to the nightstand to get her phone. She texts Kali, asking her to come to pick her up from Trystan's house. She couldn't stay at his house; she was too uncomfortable to be there.

It wasn't until 4 in the morning when Kali got to Trystan's house. Abby had locked herself in Trystan's room to keep him and everyone there out while she was trying to figure out what she would tell Kali. Abby screamed when she felt her phone's vibration. It was a text from Kali telling her that she was there. She didn't realize how quiet and still she was. Abby quickly got her bag, unlocked the door, and ran as fast as possible. She was super cautious after her nightmare and what she saw downstairs. She stopped at the top of the stairs to see that the blood was cleaned up and everything was as spotless as when she first entered the house. She was amazed at how fast the blood was cleaned up. She continued down the stairs and out the door.

She stopped at the door and finally drew her first breath without realizing it. She got into Kali's 1980 Beetle Volkswagen and turned to Kali. "Go. I'll tell you everything on the way to Grandma's house." Kali, without any hesitation, drove out of the driveway and started for Stacy's house. Abby takes a few deep breaths before telling Kali what happened and what she saw. She told her every single detail. "And the truth is, after everything that I saw and what happened, I think I'm falling for him," Abby tells Kali while looking out the car window. "Abby, look at me," Kali says sadly. Abby turns her head and faces her. "It's okay to like him, but remember to be very careful. Take things at your speed."

Abby smiles at Kali before turning her head back to the window. A few minutes went by, and Abby could see her grandmother's mansion. It was very early in the morning. Abby knew everyone was still asleep. "Kali, would you like to stay for a bit?" Abby says, getting her keys out of her bag. Stacy gave Abby a key to the house when she was 12 years old. Abby has been living with her grandmother off and on since she was 2-years-old. Abby never felt out of place at her grandmother's. She has always felt like this was her home, not her actual house with her drug-addicted parents. She took care of everything in the trailer.

"I have to get home before my parents realize I snuck out. But I will be back here this afternoon, I promise." Whenever Kali promised something, Abby knew she would keep it. She smiles as she gets out of Kali's car, shuts the door, and walks to the mansion's entrance. Abby unlocks the door very quietly and walks inside. She closes the door behind her and turns around, screaming when she sees her grandmother standing there. "Grandma, what are you doing up? It's 4 in the morning." Abby says, trying to catch her breath. "I could ask you the same question. What are you doing here, Abby? You should still be at that wonderful boy's house." "It didn't feel right being there," Abby says while moving to the living room to sit and chat with Stacy.

"So, tell me. How was it?" Abby knew that if she told Stacy the truth about what happened, she would never be able to see Trystan again. Abby is very hesitant to tell her grandmother about what happened. "It was fun. All we did was study. Also, thanks for not telling me that I was staying there." Abby gets up off the couch, goes to the kitchen, and gets herself a glass of water. "Grandma, I'm going to bed. I'm super tired. I love you, and I'll tell you the rest after waking up." "Okay, sweetie. Remember, I'm always here if you need me." Abby smiled and headed for her room upstairs.

Once Abby is in her room, she goes directly to her computer to look up Trystan. "s**t! I don't even know his last name." Abby says out loud before slamming her laptop closed. Abby sighs and sets her glass of water down next to her. Abby's room is very organized. Abby cleans her room at least two times a day. A pure oak bookshelf, filled with books, sits on either side of a giant window on her room's right side. Her oak desk is in the middle of her window, with a white plastic marbleized pattern trash can next to it. Her white pine dresser is next to her giant walk-in closet on the other side of the room. Her king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room—her bathroom just off to her right. Next to the bed, on the left side, sits her nightstand, which usually holds her laptop and a few books. From the ceiling hangs a small but very powerful projector.

Abby put her laptop on top of her nightstand and finally closed her eyes. I will find out his last name later. I am way too tired to do any of that now, Abby thought. She finally was able to drift to sleep, but she kept having the same nightmare over and over on a loop. She kept tossing and turning. She gave up on trying to get any sleep around 12 that evening. She got up and went to find Derek and Lily. They are always the first ones she wants to see after not getting any sleep. She gets out of bed and changes into different clothes; she doesn't realize she still has on Trystan's shirt. She went to her closet and picks out and picks out a pair of mom jeans, a flannel shirt, and a black crop top. She quickly changes before stepping out into the hallway.

"Derek!" Abby calls out, hoping he will be able to hear her. Only a few seconds go by before Derek comes running towards her. "Abby! You're back!" Abby bends down to pick Derek up in a giant bear hug. "Of course, sweet pea. I'll always come back." Abby sets Derek on the ground. "Where is Lily?" "She's with grandma." Abby smiles at Derek, "Come on, let's go find them and get something in that little tummy." She says as she tickles Derek making him squeal with laughter. They make their way down to the kitchen to find that the chefs have already made their lunch. There was a make-your-own sandwich bar with every kind of meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. There were also many kinds of jellies and jams. Everything to make different types of sandwiches was there. There was also a fruit bar with every type of fruit. Abby makes Derek a creamy peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. She sliced the bread into triangles and gave it to him.

Abby made herself a chicken and swiss cheese sandwich with mayonnaise, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes. Abby sits next to Derek as they eat their sandwiches together. As they were finishing their lunch, the door of the mansion opened. Abby knew Kali was here; she never knocked on the door. "Aunt Kali!" Derek exclaimed while running towards her. "Hey, my little munchkin. Whatcha up to?" "We finished our lunch. Come play outside with me." Derek says as he's pulling Kali to the backyard. Abby gets up from her seat, takes both plates, and starts washing them.

Once she's done, she sits on a pool chair. Abby watches Kali and Derek play tag and then play hide-and-go-seek. She laughs every time Kali makes a dramatic fall when Derek catches her. After a while, Kali sits next to Abby, out of breath from all the running. They both watch Derek, and he's trying to climb a tree. Suddenly, Abby's phone starts ringing with an incoming call. She pulls her phone out, and her eyes go wide when she sees who's calling her. "Abby, who is it?" Abby slowly looks up at Kali and, in a slow voice, says, "It's Trystan."