Bound By Desire

Chapter 2: Sketchy Friends

Rosalia’s POV:

It felt like as soon as I closed my eyes the nightmare started. The first thing to take shape was the long, cold, dark hallway. Next came unrelenting nausea and fear that seemed to grip me. Panicking, I can hear my hitched breathing and the thudding of my feet against the stone floor.

Next, my ears pick up on the sound of the footsteps and laboured breathing behind me. My fear intensifies as I hear him turn a corner behind me. My feet pick up speed as I turn through the labyrinthine corridors of the palace. I can hear my hitched breathing as he comes close. Closer.

I scream, feeling his cold fingers brush against my shoulder when I have to slow down to catch my breath. I shiver and buck wildly to escape his arms when they wrap around my shoulders. “NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!” He holds me tighter and I scream again as his nails dig into my arms and draw blood. “HELP!” He laughs at my attempt to run and I struggle until I feel his teeth rip into me. I scream in pain, feeling his satisfaction at my fear.

Gathering strength, I stay still until I'm sure I’m strong enough. When I'm convinced I have the strength and he won't suspect, I shove him away, catching him by surprise. Clamping a hand over my bleeding neck, I start to run off down the long corridor. Something draws me deeper into the palace, like a lure, and I let it pull me along. Down endless corridors and passageways until I come to another corridor. One that seems so like all the others yet feels different for a reason I can’t explain.

Until I notice. There. At the end of the corridor with his back to me stands a lone figure. For some reason, the sight of him brings me relief and I find myself running faster, calling out his name. He turns and I’m held captive by his piercing eyes, seeing worry and pain lurking in his expression. Running faster, he pulls me into his arms and I hide away from the figure chasing me. Only to find the figure, I ran to vanish and I’m left clutching empty air, my tormenter laughing cruelly as I start running again, weaving my way through endless corridors and passageways, searching for something or someone.

Eventually, I come to a corridor and see the same figure standing at the end. Hesitation grips me and I slow slightly, calling out their name. He turns and I slowly walk towards him, almost to check if he’s real or just another illusion. When I reach him, eventually I feel him pull me into his arms, the familiar touch causing my heart rate to steady before speeding up, so I know he’s real. I can hear him whispering to me but not the words he is saying, as I have my head buried against his shoulder, hiding from the person chasing me.

Looking up towards the figure I ran towards, I can read relief with an undercurrent of anger. Memorising his face, I feel the figure behind me grab me and pull me away. Screaming, I try to reach him but my captor is too strong. When I blink, I see the image of the figure I had run towards fade as the real person rounds the corner. Shouting, I see him recognise me and move towards me, but the figure holding me captive throws me against the wall and I feel my head smack against it with a sickening crack. As my vision fades to black, I see my captor and the other mystery person looking at me, one with worry and pain, the other sadistic malice and anger..

I snap out of the dream with a jerk, my hand flying to my neck as the memory hits me. My shallow breathing slows slightly when my hand comes away clean, showing that the wound from the dream had either healed or not happened at all. Letting out a long breath, I suddenly hear my phone ring beside me. Looking at the caller ID, I see Mae’s name flash across the screen and hurry to answer. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replies, sounding tense “Just got home. You okay, Rosa?” She sounds concerned.

I sigh and switch on the lamp by my bed. As I clock what time it is, I frown, running a hand through my hair. “Mae, you do realise it's past 3 AM, right? What do you mean you’ve only just got home?”

She laughs breezily down the phone. “Adam finished late but offered to let me stay until it was time to leave. Then, we got stuck in traffic, so yeah we got home late. Though I didn't leave yours until gone eleven, if not midnight, so it's okay.”

I smile and roll my eyes, getting up to get a drink, knowing sleep would elude me after my nightmare. “Sorry, just a little tense, that's all. Glad you got home safe though.”

“I noticed. What happened, Rose? You okay?” The worried tone was back and I could almost see Mae’s concerned expression in my mind. Sighing, my mind unconsciously wandered back to my nightmare and I shivered. “Rose?” Mae’s voice down the phone snapped me back to reality.

“It’s nothing, just a bad dream,” I replied, looking out at the moon as my coffee brewed on the side. “It's okay now.” I took the cup and walked back to the lounge, my mind fixated on the face of the stranger who saved me in my dream. “But thanks for the phone call, I think it might have helped end the dream faster.” At least I hoped that was the case.

“That’s okay,” Mae sounded less tense than before, but I knew her well enough that she would stress over it endlessly unless I convinced her otherwise. “I’m just glad you're alright, for a second when you answered I thought you were going to tell me you’d been kidnapped or something absurd like that.” she laughs softly.

“If only my life was that interesting.” I sighed as I settled onto the couch near the window, watching the moon scatter shadows across the street. “Then you would worry about me wouldn't you?” I joked and heard her laugh at the other end.

“Haha, very funny, Rosa.” She replied and I laughed softly. “Still, it must’ve been one hell of a bad dream. You sounded petrified when you answered. Like you thought I was a stranger asking where you live so I could come stalk and kill you.” Mae laughed and my smile widened at the thought of her coming to find me.

“Like you needed a tracking app or phone to find me. You already know where I live.” I laugh and hear her do the same on the other side of the line. I open my laptop and aimlessly start looking at all my assignments piled up beside it. Sighing, I cradle my phone to my ear as I manoeuvre my work off my sketchbook, my mind focused on the stranger’s face from my dream.

“Rosa? You there?” Mae’s voice startled me and I almost dropped my phone. Setting it to speakerphone, I place it on the table as I move to find my sketching pencils. “Rosa?”

“Yeah, sorry, Mae. I’m still here just.. distracted.” I call over my shoulder as I continue to search. Finding them, I sit back at the table and open my sketchbook to a fresh page. “Sorry,” I say apologetically as I hear her sigh.

“That’s okay, I don’t mind.” It’s almost as if I can feel her smiling on the other end of the line, my own smile echoing the feeling as I try to focus on the elusive face from my vision and nightmare. “What are you up to?”

“Sketching,” I reply absently, my eyes closing as I focus on the face flashing across my mind. “Just trying to offload a memory.” I sigh as the features sharpen and I notice I can make out specific details. Reaching for my colouring pencils, I lay them aside, knowing that by the time I've finished I'll need them.

“Rosa?” Mae’s voice pulls me back and I look down at the page in front of me. What had previously been blank now had the delicate traced outline of a face on. “ROSALIA?”

“Yeah?” I reply, looking away from the page as my pencil traces lines in the air in front of me. “What’s up, Mae?” I frown when she stays quiet as it was unlike her to remain silent. “Mae? Are you still there?” I ask when I hear a door close. Puzzled, I turn back to my sketch. Strong, clear lines of the face spring from my pencil, illuminating strong features. Wavy ashy blonde hair and distinctive eyes matched with a strong bone structure that spoke of royalty, but the expression was kind.

“Mae?” I call softly as the door opens and closes again on her end of the line. “You there?” I wait, holding my breath. “Hello?”

“Rosa.” Mae’s voice startles me and immediately grabs my attention. “I need to talk to you.”

“Okay,” I reply softly, sensing that she was either upset or agitated as her tone was off. “So, let’s talk.”

I hear Mae sigh and worry blooms in my chest. “Mae, what’s wrong?” I venture cautiously when she still doesn't respond. “You’re starting to scare me now. What’s wrong?”

Another moment of silence passes before she replies. “I need to talk to you and I need you to be honest. Can you do that?” All the humour had disappeared from my friend’s voice, leaving me with a sense of fear.

“Mae, you’re scaring me. Tell me what’s going on. Please.”

Mae’s only reply is to ask me the same question again. “Can you do that? Please, I know I'm scaring you, but I need you to be honest and tell me what happened in your bad dream. Can you do that? Please?”

I take a deep breath and push my fear back. “I already told you it was just a bad dream. Don’t worry about it. It was nothing.” I laugh to myself and turn back to the sketch I had been working on. She seems dissatisfied but lets it go after one more question.

“Are you sure, Rose?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

She sighs again and it's as if I can sense the tension leaving her. “Are you feeling better now?” I asked, waiting for her reply. She’s silent for a moment before I hear her reply. She laughs and I take that signal to mean that she’s okay. Looking back at my sketch I can see that most of the drawing is complete, so I decide to leave it until I have better light to work with. Moving my phone, I switch it off speakerphone and cradle it to my ear as I move to sit back on the couch near the window to continue our conversation.

When that was done, I didn't move from where I was sitting under a blanket but rather continued to watch outside the window how the light made the shadows move as the night progressed into the morning. I must have fallen asleep at some point, as when I next open my eyes I am greeted with sunshine.

Standing, I collect my bag and place my sketchbook and pencils in before heading out to meet Mae. We set off and I notice her silence and decide against asking her about it, hoping she’ll eventually tell me. However, the closer we get to college, the more mysterious her silence becomes.

Shrugging it off mentally, I head to Art, watching her retreating figure with a new sense of distrust. Stopping by the door, I watch my best friend stop to converse with my boyfriend before they both vanished from my sight. Frowning, I watch the two of them until I have to start the class. Once the class starts, I slip my sketchbook under the piece of paper passed around and open it on the page from earlier.

Taking a pencil, I trace the shape of his face with bold lines and shading until it looks almost life-like. Next, I reach for the colouring pencils and gently shade on the olive complexion. Next came the wavy ashy blond hair with streaks of golden blonde running through it. After comes the eyes. I take my emerald green and darkly shade in the iris before adding tones of violet and gold over the green to perfectly replicate the eyes from my dream. Staring intently at the sketch, I see a kind expression yet the eyes seem full of an unreadable expression I can't decipher.

Switching my attention to the window, I noticed a lone figure standing in the shadows under a tall oak tree by the field. Feeling them focus on me, I shiver, an icy sense of dread shooting through me and causing me to look away. Looking over again, I see the figure has vanished whilst I was looking away. Blinking, I hear the bell and put down my stuff, racing over to the window to see if I can see them. Nothing. Instead, I see Mae walking over to talk to Jack and my curiosity spikes.

Mumbling an apology under my breath to my teacher, I slipped out of the door and moved to follow behind where the two had walked towards a section of trees in the field. Noticing this was where the figure had stood earlier, I stop momentarily before resuming my slow pace behind them, hearing snatches of their conversation.

“How do you know that’s what she saw?” Jack sounds puzzled, but I know his voice well enough to hear the undercurrent of fear. “Mae, are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m positive. Why else would she freak out like that? I can't think of another reason.” Mae also sounds worried and I focus on blocking out the rest of the noise. “How could this have happened and we do not know?”

“I don't know, but that means she’s in danger now. What happens next I don't know.” A sigh and silence follows for the next few minutes before Mae speaks again, her voice low and soft.

“How can we protect Rosa if we don’t know what we’re up against? I don’t know who’s on our side and who isn't anymore Jack, it's too blurred.” Mae looks behind her for a second and I move behind a tall tree so she doesn't see me. The conversation continues but I tune out when I notice the same figure I had seen in art class watching me from across the field. Frowning, I try to find if I recognise him but I draw a blank. Turning my attention back to the other conversation, I hear Mae suck in a shocked gasp and I strain to hear more.

“Mae, what is it? What did you see?” Jack sounds concerned and I try to figure out what's going on before Mae’s next sentence sends a shiver down my spine.

“They’ve found her, Jack. They’ve found Rosalia.” Mae’s voice was strained. “She’s in danger now.”

The two separate after that and I duck behind the tree so as not to be seen. Once I am sure they’re gone, I numbly walk back towards my class, questions swirling around in my mind like a storm.

Who had found me? What did they want and why was I in danger?

The rest of the day passes in a haze of questions and thoughts. I am so caught up in my thoughts that I barely register when people speak to me. Eventually, on the way home, Mae sighs and stops walking, so I have to turn back to her.

“Are you okay?” My question sounds distracted and I can see she’s either frustrated or upset about something.

“That's what I should be asking you.” She sighs and I detect a faint trace of anger underneath the worry and confusion in her voice. She remains silent for a moment, clearly waiting to see if I'm going to explain what's wrong with me. I stay silent until Mae shoots me a worried look. “Rosa, what’s up with you? You’ve barely spoken a word all day.” She arches a brow and I look in her direction with a defeated expression.

“It’s nothing, I’m just tired.” I lie, seeing her watching me with a bemused expression. “Honestly Mae, that's all it is. I’m just tired after waking up in the middle of the night last night after the bad dream.” I wait for her to see through my lie but she doesn't question my excuse. “What about you, though?”

“What about me?” She replies, shooting me a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you were silent all the way to college and then mysteriously disappeared to speak to Jack as soon as we got in.” I look in her direction. “Add to that your weird response to my bad dream yesterday. I'm just confused, that's all.” I shoot her a look out of the corner of my eyes as we start walking again. She sighs and I detect that she’s hiding something from me. “Mae?”

“It’s nothing.” She repeats my words back to me, too fast for me to believe them. “Just um.. stuff at home’s bad again.” Again she answers me too quickly so I spot her lie. I wait and she stays silent. “Honestly, it’s nothing.”

“What did you have to talk to Jack about so urgently?” I ask, my curiosity evident in my voice.

A panicked look flashes across her face before she quickly answers me. “Something about the Mythology and Religion homework for tomorrow.” She looks away and I hide my frown at her lie.

“Why not ask me? We are in the same class and you walked to college with me.”

A shrug. “Just didn't think of it until we got to college and you’d gone to art.”

I sigh and keep walking in silence until we reach the turnoff for her road. “See you tomorrow?” My underlying emotions cause me to phrase it as a question and I see her frown although she recovers quickly.

“Sure.” Was all she replied, “See you then.”

Splitting our separate ways, I walk back to my apartment with the uncomfortably familiar sense of distrust from this morning resurfacing. Once back, I put my stuff in the hall and walk to find my outfit for tomorrow's party. Having decided eventually on a simple off the shoulder black tank top and shorts, I put my sketchbook in the bag I'll take to the party tomorrow. Settling back on the couch under the window, I look out over the street only to feel an icy sense of unease prickle between my shoulder blades. Frowning, I recoil instantly to see the same lone figure who had been watching me at college standing under a street lamp about two meters from my apartment block.

Who is he and why is he following me? I think to myself, daring to look again out of the window to see he was still standing there. Testing my theory, I move from the sitting room to the kitchen, moving out of view of that particular street lamp. Making it appear natural, I move to fill a glass of water, glancing out of the corner of my eye towards the window. Again, the figure stands alone under a streetlamp, but this one is closer. Swallowing down fear, I grab my glass of water and an apple before returning to the sitting room.

Studiously ignoring the figure, I concentrate on my assignments, aware that he is still looking in at me from the prickling awareness between my shoulders. Although if I looked back towards the window, I often saw him vanish behind a tree so as not to be seen. Refusing to let fear stop me from living normally, I complete my assignments and head off to shower, making sure the window is blocked.

As the night drew on, I continued as close to normal as possible but made sure to discreetly shut my curtains as soon as I noticed the figure watching the windows. I wasn't naive enough to think it would stop him, but it made me feel better. When I switch off the lights as I leave a room, I feel him watching from his spot near the streetlamp. Shrugging it off, I move to my bedroom and close the curtains, seeing the figure move slightly so he can see in that window. Ignoring the lingering sense of unease, I sit reading a book and watching the light fade behind the curtains as my mind revisits the strange conversation I heard between Mae and Jack today and yesterday. Clearly, they know something I don't and it disturbs them both. Sighing, I reach for my phone, having resolved to call Mae and ask what she’s hiding from me, but when I reach her number I can't do it. Anger swirls around inside me at the thought of her lying to me, but I decide to let it go and ask her tomorrow.

Replacing my book on my nightstand, I watch the moon and clouds through my curtains, feeling exhaustion pulling me under with every second that passes. Tired, I yawn and shut off the light, hoping for a better night's sleep than the previous night’s nightmare and strange conversation with Mae. shutting my eyes I could have sworn I felt a cold hand brush my hair over my shoulder, the lingering feeling causing me to shiver and bolt upright. Snapping on the light, I look around but the room was empty. Sighing tiredly, I close my eyes again and sink into a deep sleep, unaware of the figure watching from the shadows behind the door who vanishes with the early morning light.