Darkness enveloped the room, making Dilly strain her eyes restlessly. The air was hot and cold at the same time, she could hear faint whispers.
She struggled to push her way through the darkness until she fell upon what seemed like a very huge tree.
She recognized this place , she was in the woods again and not in a room like she had thought.
"But why is it so dark?" She murmured under her breath.
Straining her eyes so hard was not helping so she decided to rest a bit under the huge tree.
The sound of someone crying caught her attention and she got up to follow the sound gently. She walked until a faint light came into view , her stomach turned in excitement.
The ray of light was coming from what looked like a cave , she moved closer making sure not to make sound with her feet.
She stopped when she got to the entrance of the cave and peeped inside . She didn't see anyone but she could still hear someone crying , it was loud.
"Hello" she whispered .
Her voice echoed through the cave making her jump back in fear . She had not planned to make that much noise.
She trembled not sure what to do.
"Help me" someone cried from inside the cave.
"Please help me".
Her heart raced drastically , making her feel sick all of a sudden.
Just as she was about to turn around and run for her dear life , she looked up and saw a young girl with big brown eye staring at her . The girl's wings were trapped in a tree branch inside the cave.
She wondered where the tree and the girl came from because she didn't see them earlier.
She wished the grandmaster's messenger would come to her rescue because she was way beyond scared and confused.
"Help me help me" the girl continued crying .
"I'm in pain , help me".
Dilly took a step inside the cave and that was when it dawned on her . The young girl looked exactly like her. If she didn't know better she would have said the girl was her younger sister.
"Are you not going to help your younger self?" The girl said whining.
Dilly hesitated .
"I'm trapped here , if I die out here , you'll die too" she girl said raising her voice.
"Why?" Dilly asked her voice trembling.
The girl eyed her impatiently "because I am you and you are me."
Dilly took another step into the cave and stopped in her track.
She didn't know what she was seeing in this girl's eyes but it was nothing close to honesty.
But she's really trapped on the tree .
Dilly walked gently to the tree , she was about to climb up when a force pulled her back.
She looked back just in time to see Ryan running towards her. His blood shot eyes scared her as he got closer. He had blood in his mouth with fangs growing out from the sides of his mouth. She blinked hoping that she was only imagining things but he only looked paler when he got to her.
"Don't Dilly , it's a trap" he warned.
She looked at him confused , she stole a quick glance at the young girl and what she saw startled her .
The young girl was no longer a girl but a scary looking black bird. It flapped its wings and flew out of the cave like it was scared of Ryan.
Dilly screamed holding unto Ryan tightly regardless of whatever he looked like. She was assured that he would not harm her.
"It's okay it's okay" he whispered. "I'll not let anyone harm you."
Dilly stiffened as she struggled to open her eyes. She rubbed her sleepy eyes with the back of her palm. She was sweating profusely.
After her awkward escapade with Sophia, she had acted like Ryan never existed only to start seeing him in her dreams, she tried so hard to remember what the content of the dream was but the more she tried the harder it got. Whatever the dream was she was not willing to dwell on it, not at the moment. She has other pressing issues to attend to, issues like why her best friend had not been returning her calls. Her anger turned to worry since Mat was not reaching out and he was not taking her calls either. It's not been up to twenty four hours but she was still worried.
She had been doing a great job with avoiding Ryan all week, she was not going to give the weird man a chance to think she was his friend. It annoyed her greatly that he was interfering in her life, why would he think it was okay to interrogate her concerning her affair.
"Are you my daddy?" she had asked him.
The sound of his laughter annoyed her more, did he find it funny that she got beat up by her boyfriend's wife. Even though he had scared Sophia away, he did not have the right to lecture her. She never even asked for his help.
Ex-boyfriend.
A loud bang on the door shook her out of her thoughts.
"Why do people refuse to use the door bell?" She sighed in obvious irritation.
She got up reluctantly, yawning uncontrollably as she walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Whoever was banging at her door would have to wait, they should pay the price of intentionally ignoring the door bell.
The knock came again as she was about to get in the shower . It was louder this time making her heart miss a beat. Since her encounter with Sophia, she had mostly stayed indoor reflecting and recharging.
"What if she really gets me arrested?" she thought. "Or what if she does the most terrible thing ever? like hire someone to kill me?" The thought made her shiver. She assured herself that Sophia would not go that far.
No one would hurt her in broad day light and besides Ryan is just a block away. He would help her if anyone tries to harm her. She might hate him but she would not hesitate to run to him if troubles comes knocking, one way or the other he was able to scare the almighty Sophia away with just one stare down.
She got out of the bathroom dragging her feet lazily towards the front door. She opened the door without giving it much thought. A small smile crept on her face as she threw herself in Mat's embrace. Seeing her best friend again makes life worth living. He grinned widely as he wrapped his arms around her.
"where have you been buddy? I have been trying to reach you" She dragged him in not minding the hefty muscles that he had spent years building.
Mat scoffed as he freed himself from her tight embrace " I came because I know you would be worried." His British accent thick through each word he says.
"What happened to you?" Dilly frowned as she walked into the kitchen to see if there was left over pasta in the fridge. Mat loves eating pasta with chicken wings.
"I had company, I thought I told you" he smiled. "I dropped her off and came here right away"
Dilly eyed him realizing that he has other things to do with his time asides being her right hand man. She felt guilty all of a sudden for forgetting the fact that he has his own life to live. It dawned on her that he would not always be available and that is totally fine.
"I was just worried, because it's unlike you to not return my calls" she shrugged.
He pushed strands of hair behind her ear gently stroking the back of her head in the process " I understand mama, thank you for worrying about me and I am sorry for not returning your calls."