Christy Trujillo

You know that place between dreaming and being awake? That place where you can feel your body, but you can still feel your dream? I was there for a long time. I dreamt of Sarah at first. She was warm and I kept hugging her while she laughed. I knew it was a dream though. I dreamt of abuela and she was crying. I couldn't talk in this dream world so I just placed my hand on her shoulder. I cringed when I saw that it was covered in blood. When I looked down at my clothes, I saw that they were covered in blood, too. Bad dream. Wake up, wake up. I couldn't wake up, though, so I sat with her while she cried. Her tears were blood and they pooled at our feet, surrounding us. I moved my feet closer to where we sat, but the blood was coming too fast from her tears and it got on my toes. I screamed.

"Despertarse a mi niña. Wake up."

The dream world fell away and reality crept into my conscious mind. I opened my eyes to blackness. I was lying flat and my head was on a pillow or something soft. I tried to move my arms and succeeded in wiggling my fingers, but that was it. When I tried to move my legs, they wouldn't budge. In fact, I couldn't feel them. I began to panic when I remembered the events that landed me in the precarious predicament. Carlos. How could he do this? Whatever it was he had done.

I was aggravated. No, this is not right. It's not him. But when his smile reached his eyes in amusement, my heart began to melt and I could not deny him. He pulled me close and began to sing my song. Tears came to my eyes as the words penetrated my soul.

"Why are you crying, my love?" he asked in that familiar voice.

"I don't even know your name," I managed to say as I buried my head in his chest.

Holding my chin with his hand so that I couldn't look away, he turned the full force of his eyes on me. "You cannot hide from me, my love. I will always see you."

I fell in love with Sarah Cruz on a Friday night. She had dirt on her face and her clothes were ripped, but she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I didn't intend to. If you want to get right down to it, I didn't even choose to. It was earlier in the night when she sang that my heart opened to her with such a force that I could feel the layers of a perfectly crafted wall falling away. It wasn't the beautiful words she sang or the expert way she played the piano, it was her soul. Her soul that she bared so freely for everyone to see. I was so surprised by the emotions that I left, thinking I needed to clear my head but I couldn't go far. I waited for her and that's when I saw him. He was a vampire, of that I was certain. I could smell him. He was walking behind her and all I could think about was how empty my life would be without her, this person I had known for such a short time, this person who had become the focus of my every thought. It was in that moment that I knew, as long as my life perpetuated against this cold night, as long as I drew a breath, no harm would come to her.

His demeanor softened at the sight of the tears and he ran his hands through his dark hair. “I don’t want to hurt you, okay. I don’t want anything to ever hurt you. It’s better this way.”

“Too late for that.” Now I was angry. What kind of cockamamie line was that? I don’t want anything to ever hurt you. “Fine,” I said through clenched teeth. “Good luck with the pack. I’m sure that dead body won’t stir up any trouble.” Okay, yes, I know my dad had told me not to say anything, but if you recall, I already mentioned that my rational mind had taken a hike.

He froze. I mean, stopped breathing froze and stared at me, his mouth agape as if he wanted to say something, but had come down with a sudden case of laryngitis.

“Whatever.” I turned and walked away from him. He was still standing like that when I glanced back at him over my shoulder. Good. Served him right.