Wicked Destiny - By Tiffany Stevens Page 0,55

playing, it wasn’t loud enough to drown out my thoughts. I finally gave up and laid my head against the window, silently watching the world around me as I drifted off.

I’m walking in the clearing and for the first time in a long time, I sense peace. I’m not dressed in my usual nightgown, either. I’m wearing a white sundress. Just over the hill I see someone…a guy holding what appeared to be a blonde-haired toddler. The sun is so bright behind them that I can hardly look at them without grimacing. I begin to walk towards them without even thinking. Looking down, I can see it’s time to plow the field, but I love the feel of the tall weeds hitting my hands as run through them.

It’s a warm day and I bask in the sunlight. I look back at the tall man holding the toddler. They are waving goodbye with a daisy in their hands and my heart begins to break. I am no longer taking my time. As they turn their backs to me, the child looks over the man’s shoulder and begins to cry. I‘m trying my best to get there, but it’s as if I’m running in quick sand. No matter how hard I try to use my power to get to them, it only makes things worse.

I’m panicking and tears are running down my face. I need to know who they are and for some reason I have to see the eyes of the child. As I’m steadily pumping my legs to get going, I hear something coming out of the woods. It’s the darkness and it’s making its way towards the unknown man and child. I can hear their screams as I work desperately to get to them. “No!”I scream out. I break free and make my way up the hill that they disappeared behind. And no one is there. Just a lonely daisy that lies crumpled. The darkness is gone and I’m there alone.

I suddenly hear a child’s cry in the far distance and I jump to my feet. I can’t determine which direction it came from, but then the cold, prickling feeling comes back as if someone is watching me. “What do you want?” I scream. Of course no one answered.

I’m turning to dwell in my own misery when I hear it. “You.”

I try to run, but I’m surrounded by the darkness and it finally catches up with me. There is nothing I can do.

When I awoke, it was dark outside and the music from 30 Seconds to Mars played in my ear buds. “Beautiful Lie” was the song and it was so fitting after the dream. To think that a child would ever be possible for me was crazy. Even to be happy in love with someone and living a normal life. Looking down, I saw I had sketched what looked like me waving to the unknown man and child in the clearing. How odd, but inspiring.

I grabbed a canvas and went to work on it. I sketched the picture, and then mixed the right colors together. It wasn’t long before my dream became a picture-perfect moment. I didn’t sleep through the night at all. I didn’t answer my calls and if there was a knock on the door, I didn’t notice. I was determined to get this done. I couldn’t let it disappear like it did in my dream.

It was probably about four in the morning when someone stood in my doorway. Undoubtedly, that someone was Declan with a bag full of food. This was a serious invasion of privacy. I’d lost it the last time someone just walked in here and the only reason I wasn’t using my newly found witchery on him was because of the grumble in my stomach from the lack of food. Looking at the painting, something made me feel very protective over it. I didn’t want anyone to see it, more less touch it.

“What do you want?” I asked, as I walked over to the sink to wash out my brushes.

“Everyone was worried about you.”

“Oh, so they sent you to check on me?”

“No.” He walked in and set the bag on the table. “I can leave if you want me to.”

“I honestly don’t care what you do, Declan. Why don’t you go back to your girlfriend? I’m sure she’s waiting on you.”

“Why do you say things like that?”

“Because I know she is. Because I did it for three years, and if she knew