Chapter 3.

"When are your parents going to be home?" Astrid asked Blake, as they lay on his bed together.

Blake looked over his right shoulder to see the clock. Its red glowing numbers read, 8:00pm.

"They should be home late tonight." He said.

"Where did they go again?" Astrid asked.

"New York."

"Sounds like fun." She commented.

"I think we had even more fun." Blake whispered while fiddling with the straps that were on her jeans.

Astrid giggled, and pulled Blake closer.

The warm embrace of Blake's arms around her soon caused her to fall asleep.

The girl was sleeping so soundly. She dreamt dreams of his smile and dreams of his touch.

She was just getting to the part when he would kiss her when suddenly she awoke. To her dismay, he was no where to be found. She was no longer lying next to her beloved Blake.

In confusion she got out of the bed and left the room. She came to the hallway she had known so well, and found that it had become a maze. The original 2 hallways had multiplied to 12. Each hallway held 4 doors.

In panic, the girl walked down the first hall quickly, and opened the first door. There was nothing in the room but a single window and bare walls. She slammed the door shut and went to the next. The next room beheld the same exact thing. So did the room after that, and the one after that, down every hallway .Frustration set in and the girl decided to try the last and final door. Slowly, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. At once, her eyes were welcomed to the color of dark crimson. In the middle of the room sat a wooden table with a drawer. The girl walked to the table, and pulled open the drawer to find a piece of paper. She flipped the paper over and saw big words in cursive that read,

Your mine

Fear over took the girl and while trembling, she crumbled up the piece of paper and flung it across the room. She ran to the door to find it closed. She turned the handle, but it was locked.

Her heart beat faster as she tried to open the door. Flinging her body against it, she tried to break it down, but it was no use.

"Help me!" she screamed while clawing at the door.

She figured that no one would answer and was caught off guard as she heard footsteps outside the door. The girl backed away from the door and listened to the footsteps. The door handled turned, ever so slowly as the girl's heart beat rapidly inside her chest. The door opened to reveal a man of at least 6'0, and long black hair a few inches below his collar bone. He walked towards her as she cowered in fear. Taking her hands, he pinned them behind her back. She struggled to break free but found that she could not. He was so strong, and she was so weak. She looked into his eyes, and once again felt that feeling of helplessness as she realized that they were dark red. In her last dream, they had been green. It terrified her so that she could not scream and was unable to move.

"You cannot escape now. I'm with you everywhere." He whispered into her ear. With that, he quickly tilted her head to the side and bit into her neck.

Screaming, Astrid jolted up from her nightmare. Blake, who had been sleeping next to her, immediately woke up. Astrid had tears pouring down her face as she looked around the room shouting, "Where is he?! Where is he?!"

"Astrid, calm down! What's wrong?!" he asked taking her into his arms

"He's here! He's here Blake, I saw him!" she sobbed into his chest.

"Who's here?" he asked in bewilderment.

Astrid didn't answer and her body began to shake. Blake squeezed her harder and said, "Baby, tell me who's here. What are you talking about?"

She didn't answer again and continued to cry in heaving breaths. Blake was filled with confusion at what she was crying about, and why she was shouting "He's here".

He continued to hold her until she fell asleep again in his arms. It was 10:30 pm, and Black knew that within hours, his parents would be home, but he didn't want to take Astrid home and leave her alone. Not after what had just happened and the incident earlier that morning.

Blake put a hand under her back and her legs, and carried her out of the room, down the stairs, and to his car. Carefully, he laid Astrid down in the back seat, trying not to wake her. Getting into the drivers seat, he started the car up and backed out of the drive way.

It was around 11:45 pm when Astrid started to wake up.

"Blake?" she asked groggily.

"You're awake I see."

"Where am I?" she asked rubbing her eyes.

"The car."

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know. I was going to ask you once you woke up. So, seeing that you're awake now, where do you want to go?"

"Could you first pull over and let me sit in the front?"

"Sure." He said slowing the car down, and parking in a deserted gas station.

Astrid got out of the car and made her way to the passenger's seat. She heard a sound of a rock being kicked down the sidewalk and her eyes shot to a dark figure walking her way. Immediately she got into the car and slammed the door shut. But Blake did not see or notice her slight hesitation before she got in the car. Driving away, Astrid looked back to no longer see the dark figure. She didn't bother to say anything, figuring she was just imagining things.

"So, where do you want to go?"

"I don't know." She said softly.

"There probably isn't anywhere to go anyway at 11:50 at night." Blake said.

"Then why are we driving?" Astrid asked.

"I thought maybe you'd want to head home."

Astrid's face lost all expression as she said, "No, Blake, please, let's just drive around for a bit."

Blake nodded and asked calmly, "Would you mind telling me what caused you to wake up screaming?"

Astrid looked at him in a sad manor and whispered, "You'll think it's ridiculous."

"Try me." He said seriously.

She sighed and said, "I had this horrible dream that I woke up in your room and you were gone. So, I got up to go find you. Once I opened the door, the hallway had become a bunch other hallways with around four doors down each. I ran down each one and opened all the doors but they were all empty. So I tried the last and final door, and inside was a table with a drawer. I opened the drawer and found a piece of paper."

She stopped there and seemed to look out the window.

"Was there anything on it?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," she said nodding, "In cursive writing it said, "Your mine"." Her voice got soft as she said the words.

"That doesn't explain why you kept shouting 'He's here'."

Astrid started to fidget with her hands and shrugged.

"Why won't you tell me? I won't find it ridiculous, I promise." He said, taking his hand, and grabbing hers.

She looked at him in an almost thankful way, and said, "I know you won't, but all I had was a silly nightmare. You shouldn't worry about me and my petty nightmares."

Blake looked at her completely concerned and said, "Just know that I love you, and that you can tell me anything. No matter how silly you think it is, alright?"

Astrid nodded and looked out the window.

After a few moments of silence, Blake asked, "So, do you want to head home, or do you want me to ask my parents if you can stay over?"

"I'll just go home. I'm sure my parents will be home soon. But I don't want to be alone."

"If it'll help, I'll stay with you until you fall asleep and then I'll leave."

"I'd like that." Astrid said looking at him with thankful eyes.

Blake gave a reassuring smile, and turned the car around in the nearest driveway to head to Astrid's house.

Astrid opened the front door where she and Blake were welcomed to a dark and cold house. Her parents had been home the night of the party, but the next day they headed to a symphony and wouldn't be back until late at night. Being that they wouldn't be home, they turned the heat off.

Feeling against the wall, Astrid flicked on the light switch and the glass chandelier illuminated the room. Astrid took Blake's hand, and together they walked up to her bedroom. She opened her bedroom door to have a wave a cold air hit her.

"It's freezing in here." She said shivering, while flipping the light switch that turned on her bedside lamp.

She walked to her bed and fell on to the cold covers, sighing in exhaustion.

"Tired?" Blake asked in sarcasm, with a small smile.

"Just a little." Astrid replied softly, with just as much sarcasm in return.

She lifted herself off the bed and started going through her dresser drawers. Blake then fell onto the covers as Astrid had done, only this time he laid down and closed his eyes as if he was already sleeping. While he rested for a second, Astrid quickly changed into her night attire of black track pants and a black tank top, and then joined Blake on the bed. She gracefully laid across his chest as his arms encircled her waist fragilely, as if he was scared of breaking her.

"Blake?" she whispered.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

"Don't ever leave me."

"Never." He said kissing her forehead.

Astrid looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was 1:00 am ant it wasn't long before sleep consumed her. Minutes after she fell asleep, Blake did too. As they slept Astrid dreamed again.

The girl was watching herself sleep. She saw her real body in the arms of Blake's. She stood there, in a spiritual state, until she suddenly heard a strange noise from far off. She turned around trying to determine what it was. Before she knew it, she heard it again only a little louder but she still couldn't tell what it was. She walked to the door, opened it and headed out into the hallway. She heard once again the noise and walked down the stairs to the main floor, searching for that sounds. It was as she approached the basement she heard the voice saying a far off whisper,

"Astrid."

In a simple flash Astrid awoke. Lifting her upper body up, she tilted her head slightly as she heard the same faded voice from her dream say, "Astrid."

As if ina trance, Astrid got out of the bed and headed to the door, Blake still sleeping.

"Astrid." The voice said again.

She opened the door and walked down the hallway like in her dream, searching for the voice. It was as if her mind was only thinking about where the voice was coming from and to follow it.

"Astrid."

This time she was at the top of the stairway to the first floor. She walked slowly down each step.; When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the voice came again.

"Astrid."

This time she knew where the voice was coming from; the basement. She turned the handle, opened the door and walked down the steps not bothering to even turn on the lights. Blindly, she walked down the steps until she reached the bottom where she heard her name called out again.

"Astrid."

The voice was so close. She could hear it so clearly. It was as she realized this that her face became lax and it was if her eyes were finally open.

"What?" Astrid whispered in confusion, as she realized she was in pitch darkness.

"Astrid, come here." The voice said in a hushed, seductive manner.

She couldn't help but walk towards the voice, like there was an invisible force controlling her. She walked further into the darkness, the voice continuing to beckon her. She continued to follow the sound until she felt the feeling of something foreign touch her neck.

Blake awoke suddenly to the sound of a loud, shrill scream. He looked immediately to the bed where he saw an empty bundle of blankets.

"Astrid." He whispered loudly in alarm.

Authors note: Hey! I know this took SOOOOOO long to update, but I've been busy and I had a long writers block. Please review!!!

delanie