Pt 2 - 13

The shop had no structure to its layout, no order in the placement of products. It felt more like a jumble sale than an upmarket dress shop. Alissa ran a finger over gold chains, pearl necklaces and lace chokers, deciding which would go best with her dress.



A young woman tapped her shoulder. “Someone is waiting to meet you at the dock.”



Alissa frowned but accepted what she’d been told.



“Can you show me the way?” Alissa asked.



“Yeah, I’m going too.”



The woman led the way, her long dark hair blowing in the wind. Every so often she would try to tuck the unruly tresses behind her ears, but the worsening weather won out.



The woman paused in front of a wooden stairwell and pointed, “He’s down there... somewhere.”



“Who is?”



The woman was halfway up the stairs before she replied, and the words she spoke got lost in the wind. Alissa didn’t want to move. She instinctively knew it was a bad idea, but the option of staying behind, alone in the dark, was equally uninviting.



Atop the stairs stood a long plank of wood and nothing else. Stepping on a suspended and slim platform in the strong wind was easier than Alissa might have expected, her dream body being far lighter and more agile than the real version. Though she knew it was a dream, Alissa was not fully lucid. Trapped in the mindset of the imaginary world, she followed the other woman, aware that someone else walked on the underside of the beam, in defiance of gravity.



The figure reached the end and with a flap of his overcoat, flipped onto the upper side. Alissa averted her gaze, afraid to set eyes on the approaching phantom. She went to turn back.



“If you don’t keep moving forward, you’ll fall,” warned her guide.



“So,” Alissa braced herself, “It’s just a dream.”



Alissa closed her eyes and jumped. She crashed through the boards of the dock and plunged into the water below. A second later she sat up in her bed, gasping for air.



Green digits flashed 8:09, informing her she was running late for school again. Fortunately, she was already fully dressed and ready with a full face of makeup.



At the dining table, her mother sat with her brothers. They rifled through a box of old photographs.



“You were such an ugly baby,” Mum winced, looked up at Alissa. “It took me so long to bond with you... I never thought I would love you.”



Alissa wasn’t sure how to respond. Mum had always described all her babies as beautiful.



Mum shook her head. “I guess that’s the reason I overcompensated and turned you into a spoiled little bitch.”



She spoke softly yet with all the devastating force of a slap to the face.



The three of them continued rifling through the pictures, oblivious to the expression of hurt on Alissa’s face. No coffee, tea or toast sat among the pictures.



“Why aren’t we getting ready for school?” Alissa asked after a moment.



Mum sighed, “Why bother sending you to school. You never learn.”



“Whatever,” Alissa was about to stomp back to her room when she noticed the top of the stairs were in darkness. But it’s morning...



Slowly, step by step, her eyes adjusted enough to pick out the tall figure lurking at the end of the corridor.



“Shit.”



Alissa made a mad dash for the door. As usual, it stood ajar.



Running, bare feet slapping the asphalt, a sense of Déjà Vu hit. Zach. This is Zach.



“What did you do to me?” Alissa cried. “What did you do?”



“Wake up! Wake up! Why can’t I WAKE UP?”



Alissa fell to the floor, crying, then sobbing. She pounded the floor with balled fists, trying to smash her way out of the dream.



“That won't work,” a male voice advised.



Zach.



“Help me. Help me get out of here,” Alissa requested, staring up at her enemy. It didn’t matter what she had to escape. None of it was real.



“Can you help me?” Alissa pleaded.



“I can. A more pertinent question would be whether I will help you,” dream Zach pointed out.



You’re as much of an arsehole as real Zach.



Zach laughed. “I am real Zach.”



“Real Zach can’t read my mind,” Alissa said.



“Are you sure about that?”



Was she?



Zach paced the street, arms behind his back. “You know... your main problem is your failure to take good advice when it’s offered. I’d advise you to address this flaw, but I already know you won't listen.”



“So, what should I do? Tell me! Please....”



“It’s too late. You missed your chance. It’s all downhill from here.”



The ground beneath Alissa shifted, and though she feared the sensation of falling from the Earth, the main feeling flowing through her was relief. This was the way out.



When she woke, sitting up in her bed, the clock read 8:09. A feeling of cold dread formed at the base of her brain and sent tingles down her spine, all the way to her fingers and toes.



Am I still dreaming?



Alissa crept down the stairs, listening for the sounds of the morning routine. Her brothers rushing to finish breakfast, the TV blaring.



“Want tea?” Aiden offered as Alissa shuffled across the linoleum floor in her fuzzy pink slippers.



She took the cup gratefully and sipped. It tasted real. Everything seemed real. Everything except for Alissa.



“You look... err... are you feeling okay?” Lee asked.



“Please, can I have a lift today? I feel rubbish. Not rubbish enough to warrant a day off but I haven’t done my make-up and my hair, and I can’t go—”



“Okay, Okay, go get ready,” Lee conceded. “It isn’t like I have stuff to do,” he added under his breath.



“Thank you, Lee,” Alissa smiled at her brother, in an apparently rare move if his expression was anything to go by. Aiden made the ‘crazy’ gesture with his index fingers.



Maybe I am a mega bitch who deserves to be tortured and humiliated.



She was dreading school but sitting home alone all day was not going to answer any questions or help her situation. Getting to her friends before Zach could do any more damage was the best strategy, as scary as it was.