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see her. In the kitchen where she had her breakfast – cereal and milk, always cereal and milk. In the living room where we would play video games or watch a movie with my feet on her lap. In my bedroom where we shared the same twin bed almost every night – she was a kicker and a blanket thief. On the desk where she would sit while studying, ‘because that’s how I rule’ she would say whenever I might ask why she was acting so crazy. Everywhere held a memory of her. Every where.
    I missed her dearly. It hurt more with every new day. It hurt so much to the point I wished she’d had an accident or died from sickness, because then I would’ve known she was dead for real, at least. But this – this was much, much worse. Because I still hoped. And hopping made my chest hurt hard, and my heart bled even harder.
     

     
    “Andrew?” I gasped, sensing him near me, but my eyes were so heavy I couldn’t open them.
    “Maya, my beautiful Maya,” I heard his deep voice whispering near my ear. I shivered and tried my best to open my eyes but couldn’t. My entire body was tingling. It was an awful feeling, just like the one you get when your legs fall asleep and you try to stand up. It tingles, it hurts. Not so bad, but it’s not a pleasant feeling, not at all. My whole body felt like that, but it was stronger near my neck and in the middle of my back. Stupid sensation that I hated and just wanted it to end.
    “Andrew, where I am?” I asked him.
    “In your bed, Beautiful Angel,” he replied, his voice so close that I even felt his flames-hot breaths fanning over my face.
    “I – I can’t open my eyes,” I told him, and heard a chuckle that sounded like one only the devil would let out. It was dark and cold. Darker than a moonless night and colder than ice.
    ‘‘You’re so pure and innocent. It’s going to be so hard to tame you to fit into my world, but it will happen – no matter what,’’ was what he said in response. An answer that made my blood run cold and for my breaths to become shallow.
    I tried with all of my might to open my eyes. A very thin line of light told me that I was succeeding, and with more trying I would be able to open them fully and look at my surroundings. And that was exactly what happened. And I wished it hadn’t.
    I found myself in my bed like Andrew told me, but my white sheets had turned to take on the color of my blood – red. It took me just a few moments to realize that I was drowning in my own blood. No idea where exactly the blood was coming from or where I was wounded, but I was bleeding heavily and I knew that there was no way I was going to make it out of this.
    By then, my breaths were nothing but short gasps and frightened pants. I searched for Andrew, thinking that maybe he could save me, get me help or just do anything to make it stop, but when my eyes found his, I screamed and cried out loud until my voice was lost.
    When I thought there was no way out for me and that was the end, I finally got my respite when Nana woke me up… I’d overslept until noon.
    Every night I would dream of him, telling me something new, something creepy, scary and frightening. And just like when I’d met him, I still felt the pull. I knew I was being stupid, and many times I questioned how I’d let him touch me that way that night, but I still couldn’t resist feeling the need to be close to him again. I thought about him a lot, more than I’d care to admit, and my feelings for him were overshadowed only by my longing to see Sophie again, or at least hear from her. But I knew that there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t stop my feelings from growing so crazy in every way possible. It was almost embarrassing.
    One time he promised me ‘Better wings’ and ‘Sharper teeth’ – something strange and crazy – just like everything he ever told me in my dreams of him. He once even told me that ‘I missed the warmth only you could provide me,’ whatever that meant. The only thing