Four
'I pray for this heart to be unbroken.'
–Backstreet Boys-
"Dad?" I called when I was in a bright white room while squinting my eyes. "Mom?"
There was no answer, nor did anyone appear. The room was so quiet that only my breathing could be heard. Suddenly, my head was filled with something scary. What if in this world there lived a tiny human with... Looking at myself wearing a dress my mom bought me in the middle of summer, I was shocked to death.
For a moment, my lips curled into a smile. This is a favorite dress among dozens of clothes in the wardrobe. A purple dress with a floral print reminiscent of a beautiful Lavender flower bed. Plus, I lacy socks with the white shoes I used to wear everywhere.
I looked up where there was a large mirror. I swayed my body and spun like the ballerinas taught at school. Her wavy brown hair was pulled into two braids, and her smile never stopped growing, even though her incisors had just fallen out at the end of winter. Then, George's figure appeared, smiling behind me proudly.
I reflexively hugged him tightly to vent all the longing that had been buried for a long time. With its lingering tobacco aroma, George is a scent I will never forget. Unfortunately, suddenly, everything turned dark, and someone forcibly pulled my body into a dining room.
In that instant, the pupils of my eyes popped out, along with my stomach churning. My chest was pounding fast; my throat felt like it was being strangled by something invisible when I saw a man sitting next to a girl, looking at her lustfully.
Try as I might, I approached the girl and shouted at her, "You have to go, Lizzie! He's evil! You have to go! Please! Lizzie, listen to me!"
The man turned towards me as if only he could hear the scream that little Elizabeth couldn't hear. He grinned, his eyes glinting, making me move back. He put his index finger to tell me to be quiet while he used his other hand to caress his stepdaughter's thigh.
Enraged, I threw a flower vase at him near a row of our family photo frames. But, my body was sucked again, and I stopped in a room where the man touched me. He threatened me that he would kill my mom if I didn't serve him. It didn't stop there; he took out a small knife and slashed my arms and neck until they bled, sucking them like crazy.
"Lizzie! Lizzie! Wake up, Hey!" Emilia's voice and the shake on my shoulder brought me back to consciousness.
For a few moments, I just stared at her in panic and roughly pushed away her two hands, which were still holding my shoulders. My breath felt blocked, like someone had sucked out all the oxygen in my lungs, making my brain unable to think clearly. Despite the air conditioning machine still faithfully cooling the room amid the hot city weather, my body was sweating. I was panting like a fish out of water, but I needed oxygen to calm myself down, and it was just a bad dream.
Dreams you've had in the past, Lizzie.
"What happened to you?" Emilia asked worriedly. "You've been screaming in your dreams for the past few days, Lizzie. Is there a problem?"
I shook my head quickly; my tongue was numb, and I couldn't answer Emilia's question while my heart was still reluctant to beat. Even though he was conscious, it felt like the forbidden touch reached my veins. I closed my eyes and grabbed my hair until the roots felt like they were being pulled by force.
"Hey, hey..." Emilia grabbed both of my hands; we struggled with each other. I wanted to eliminate this delusion from my head, but Emilia didn't seem to allow it. "What's wrong with you, Lizzie, hey!"
"Go, Emilia!" I shouted at him loudly.
The girl gaped, stunned beyond belief. "What's wrong with you?" she softly still didn't want to leave. "I've never seen you like this, Elizabeth."
"You don't understand, Em!" I said firmly until the veins in my neck bulged. "Please leave me alone, okay? I'm fine!"
The blue-eyed girl finally left without saying anything. But from Emilia's expression, I could tell she had a lot of questions, especially when these nightmares kept coming non-stop as if they wanted to kill me slowly. I took a deep breath, trying to neutralize myself, but still couldn't.
Then, I got up from the bed and looked at myself in the mirror while stroking the scars left by that lecherous man. Transverse wound on the left collarbone that had become infected due to repeated cuts. The stitch marks that turned into keloids left scars that held many dark secrets. I groaned and trembled every time I remembered the forbidden touch that tore my body apart.
I quickly took the bottle of sedative that I had hidden in the cupboard. Take several grains at a time and ingest them with nutrients that this medicine can relieve my panic. I feel like an insane person like I used to be. I was crying over myself with millions of questions in my head.
Why did the dream appear again after I was successfully treated?