I sat there in shock.
Mother’s eyes flitted to the newspaper. “Oh yes, there was a great tragedy last night. No one is quite sure of what happened but the bodies looked absolutely dreadful.”
I froze, “How did they look?”
She shot me an irritated look, “Lorelei, this conversation is entirely too inappropriate to have over breakfast!”
My breath stilled and I nodded. “You’re right, mother. I’m afraid I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going to go for a walk, I’ll be back around noon.”
She didn’t respond but watched me carefully as I left the room.
I walked normally out the door but as soon as I closed it behind me, I ran.
Whoever or whatever was sitting beside me at breakfast, was not my mother.
As I ran, I realized I had been down this road before. When I remembered the dream, my breathing went shallow.
This town and everything in it was in my dream.
I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest when I noticed the candy store. The sign and the storefront, it was exactly the same.
I calmed myself down as best as I could and walked inside.
Just as before, no one was inside. This time, however, the candy was a variety of colors. I exhaled, yes, it had just been a dream.
When I approached the candy and decided to pick a piece up, I suddenly fell down a pit of darkness.
My senses went ablaze and I was too shocked to scream. I was surrounded by complete darkness and stumbled around, looking for some kind of exit to this hell.
I felt myself bump up against something, it was metal. I could recognize by the feel that it was the wrought iron cemetery gate. I put my hand out to get a feel for the gate and moved towards the end of it. When I reached the end, I felt around the brick, for something, anything.
When my hand flitted to the cemetery placard, it was wet and smelled of iron. It was blood. Before I could process this, I was back in the candy shop. To my horror, there was blood on my hand from the sign.
I ran out of the shop and kept running.
“Lorelei!” A voice called from behind me.
I was too terrified to even think of looking back and kept running. But as I ran, I heard footsteps close behind. Whoever called my name, was following me.
Despite my determination, I felt tears stream down. This was a nightmare, this was a nightmare!
Eventually, I ran out of breath and stopped.
I was too scared to turn around to see my pursuer but when I felt a tap on my neck, I stifled a scream.
“Lorelei?”
I turned around and heaved a sigh of relief.
It was just Mr. Willhelm. I put a hand on my sternum and breathed out roughly.
“Hi, Mr. Willhelm.”
He looked me up and down and smiled awkwardly. “Lorelei, you look awfully disheveled, are you okay?”
I nodded fast and laughed nervously. “Yeah! I’m fine, I’m good, I’m good!”
He furrowed his brow at me and then sighed. “In any event, your mother sent for me last night. She claimed to be in great distress and was worried about your well-being.”
My breathing slowed. “My mother? Where is she? Is she with you?”
He shook his head, “I’m afraid not. I received an erratic knock on my door last night and when I opened the door, there was no one there, only a note.”
I clenched my fist to fight back the pure terror I felt. I stared at him in silence.
“Mr. Willhelm,” I looked on either side of the road before continuing to speak, “I believe I am in grave danger. I believe something happened to my mother last night but I don’t know what.”
He blinked rapidly at me, “Lorelei, what do you mean?”
“I mean, I mean something that we shouldn’t discuss out in the open.”
He nodded slowly, seeming to catch my drift. “Okay, give me a minute and I’ll get my car ready.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled, “Thank you.”
He walked away and a few minutes later returned with his car. As I got into the car, perhaps too late, I realized what color it was.
I stared at him wildly. “Y-you followed me. In my dream, last night, didn’t you?”
Mr. Willhelm tilted his head at me in confusion. “No, Lorelei. I was at my house last night.”
I began shaking and clenched the seatbelt. A silence passed and after a moment, I calmed myself down.
“You like me, do you not, Mr. Willhelm?”
He glanced at me and then back at the road. “I believe my affection towards you has been quite obvious for many years, yes.”
“S-so you would never do anything to hurt me, right?”
He laughed heartily. “Of course not! Your father would have my head if I ever considered it.”
I nodded, “Right, right.”
The car ride continued in silence until we reached his house. It was of considerable distance from the castle, so I felt an immediate sense of ease.
As we exited the car I analyzed my surroundings. No one appeared to be there, thankfully.
As we entered his house I quickly turned the lock behind me.
“Mr. Willhelm, I know this sounds like a silly request, but I beg of you to please lock all the windows and doors in your house. I’m in danger.”
He looked at me and then at his door and silently complied.
I was glad his affection for me, if nothing else, made him easy to persuade.
When he finished locking the doors and windows, he sat down at the kitchen table and patted at it for me to sit.
“Why don’t you sit down and tell me your story and I’ll put on a pot of tea.”
I noticed Mr. Willhelm put a recorder on the table and pressed record. He glanced at me, “I believe you have a story to tell and for posterity, I believe it is important to record.”
I tapped my fingers against his table and let out a shaky exhale. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being followed, that I was being watched.
When I finally finished telling him everything, save for the explicit details about Karmen, he sat there and sipped his tea quietly.
“Why?” He looked at me with concern.
“I just don’t know. Everything was fine until we arrived last night.”
He looked at me skeptically. “But you said you were seeing this… Karmen beforehand, correct?”
I nodded, “Yes, yes I was. But that was going fine until last night.”
He raised a brow at me and shook his head. “Well, I’m going to the bathroom but I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” I sipped my tea nervously.
“Don’t trust him,” a voice in my head seemed to say.
“Karmen?”