Beauty and the Boogeyman
Chapter 2
Adriana jolted awake suddenly, her eyes shooting open, she gasped and had broken out in a cold sweat. What a nightmare! Her dreams had started out so normal but had quickly taken a dark and frightening turn.
She turned to look at the clock on her bedside table. 3am. She sighed, and thought she might as well check on her little sister since she didn't see herself falling back asleep so soon after that bad dream.
Adriana was a musician. She was a lead singer and guitarist and she and her band played 4 nights a week at a local pub. It wasn't the big time by any means but it was enough to pay all her bills so she considered herself pretty successful. They were working on finishing their first album together and she couldn't be more excited. She had her own small apartment closer to the city but her parents had decided to go on a second honeymoon & had asked her to stay with her little sister at home while they were away for the weekend. She didn't mind. She loved her little sis dearly & likewise, the little scamp practically worshipped her big sister.
Adriana padded down the hall quietly to her sisters room & cracked open her door. "Ariel?" she whispered. The little girl was 9 yrs old with dirty blond hair & big brown eyes like Adriana's. Currently, she was tossing in bed, whimpering softly. "Ariel, wake up" she called & gently shook her small shoulders. "It's just a bad dream." Ariel's eyes cracked open & when she saw that it was her sister who had her & not the strange, dark man from the dream, she relaxed instantly.
"It would seem that everyone's cursed with bad dreams tonight." She joked lightly, trying to soothe the younger girl. "Do you wanna tell me about it?" Adriana asked.
"There was a bad man in my dreams. He wanted to take you away" Ariel said, her eyes brimming with tears.
"What bad man?"
"He was scary. I didn't like him. He was very tall. He had grey skin & black hair. He wore black clothes & had the weirdest eyes."
"What do you mean?"
"They were a yellowy color. It was weird. And he was so scary! He said he was gonna take you away!" Ariel began to cry.
"Hey, hey. It's okay kiddo. He wasn't real. Everything is just fine & nobody is trying to take me away, okay? I'm not going anywhere." She kissed her on the cheek & tucked her back under the covers.
As Adriana was walking out the door, Ariel called out to her once more. "Yeah kiddo?" she asked, turning back around.
"He said he needed you" the child said solemnly. A feeling of foreboding came over Adriana.
"Needed me for what?"
"To believe."
"Believe? In what?"
"In him."
Adriana didn't know what to say to that. She just smiled & reassured Ariel again that no one was after her & that everything would be alright.
In the shadows, Pitch watched the exchange silently & as Adriana walked out the door & back to her room, he chuckled darkly, "Oh but there is someone after you, my dear. And I assure you, you will be mine."