Chapter 39 - Who Are You?
Laura entered her room and looked at the window. She walked towards it and closed it, done. She shifted her attention to the mirror. She needs to cover the whole mirror! Tightly!
She went to her luggage and took another garment, wanting to double the cover to ensure that it won't fall on the floor. She took a string from her luggage and tied the garment securely to the base of the mirror so that no matter how strong the wind blows coming from the window, the garments won't fall into the floor.
A few minutes later, she was finished with her task. She inspected her handiwork, it's perfect! She took a deep breath and smiled in satisfaction.
She's done!
Now she can sleep through the night without worrying that Luke's doppelganger will materialize in her room in the middle of the night.
She went to the bathroom to take care of nature's call.
When she exited the bathroom a moment later, she was already yawning, feeling sleepy.
She lay her body down in the bed and looked at the light switch. Under normal circumstances, she doesn't like sleeping when the light is on. But ever since Luke's doppelganger began intruding into her life, she can no longer sleep calmly during the night. She doesn't like repeatedly taken advantage of by that creepy creature.
From now on, she will sleep with the lights on.
She reached for the blanket near the headboard and covered her body with it, then she closed her eyes, ready to sleep.
Laura freed her mind from unwanted thoughts. She wants to sleep early tonight and deal with her problems the next day.
A few minutes later, her breathing becomes steady.
She was entering a deep sleep.
Meanwhile.
Outside Nicholas's mansion.
The floating black-figure reappeared on the rooftop of the mansion. The wind was blowing his flowing cape. He looks like Superman.
The black figure scanned the surrounding area, his razor-sharp eyes landed at the closed window below him. He hovered towards it.
He paused in front of the window.
He can smell her intoxicating scent inside the room!
He looked heavenward, staring at the full moon above. He stayed that way for a few minutes, contemplating what to do next.
~
Back in Laura's room.
The night is quiet, Laura's soft snoring filled the entire room.
Then she groaned in her sleep as if she was experiencing a nightmare.
Inside Laura's dream.
She was dreaming of enjoying horseback riding with her sister Sofia on their farm. It was after lunch when she and her sister decided to go horseback riding around the farm.
It was a sunny day. The weather is good for horseback riding. The cloud above was clear as crystals, and the heat of the sun was tolerable to the skin. She wasn't bothered by any sunburn 'coz she was wearing a long sleeve blouse and long riding pants that covered all the exposed skin on her body.
On the top of her head, she was wearing a wide straw hat the protected her face from the harmful sun rays.
She looked in the direction of the lake and smiled. Her parents were currently having a picnic there. Behind her was Sofia, navigating her horse with a carefree attitude.
All is well, all is good.
Then suddenly, heavy thunder and lightning tore the sky above, and the surrounding area turned dark instantly.
First, there was a splatter of rain that gradually turned into a heavy pouring of rain. Laura remained seated on top of the horse, her eyes and mouth wide open due to shock.
Who would ever think that such a beautiful sunny sky suddenly turned into darkness and the rain falls in torrents?
Such a drastic change of weather in just a blink of an eye! Unbelievable!
What kind of phenomenon is this?
She saw the rainwater forming a puddle in the ground.
She suddenly remembered her sister, she looked behind her. Where is her sister? She saw her following her from behind just a few minutes ago. But why she was gone now? Where did her sister has gone to?
"Sofiaaaaaaa! Where are you!?" she shouted.
"Sofia...Sofiaaaaaa...where are youuuuuu!?" This time she shouted at the top of her lungs.
She kept calling her sister's name, but no one answered her call.
Panicking, she prompted the horse to go back to find her sister. But the horse won't move! Again, she prompted it to move forward, but it simply won't move. It gives her the appearance that the horse's feet were glued to the ground or something is preventing the horse from moving.
Then her eyes widened saucer-like after seeing the water rising fast. Crap! It's already reaching the horse's knees!
Oh, my God!
Laura's heart was beating fast in her rib cage. What's going on! Why the water is rising this fast? This is unbelievable and horrifyingly scary!
She kept urging the horse to move forward frantically, but to no avail.
The water keeps rising, and there's not a single tree around her that she can cling to for safety. She has to leave the horse and swim her way back to the farmhouse or look for her sister and her parents. She was deeply worried about them, especially that her mother doesn't know how to swim!
If the water rises this fast, which means it encompasses the wide area of their farm especially in the lake area. Their farmhouse was elevated at a much higher level, her family will be safe taking refuge there!
She needs to find them... ASAP!
Without hesitation, she jumped into the muddy water which already reached the horse's neck, the animal's body was stiff as a statue.
Her horse is dead!
She felt sad, but she can't stay in this place any longer, she needs to find her sister and her parents! ASAP! She was worried to death thinking about what happened to them.
Then suddenly the whole area was plunged into pitch darkness. She can't see anything! What's going on!
She swam in the dark water no idea where she's going...everything is dark...she can't see anything in front of her and behind her, she was literary swimming in the dark void, but she can feel the water everywhere.
How did the bright sun turn into such darkness like this!? Her mind was screaming for an answer.
She kept swimming for hours without direction but never reaching the dry ground until her body grew tired. She can no longer move her arms and lower body. Her whole body was freezing!
Fear and panic crippled her senses, she wanted to keep swimming, at least it gives her some purpose but her body was already dead tired, only her mind was alive.
A sad realization hit her like ton of bricks, she's going to die any minute from now if no rescue will come. She closed her eyes, ready to die.
Her body floated on the surface of the water, she was floating like Styrofoam.
Then suddenly... a powerful thunder and lightning erupted into the sky.
Laura opened her eyes and saw the sun coming out from the clouds.
A dazzling apparition came down from the sky...
She saw a figure of a man, wearing a black hooded cape. It's descending in dizzying speed... approaching her location.
The black figure scooped her out of the water and carried her in his arms.
"W-who a...are y...you?" she asked in a low voice.
"I come to save you," the guy said.
"W-where a...are y...you t...taking me?" she managed to ask before drowsiness take over her body.
"There is someone... wanting to see you..." the guy replied.
"W...who?" she asked.
"It's Luke...your beloved..." the guy said.
A faint smile broke on Laura's face. "Take me to Luke...I wanna see him," she whispered as her consciousness fading away.
The guy no longer replies. They floated higher and higher in the sky.
Until the scene changes...
They landed in a ruined castle in the middle of nowhere.