8 The Day of the Party (1/2)
”I was alone, all over again, in a forest I had never even seen before; I could see myself reflected into the cold emeralds eyes that were following me no matter where I ran. Puffs of white mist were escaping my lips as I exhaled each time, taking a bigger, more definite form with each breath.
I was paralyzed by fear but I knew I had to run, to get away from the laughter that was becoming louder each time I took a step. Instead of running away, it seemed that I was running in the direction that the laughter was coming from.
As I stopped a second to look for a way out of the thick forest, I felt something reach out and grab my leg. It wasn't a hand; it felt more like I had stumbled into something while staying still; however, whatever was holding me down was crawling up my leg, swirling around it, confining my moves even more.
I was too scared to look and, in a panic, I closed my eyes. Even if I was to die, I didn't want to see the moment it happened. Then I woke up.” I told my grandmother over coffee.
”You must be careful today, I don't think it's a good sign to be feeling constricted and scared in a dream. You should throw some salt over your shoulder before you go out tonight.” my grandmother responded while taking her medicine with the black coffee she always had at breakfast.
She was a true believer in superstitions and would often make me do silly rituals to ward off evil. At first, I had been hesitant, but then I'd noticed it made her feel like I was safer after performing them, so I had just stopped complaining.
I made sure to avoid telling my grandma that those cold green eyes that had been following me and the slightly hoarse laughter I had heard were awfully similar to that of my boss. I also ”forgot” to mention Rob being in that dream, taking me in his arms as I was petrified by fear, and holding me in a warm embrace.
”It probably just means that I'm tired or have watched too many horror movies lately.” I tried to reassure her while drinking the last of my coffee.
”I'm going to take a bath then start preparing for tonight. You know it takes me forever to get ready.” It was true, it literary took me hours to make something of my hair and apply makeup, something other girls did in 10 minutes.
Slowly exiting the kitchen I went to my room and turned on my computer. Every weekend was the same thing: I got up, drank my coffee with my gran, then turned to the computer for company.
I rarely went out, and usually only on special occasions such as the birthdays of my few friends, or to buy stuff I couldn't order in. I was quite lazy when it came to this. I looked through the many folders of music on my PC and finally picked a few upbeat ones to make me snap out of my laziness. After the music started I began to feel nervous and excited at the same time.
I got my new dress out and struggled to find the pale pink shoes stored in my cupboard. I also remembered to turn on the water for a bath and started looking online for a hairdo to try on tonight. I browsed through some online videos of how to do it yourself and found a simple side-swept that I thought would work with my outfit.
It took a few hours for me to finish with my bath, change into my dress, do my makeup and my hair as best as I could. The hair was indeed quite easy to fix and for the makeup I just left it as natural as possible, using only some foundation, blush on my cheeks so I wouldn't look like I was sick, some mascara and a hint of eyeliner which I had to re-apply a couple of times thanks to my fumbling hands.