Bonded With Love by Tiffany Heiser (the giving tree read aloud .txt) 📕

coated them. His lips once so full and lush, were now pulled back into a sneer as large protruding fangs slid from his gums.
I screamed and looked around for an escape, but where do you run to in the dream world?
His hand clenched against my shoulder. He spun me around and brought my back against his tight chest. Hard stiff hands pulled my head to a tilt. I felt hot steamy breath against the crevice of my neck. Sobbing, I tried to break free from his grasp. Hoping that death in a dream was only that, but this dream seemed so real, so alive; I didn't know what to expect.
Thrashing about I felt more hands on my shoulders, and I tried to fight back. When my eyes opened, the room was bathed in beautiful luminescence. I found myself back in the book store.
“What the...” What was that? I felt relieved to be back in the real world. That dream was frightening. So real. I could feel his hands still on my body. His hot breath stuck to my neck even in the living world.
Now, the hands that held onto me now were the saleswoman's. Cecile, surprisingly, sat with me on the floor.
She held my head in her lap and hovered above my face. “Ren, are you okay?”
I blinked repeatedly.
The saleswoman leaned over where I laid. “I checked your phone miss, sorry, I just looked for the last person you talked to. Oh and I also called 9-1-1. I didn't know what was going on, but I'm definitely not certified for anything but CPR.”
“No, no, it's fine. Thank you, but I'm fine. I just need to get home and rest. How did you get here C?” I asked huskily.
“Mason from English class brought me.” Her large eyes were even wider now with fear.
“I'm fine Cecile, really. It's only been a few minutes.”
“Ugh, no, you've been out for at least fifteen minutes. I made sure Mason sped over here.”
A bonus about living in a small town, it only took about five minutes to get anywhere. Plus the high school sat next door to the bookstore.
I started hearing distant sirens of the ambulance, on its way to check up on me. I hoped if I stood up and acted normal, they would go away. Raising myself off of Cecile's lap, my head rushed with blood but I forced myself to stand.
“Hey the ambulance is almost here, I don't think you should get up.” The saleswoman put her hand on my shoulder.
I caught sight of her name tag. “Darla, I'm fine. I just need to go home and relax. C, will you please take me home? Seriously I'm better.” I did a little jig in the middle of the aisle, only to prove I could without toppling over, but the dizziness lingered. The room began to spin and I quickly regretted moving at all.
“Okay fine Ren, I will take you home, but I will be on your butt in two seconds if I sense even one thing wrong with you. Got it?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah got it.” Turning, I said, “thanks for your help Darla, and so sorry for the scare. I'll let them do their check-up before we go home.”
She nodded.
I begrudgingly waited to get checked on by the paramedics, and once they gave me a clean bill of health we headed home.
I had hoped for a little more from my senior year, but this pushed limits.

* * * * * * * * * *
"Rena come one. We're late." Cecile called.
The last one out as always, I grabbed a strawberry pop-tart and bolted to Cecile's bug.
She peeled out of the driveway and flew at a speed that caused the purple bug to growl in protest.
Trying to mentally wake up, I made an unintelligible comment. “I slept in, sorry.”
“S'kay, no big. I had told Mason and Jen we would meet them by the fountain.”
“Oh, who's Jen? And why are we meeting them?”
“We need to decide on our presentation for Mrs. Dawson's class, and they offered to be paired up with us. Most likely thanks to your super brainpower.”
Rolling my eyes, I mumbled, “oh okay. Sorry again. I had a rough night.”
“Is it the headaches? Or are you still having those nightmares?”
“Its nightmares. The headaches haven't come back since yesterday morning.”
“Wanna talk about it?” she asked.
“It's all the same stuff. Just the same awful scenes, C.” Tears stung the corners of my eyes, replaying the images from last night's nightmare.
We stopped at a red light and she turned to look at me.
I tried to blink away the tears starting to pool around the edges of my eyes. “I had hoped they would go away, but my counselor said they wouldn't for a while. She said the guilt I feel definitely isn't helping.”
“Ren, you have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. I've told you that, everyone has. It wasn't your fault at all.”
“But I was the only one, Cecile. I must have done something different to still be alive and for them to be dead. If I would've known what kept me alive, I could have warned my family.”
She shook her head. “It was that son-of-a-bitch, the one that fell asleep at the wheel, who did this to you and your parents. It wasn't your fault.”
“I guess. Maybe that's why I'm still having nightmares. I can't get my mind to wrap around it, only around what I could have done to prevent it.” The pooling tears spilled over. I couldn't stop them. No one could say anything to make me feel any different.
Cecile wiped at her eyes too. The memories were fresh in my mind.

Dark clouds puckered with rain above us. Splashes of raindrops covered the windshield, with the weather on the verge of becoming Spring. Driving home from an aunt's house, my parents sat in the front seats singing a duet of some lame rock song. I watched an alien crash through New York in the movie playing on the DVD player. Out of nowhere blinding beams of light shot through the car, followed by the sound of squealing tires exploding all around us. Mom screamed.
I passed out and then woke lying in a hospital bed, alone. One leg simply bandaged, the other in a cast and throbbing with pain. It felt like hours until a doctor finally stopped by to do a basic check-up. She also broke the devastating news; my family was dead.

“We're here.” Cecile's words brought me back.
The sun shone brightly in the sky. We marched through the grassy fields covering the front of school. The heat showed its strength early this morning, flexing its muscles by throwing large amounts of dry hot wind in our faces.
We made our way toward the fountain to meet Mason and Jen, and Cecile explained why we had parked in a different spot this week. “Okay, so I've met someone new.”
“I figured that was the reason we parked so close now. Not that I'm complaining. Who is he?”
“His name is Drake, he's absolutely stunning. Bronze hair that he fixes into that messy-just-got-outta-bed look, you know what I'm talking about?”
“Uh-huh, like every other guy in this school. Is he a senior?”
“I think so.”
“Where'd he come from?”
“Dunno. But he's got amazing gray eyes, and he's tall. Plus he has a hot body.” I could practically hear the slobber dripping from her lips. “And he drives that completely hot looking blue mustang.”
“Have y'all talked?”
“Nope, but I'm working on it. I have all these awesome plans on how to catch his attention.”
“Oh this should be good. So what are your 'awesome' plans?” Without intending to, sarcasm jumped from my mouth.
She ignored it. “Okay, so what if I try the bend and snap?”
“That's from Legally Blonde.”
“So? It worked for that one lady.”
“As long as you can control your snap.” I stifled a giggle,as she continued.
“What if I knock my pen off the corner of the desk in class as he walks by, and then when he hands it to me we stare lovingly into each others eyes?”
“Seriously? That's Clueless. You better hope he doesn't turn out gay for your sake. Don't you have any of your own material?”
“That's it. That's all I got.” She had stopped walking, and now stared at me with her arms crossed, a pout forming on her lips. “What do you suggest then, miss smart-ass?”
“I would go with 'Hi', or even 'Hello'. I know it seems strange and less cheesy but lots of guys fall for it.” I laughed hard.
“Oh whatever. Hey there's Mason and Jen.” She waved and jogged toward our friends.
Trying to keep up with her, I made it halfway when I felt it all over again. The headache was back at full force.
“Not again...” I squeaked, before chills broke through my entire system.
I immediately felt an arm wrapped around me from behind as I drifted to the ground. My body was brought down slowly and my head laid comfortably on someone's legs. The smell of pine trees filled my nostrils. I was mildly aware of talking going on around me.
My vision blurred and I tried to clear it up by blinking, but it didn't work. A fog covered my sight but a voice rang clear as a bell in my head.
Soft, yet masculine. It whispered so close to my ear. “Oh my love, I have waited so long for you.” The voice sounded familiar.
“Wh...who are you?” Fear crept through me, but I was too weak to do anything except lay there.
“Do not fear dear one. I will take care of you.” The strange whisper shimmered through my mind.
A cup touched my lips. My dry throat screamed for whatever liquid filled it. Weakness filled me and I lay too disoriented to object. A fruity scent drifted toward me, causing my mouth to water and I drank the sweet flavored juice that spilled into my mouth.
“You will feel better once you drink.” The voice whispered once again.
The arm around me tightened. The juice stopped flowing and the cup pulled from my lips.
In seconds, the fog had lifted and my vision cleared. A face bent over me and I found myself staring into a pair of sparkling blue eyes.