(nvc

l was sLarLled awake Lo Lhe subLle evenlng llghL seeplng lnLo Lhe
alcove Lhrough Lhe drlzzllng raln
l could hear a sLeady Lhumplng ln one ear and a muffled chlrplng ln
Lhe oLher 1he blrd's song sounded sad llke lL had experlenced a
broken hearL
noL llke Lhe one beneaLh me LhaL was beaLlng healLhlly and happlly
l LhoughL back Lo whaL had happened before Lhe bllss had me
dreamlng
We had goL caughL up ln Lhe momenL and klssed agaln Lhen Lhe
Lhunder had sLarLed up and Lhe llghLenlng had klcked ln l hadn'L pald
a loL of aLLenLlon Lo lL buL lL had sLarLed suddenly Powever l was
Loo losL ln Adam Lo reallze when
Somewhere ln beLween when Lhe klss sLarLed and lL ended l had
began Lo dream l don'L remember how or even why buL lL seemed
very real
lL wasn'L a normal dream elLher noL a happy go lucky floaLy dream
lL was acLually more of a nlghLmare
l was walklng Lhrough Lhe foresL we were led ln now Lowards a
flgure sLood ln Lhe mlddle of a clearlng Lurned away from me wlLh
Lhelr hood down l was cauLlous as l walked Lrylng noL Lo make Loo
much nolse ln case l sLarLled Lhem or Lhey Lurned and aLLacked me
And as l was walklng Lowards Lhe flgure lL suddenly LurnedLhls was
Lhe decldlng polnL ln my Llny plan of acLlon run or apologlzeand
began walklng Lowards me
uL unllke my plan my feeL would noL move as Lhe flgure goL closer
and closer l began Lo panlc l called ouL for Adam hoplng he was
aroundl'm noL sure why l called ouL Lo hlm l had only known hlm a
couple of daysand was abouL Lo shouL ouL agaln when Lhe flgure
sLopped lL was abouL flve yards from me now l was shaklng and Llny
drops of persplraLlon were welllng up on my forehead
who are you?"
l gasped Lhrough my panlc my volce only half Lrembled whlch was
good l dldn'L wanL Lhe person Lo Lhlnk l was frlghLened
1he person began Lo lower Lhelr hood for a momenL l was paralyzed
ln frlghL wonderlng whaL l was golng Lo see
1hen Lhe hood dropped
lL was Adam
l am a monsLer"

1haL was when l woke up
l was sLlll sllghLly sLarLled and my forehead was damp where l had
been sweaLlng l qulckly wlped away Lhe persplraLlon and saL up
Adam's face was sweeL ln sleep he looked llke a llLLle boy dreamlng
peacefully l wlsh l could know whaL he was dreamlng of Pls LshlrL
was ruffled up where l had slepL and l admlred hls Loned body
1haL was before l saw Lhe scars
Pls whole Lorso was spllL ln 3 where Lwo huge [agged scars spllL lL lL
looked llke someone had done an auLopsy on hlm sewn hlm
LogeLher and Lhen broughL hlm back Lo llfe
l wondered whaL had happened Lo hlm buL my mlnd kepL golng back
Lo Lhe dream ln whlch he called hlmself a monsLer
l dldn'L see how Lhe Lwo could be connecLed buL my hearL was Lelllng
me a dlfferenL sLory one where Adam was a monsLer
So many Lhlng's confused me abouL Adam where he had come from
Lhe facL he had no frlends LhaL dldn'L mean he was a monsLer
uld lL?
l gazed aL hls peaceful face Lhe sky was sLlll drlzzllng ouLslde buL
lnslde Lhe alcove Lhe sun was llghLlng up Adam's face reLurnlng hlm
Lo a Creek god
1he emoLlon l felL ln LhaL momenL had me confuslngly overwhelmed
l felL such sympaLhy for whaLever happened Lo Adam buL l knew he
would noL Lalk abouL lL he was sLlll so secreLlve uL l sLlll could noL
help buL fall for hlm every mlnuLe over and over
l qulckly leaned ln and placed a feaLher llghL klss on hls llps l drew
back Lo flnd hls eyes fluLLerlng open
l smlled aL hlm and blushed he smlled back before noLlclng hls LshlrL
was rldlng up and qulckly ad[usLlng lL l preLended Lo look away and
noL see whaL he was dolng or hls scars buL l dldn'L know wheLher he
knew l had seen or noL
l looked up aL Lhe llghL drlzzle LhaL had dlsslpaLed as qulckly as lL had
come Confused l looked back aL Adam Lo see hlm peerlng wlde eyed
aL me 1hls also confused me buL l smlled back Lo assure hlm noLhlng
had changed beLween us slnce earller
1he corner of hls llps LwlLched ln an aLLempL of a smlle buL hls face
had changed from a peaceful boy Lo a scared puppy cross wlLh a
young boy afLer [usL hearlng superman was real
1hls look really dld confuse me so much LhaL l couldn'L keep Lhe
charade up l dropped Lhe smlle and gave Adam confused eyes whlch
[usL broughL ouL Lhe scared expresslon more
Adam? Are you okay? ?ou look worrled"
1hls quesLlon [usL Lurned hls face Lo shock whlch Lhen qulckly Lurned
Lo a smlle
l'm flne [usL worrled abouL you shouldn'L you be back home by
now? l had noL reallzed how laLe lL was l am very sorry l shall walk
you home now fraai Lucie!
He jumped to his feet and hit his head on the roof of the hollow
alcove, which quickly brought him back to the floor. rushed over to
him.
"Adam, are you okay? Let me see!
held his giant head in my hands and rubbed it soothingly. raised
his eyes to mine to make sure the blow hadn't knocked him out and
saw him crying.
"Adam, are you okay? Would you like me to ring for an
ambulance?
He gazed into my eyes, and shook his head slightly. He smiled at
me before holding my head gently like he thought he might brake
me and kissed my forehead.
"i am fine Lucie, thank you, just happy that you are with me.
brushed a tear away and smiled back, then pressed a sweet kiss
against his lips. This of course got deeper after a few minutes, the
kiss felt like it was packed with meaning which scared me.
He gently broke it off before we could become to involved and rose
steadily to his feet making sure he didn't hit his head again , and
bent with his back to the roof crawled out of the alcove. He
stretched his arm back inside and grabbed my hand to help pull me
out.
Once up on two feet i stretched my arms in the air and looked
around. Judging from the position of the sun in the sky it was sixish.
Mum's gonna kill me!
lowered my arms and huffed bringing Adam's attention to me.
He still looked slightly worried which was bothering me, but i knew if
i asked why he would brush it off as something else, as he did
earlier.
But then again, if you don't ask, you won't know.
Adam whaL's boLherlng you? 8eally?"
Pe had began walklng down Lhe paLh Lowards Lhe sLarL of Lhe foresL
buL sLopped ln he reglsLered my quesLlon
l walked up Lo sLand behlnd hlm and walLed for hlm Lo Lurn around
lL was a slow sLuLLerlng move buL evenLually we were face Lo face
or more accuraLely chesL Lo face
l looked up lnLo hls eyes sweeLly buL found Lhey were closed ln
concenLraLlon
uL whaL was he concenLraLlng on?
Pe began Lo grlnd hls LeeLh whlch goL me really worrledlL couldn'L
be LhaL badbuL evenLually began Lo fluLLer hls eyes open almosL ln
Llme Lo hls hearLbeaL whlch l could hear belng so close
llnally hls eyes were compleLely open and hls [aw was sllenL
l saw anger ln hls eyes along wlLh a hlnL of frlghL Lhls wasn'L golng Lo
be good
l promlsed myself whllsL you were asleep LhaL l would Lell you Lhe
LruLh from Lhe momenL you woke up so here lL ls l am scared Lucle
you should noL be wlLh me we should noL even be frlends leL alone
whaL we are l have a very bad anger lssue Lucle l could hurL you l
could Lear you aparL and noL care abouL Lhe pleces
buL l do noL wanL LhaL Lo happen l do noL wanL you Lo be hurL and l
do noL wanL you Lo be scared l am noL worrled abouL my fear only
yours ?ou are meanL Lo lead a normal llfe and l am leadlng you down
Lhe wrong paLh! uL l Love havlng your presence Lo much Lo care
Lhls ls why l am dangerous ?ou should leave now and noL reLurn
you should move far away Lo somewhere l wlll noL flnd you because
belleve me now LhaL we are Lhls close l wlll noL leave you alone
A llghL drlzzle descended and seemed Lo beaL ln Llme Lo Lhe hearL l
could hear before me
l can sense your frlghL now whlch ls maklng me angry l do noL wanL
Lo make you frlghLened l wanL Lo make you happy l love seelng your
smlle uL because you are scared l am angry aL myself Lucle please
undersLand LhaL Lhls ls bad! l Lry Lo conLrol my anger all l can buL
someLlmes lL [usL bolls over! l am noL a good person for you l am a
Lerrlble person l am"
Pe dldn'L flnlsh hls senLence he [usL conLlnued Lo walk down Lhe
paLh Lowards nowhere
uL before he Lurned around l saw hls eyes lL was Lhe mosL fearful
slghL l had ever seen ln hls eyes l could see Lhe anger Lhe feroclLy
buL l could also Lhe fear and Lhe paln lL was causlng hlm Lo Lell me
Lhe LruLh
Pls speech had caused fear Lo creep up on me buL whaL he dld noL
sense was Lhe love l felL for hlm for Lelllng me Lhe LruLh yes of
course buL also for wanLlng Lo proLecL me from hlmself
?eL he sLlll dldn'L geL LhaL l would noL leL hlm go
lrom Lhe momenL l saw hlm l was enLranced 1haL flrsL day ln Mrs
Wllllam's room l LhoughL he was a Cod whlch was Lhe exacL LhoughL l
had ln Lhe Lree's alcove l had noL sLopped lovlng hlm for a momenL
even lf we had only [usL esLabllshed LhaL we boLh loved each oLher
uld he noL see LhaL l could noL leave now? 1haL he was a mysLery l
[usL had Lo unravel?
1he raln was pourlng now drenchlng my cloLhes Lhrough Lo my skln
l was shaklng from Lhe adrenallne pumplng Lhrough me from Lhe
fear and Lhe love
Adam had walked on a llLLle furLher buL sLopped ln Lhe mlddle of a
clearlng walLlng for me l could see LhaL he was sLlll dlsLressed from
hls hunched over shoulders and flsLed hands Pe began Lo walk back
Lowards me slowly as lf hls anger had decreased sllghLly
WhaL was he hldlng?
1hen l remembered he had noL flnlshed hls senLence earller
Who are you?"
1he de[ voo crashed over me as l reallzed when l had sald LhaL llne
before Lhe panlc seLLled ln
My dream
l knew whaL came nexL l dldn'L Lhlnk lL would l puL all of my head
lnLo Lhe opposlLe revelaLlon someLhlng oLher Lhan my dream please
don'L make Lhls be real My hearL would noL cooperaLe
My hearL was golng llke a sLeam Lraln buL Lhere were no sLaLlons for
lL Lo sLop aL [usL llke ln Lhe dream l was paralyzed wlLh frlghL
Pe sLopped ln fronL of me and lowered hls hood
Looklng ln my eyes he spoke Lhe words
l am a monsLer"