novel- chapter one

The lighting was dim in Sarah’s apartment. She lay on her bed, mascara running down her face in steaks and lines. She had been crying for quite some time now. The phone rang, Sarah let it ring three sharp times before answering it.
“Hello?” she whispered into the phone, half expecting it to be Alex ...
“Sarah, .... did I wake you?” It was a voice she recognized, but not his.
“Sam, you know I was awake, is there anything you need... I was kind of waiting for a phone call...”
“ Oh Sarah, come on... give it a rest. You and I both know that alex will be back in a couple of days. He’ll be back and he will treat you like the princess I know you are.”
“ I hope you’re right. You are a great friend... did you know that? But I better be going. Love ya. Bye.”
She hung up before her best friend could even say goodnight. Sarah looked toward the phone. “Oh what the hell.” she said to herself. She picked up the phone and dialed the numbers, dialing the last four much faster than the others. It was as if her fingers had a mind of their own. The phone rang four tines and then there was a click.
“Hello”
“oh my goodness! Alex!”
“You have reached Alex...”
She hung up...... She felt so stupid jumping to conclusions like that. She sank back into her pillows and welcomed sleep. Tonight she slept soundly and when she woke up she didn’t even remember any dreams. She stayed in bed for about thirty minutes before getting up to look in the mirror. She looked the same as she always had... same dark hair and blue eyes. She took off the clothes she had been wearing and stood before the ornate bedroom mirror gazing at herself. She was so frustrated. The woman in the mirror was not herself! Blind with anger and frustrated tears she slammed her fist into the mirror. Shattering it into a million tiny fragments. She glanced at the shards and saw the bitter redness of blood. On her hands were many minute cuts, spurting blood onto the ply-wood backing making tiny starlike dots. She screamed out crying and cursing everything and everyone in the world. Hating herself most of all.... the only person in the world she could ever love was Alex... She missed him so much! Her muse...
She fell to the floor, for once noticing that the sound of screaming was her own. One word, not a word she herself had expected....
“HATE.”

She must have been screaming for fifteen minutes, she couldn’t even recall taking a breath. She began to come out of her trance like state, there was a banging noise coming from her locked bedroom door. The door burst open and the figure seemed to hover there. The man ran at her, wrapping his muscular arms around her.

She began to murmur,"Alex I knew you’d come back to me, I thought I was going crazy!"

The man looked at her strangely and his face began to change, his arms were no longer tight and wrapped around her... "Lady, I don’t know no Alex fella maybe we should get you to a hospital. You look pretty darned beat up.. Uh-huh"

"NO! I mean... no sir, I just had a little accident I thought you were my boyfriend, im sorry.." he looked at her like she was crazy. She looked down at herself, for once realizing that she was completely naked. She looked down at the dark red spots on her white carpet, just one of many throughout her apartment. The man was walking away through the bedroom door...

"Wait!" she yelled at him. "Wait, sir... what’s your name? I’d like to come up with some way to repay you for being so concerned."

"My name is.. Uh... Wayne, I don’t need no payment.. Just pay your rent on time and clean up them gosh darned stains on that there carpet."

"Huh?" She was bewildered "What do you mean?"

"Silly lady, don’t you know im the land lord of this here apartment complex!"

Her reply was a long "oh..." Wayne turned around and waled out of her apartment door.. Slamming it behind him.

She crawled up into her bed, wrapping a big blanket around herself, and sobbed into her pillow. She dozed off .. The tears had made her sleepy. When she woke up she was slightly aware that something was aims .. She looked around her bedroom. The light was a dim glow form the moon outside the closed window. She saw something move in the darkness, a shadow if nothing else. "Wh- who’s there?"... the figure moved forward a dazed outline of a stranger in black . At that moment she noticed the blanket... she had kicked it off during her restless sleep, there were goose bumps on her forearms and th flesh behind her neck. She heard the man’s heavy breathing.. He seemed to whisper something but she couldn’t quite make out what he had said. Finally he stopped in the patch of light from the illuminated window. It was a man alright, a beautiful man... his face was aglow with the moonlight, his violet eyes shimmered lightly. He was relaxed somewhat, like he had been here before. He wore a black wife beater and baggy tripp pants.

"Sarah..." He whispered and moved forward.

"Alex..? Is that you?" she stammered. He seemed to smile, flashing the shining white of perfect teeth. He picked up the blanket that had fallen to the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. She sat up cradling his face in her hands... but as she did, he vanished... he wasn’t there after all....