Devils Roses 01 - Cursed

no sound came from my mouth.
    I tried to bang the walls. Where was everyone?
    My face turned grey. I looked closer at the pile of what appeared to be vomit by my lips. My body was choking—where were the idiots who had left me in the hallway to die?
    I turned back around to find someone with me. I jumped up and down and screamed but he didn’t hear me. I smiled when I realized it was Wade from Port Handley. He knelt beside my body. Then he did something I definitely had never fantasized about, when I saw his face the first time. He stuck his fingers into my throat and started fishing around in there.
    I scowled, watching a strange guy root around in my mouth and tried not to think about the sanitary issues. I needed to remember to, at the very least, rinse with mouthwash when I woke from my nightmare. His hands were huge. They were stretching my mouth.
    Wade looked at me, his piercing blue eyes were wide. He looked scared and his mouth moved but I heard nothing.
    I turned and looked behind me but no one was there. Was he able to see me? I waved my arms back and forth and he waved me over to him. He put his hand into my mouth again, and this time my body heaved and shook, as piles of vomit started to pour out in front of me.
    It was like the exorcist, and I was barfing all over the hottest guy I had ever seen. His eyes were panicked as he pointed to my body again. I took a step forward and everything went dark. When I saw light again I felt instant pain. I wasn’t floating any longer. I was drowning. My body convulsed as I fought, coughing and heaving repeatedly.
    My world spun. I reached my hand out and wiped my mouth off. I was on the floor and everything hurt in ways I didn’t know were possible.
    Wade from Port Handley spoke, “Welcome back, Aimee. You scared the shit out of me.”
    I was excited Wade knew my name. He was so handsome. The smell of my vomit was more than I could bear. I heaved again and threw up some more.
    "You're Wade."
    He looked puzzled. “Next time chew the veggie burger all the way through, ok?” He picked me up off the floor. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
    He lifted me like a princess. I laid my face against his chest and felt like I was floating. I sniffed his neck. He smelled amazing. I smelled like barf.
    He carried me to the bathroom but in the mirror he wasn’t there—my reflection was but his was missing.
    I closed my eyes and pressed really hard, but when I opened them, he was still gone.
    He smiled and laughed. “Yeah, you’re dreaming. Weird things happen in dreams, like people having no reflection.”
    He didn’t need a reflection to be perfect.
    Pain was everywhere. Everything was burning and hurting. My skin ached and my head pounded.
    I couldn’t move my head properly, something was in the way.
    I twitched open one eye letting in the light. It made everything burn much worse. I winced as my eye opened completely, seeing a strange room.
    Instantly assuming I was at Wade’s house, I felt nervous.
    Who was Wade and why would he take me to his house?
    I opened my other eye, feeling sick.
    My mouth tasted like I might have already been sick. I tried to think about where I had been, but all I remembered was Wade from Port Handley.
    Straining, I reached a hand above my head and felt the towel still wrapped on my head. I pulled at it, trying to get it off, but I couldn’t. It was folded in a bizarre way I had never folded a towel. Giving up on the towel, I looked around the room.
    It was small, with a queen bed and floral print everywhere. It screamed guest room in every way. I lifted the covers to reveal my naked body and blushed. I hoped I had gotten into bed on my own. There was a water glass on the right bedside table. I knew instantly it was someone else’s. I always put my glass of water on the left. Fear and panic started to mix with my already-fragile mind. Had someone else slept with me? Had Wade abducted me from somewhere? His face and name were the only memories I had.
    Using every inch of strength, I sat up, wrapping myself with the sheet and looked for clothes. I fought the urge to scream or pass out again. My clothes were nowhere to be found.
    I took a breath and tried to remember, what they had told us in defense class.
    Nothing came up that seemed like it would apply to the moment.
    I pulled the towel off after some work. It reminded me of the way African women folded their headdresses. My hair was still wet, of course. Long, thick hair would never