Dreamer by Marie Reza (red queen ebook .TXT) 📖

I think that they are nice to me because if they aren’t, they think I’ll go to Mr. Edwards and complain to him. Ha ha.

I went to the last door in the hallway. I knocked three times on the door, and I heard a familiar, “Come in, Amber. It’s open,” on the other side of the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Edwards. How did you sleep?” That was the same question I asked every morning.

“Not so well, Amber, not so well.” He said. A crease started to form in his forehead. Mr. Edwards was a beautiful man. He was about the age of my mother, maybe a little older; I couldn’t dare to ask him. He had short, curly reddish brown hair, and was fairly muscular. His eyes were the color of cool spring, the way the leaves of the trees are right after sunrise. In a way, he looked a lot like me, but that was just a coincidence. Mr. Edwards was a very powerful man who owned a lot of companies.

“Well, what did you dream about?” I asked curiously. It was very odd for him to have bad dream. He always had good dreams, to him they were, and so I was curious when he wasn’t in his good mood like always.

“Nothing of importance, really. I just had the feeling that I was going to hurt someone I loved very much. It was a silly premonition. I really shouldn’t worry too much about it.” But he looked at me with worried eyes.

“Well, it was just a dream,” I said, “you shouldn’t worry too much about that.” I tried to take my own advice. Ah, the irony. I tried to smile so he couldn’t see anything in my eyes.

That seemed to lighten his mood, because the crease in his forehead disappeared completely. The worry in his eyes dissolved, too. “Thanks, Amber. You’ve really made my day now.”

“Anything to help you.” I said. I could never help but to feel safe when I was with him. It was weird, though, because Mr. Edwards was very harsh with all of the other servants. My mom said it was because he knew me since I was a newborn, and grew fond of me.

“So, tell me about your night, how did you sleep? Did you have any dreams?” He asked with his eyes full of curiosity.

I turned away so that he couldn’t notice the lie. “I slept very well, thank you for asking me.” I hoped he didn’t notice that I only answered one of his questions. I had never been a good liar—I couldn’t even tell a decent lie without somebody noticing—anybody with even the slightest experience in lying could tell I was.

Mr. Edwards didn’t seem to notice. He looked very deep in thought.

After that, the day happened to pass by very quickly. I helped Mr. Mason with the gardening, Danielle and I went to the store from the nearby town to get some ingredients for a cake; apparently, Mrs. Ellen was in the mood to bake a cake. After that, my mom and I went to clean the pool—it was almost summertime, and if we all did a good job in the estate, Mr. Edwards would let us use the pool.

For some reason, I couldn’t wait for it to be night so I could have the same dream. This is ridiculous

, I said to myself. How can I be so exited for some stupid dream?! Ugh, I need a break.

Even though I had said to myself the same thing over and over again, don’t be exited, it’s just a dream, don’t be exited, it’s just a dream, I couldn’t help but to be anxious when it was ten-thirty.

I went back to our small apartment on the south wing of the estate. Mr. Edwards had insisted that we moved close so we could be safe. I took a shower and waited for the hot water to calm me down. Part of me noticed that I had already taken a shower in the morning, but forgot about it quickly because the water was just so good…

I brushed my teeth, put on my pajamas, and went to bed. Danielle noticed that I was too hyper to go to sleep for some reason. She knew why.

“Good night, Amber, try

to have a good night.” She rolled her eyes at the impossibility.

“Good night, Danielle, I’ll see you in the morning.”

I tried taking deep breaths and waited for my heart to slow down. If you don’t calm down, then you won’t fall asleep. If you don’t fall asleep, then you won’t see him. I told myself.

That seemed to help me, because the next thing I could remember was that I was with him, with my face in his arms, and him telling me to not be afraid…

2. PARTY

I WOKE UP PANTING AND FEELING DISORIENTED again. Even though it was the same dream I had since the last few days, I never got used to the intensity of it. I looked at the clock and it showed that it was seven-
fifty.

“Crap!” I had fallen asleep. Somebody had probably turned off my alarm clock. Hmm, I wonder who did that

, I wondered sarcastically. I was supposed to be in the estate in ten minutes. I ran to the bathroom and took a shower in three minutes. After that, I raced to get my clothes on, and ran to the estate.

When I got there, I noticed that Mrs. Ellen wasn’t in the kitchen. I went to the hallway and saw that nobody was in the hallway, either. Finally, I went to Mr. Edwards’s room and knocked three times. I waited for an answer, but nobody responded.

“Mr. Edwards? Are you awake? Are you there?” I asked.

I opened the door and found a note in the pillow of the bed. It was from Mr. Edwards. Amber, it began:

Go to the dining room as soon as you read this note. Everything is all right. You don’t need to worry about anything. We will be expecting you.
Mr. Edwards

We will be expecting you

, it said. What did it mean by we? Who was we? And, why is he up so early? I sighed. I closed the door and started to head out to the dining room. All of this reminded me of the time when I was three and they had planned me a party… but why would they plan a party? Mr. Edwards’s birthday wasn’t for another seven months, and my mother’s birthday had just passed two months ago.

I opened the door to the dining room and found that the dining room had been completely changed. The ceiling had immense balloons and confetti was everywhere. In the center of the table was a colossal cake with eighteen candles lit on the top. There were candles on every single surface and pink rose pedals beside the cake. I was too distracted by the decorations to notice that every single person who lived here in the estate—maids, gardeners, drivers, cooks, even my mother and Mr. Edwards—was here. I gasped. They all looked at my surprised expression, and they seemed happy about it.

“Happy birthday, Amber!” Everyone shouted at the same time.

“What’s going on here? Why are you all here?” I was too confused to even look happy about the surprise.

My mother came forward with an enthusiastic smile.

“Why, it’s your eighteen birthday, sweetie. Did you forget? Oh, you were never good at remembering your own birthday.”

“It’s my birthday?” I wondered idly. How odd, I did forget it. Today was August the twentieth.

Mr. Edwards also came to the front with a grin. “Well, it is your fault, Anna. You never celebrated her birthdays,” He looked at me with warm eyes. “Happy birthday, Amber. I hope we didn’t give you a heart attack,” He chuckled. “Well, what did you think about our little surprise?”

I was too shocked to actually say anything, so I just nodded.

Everybody laughed at my expression. Mr. Edwards came to me and gave me a hug. For some reason, I felt so happy about him hugging me. It felt as if it was somebody who loved me very much, somebody who cared about me, was hugging me. Mr. Edwards looked into my eyes, and said, “Well, let’s get this party started!”

Danielle was standing next to Mrs. Ellen. She came to me and hugged me very tight. “Oh, happy birthday, Amber! You’re finally eighteen!” She giggled. “C’mon! Let’s see your presents! Mine is the best, if I say so myself,” she said smugly.

“Not a chance, Danielle. Mine is better,” Said Mrs. Ellen defensively, “Well, obviously, Mr. Edwards’s gift is the best, but mine is second to best,” She laughed.

Danielle looked impatient. I thought it was because she wanted the party to start. “All right, we’ll let Amber decide later. This is my only day off, and I want to enjoy it.”

I got over the shock to say some words. “Um, well, thank you all for the party. Don’t worry about me right now. I’m just getting my heart to function properly,” I chuckled nervously.

Everyone laughed again.

The party went by very smoothly. First, Mrs. Ellen prepared us my favorite food, Italian food. Then, Mr. Edwards went to his piano and played us an enchanting piece. Everybody was happy for him to play. He hadn’t touched his piano in a while. Everybody seemed to be very happy about the party, and, after the shock wore off, I started to enjoy myself. Mr. Edwards gave me a silver necklace. In the middle was a round gemstone—an amber, to be exact. I blushed when he gave me the necklace.

“Well, it is the color of your eyes. Your eyes are so beautiful that we all need to see it in this necklace,” he said. I didn’t say anything after that.

Danielle gave me a CD with all of our favorite songs, and Mrs. Ellen gave me a beautiful set of silver earrings. I was too embarrassed to say thank you, and I started crying. I was such a crybaby.

After it was too late to keep the party going, Anna, Danielle, and I said goodbye to everybody and went back to our apartment. Anna and Danielle were still babbling about the party, but I was too tired to actually listen to them, so I just nodded at intervals. When we arrived at our little two bedroom apartment, I went to the bathroom, and took a shower.

I was too tense because of the day, but I was also tired. The hot water always calmed me down, and I got out as soon as the water started to cool off. My head started to hurt, so I went to the medicine cabinet and took some Tylenol. I told my mother goodbye, and went to bed. Danielle followed me to our room. As soon as I realized that I had made it throughout the day without thinking of the dream, I started hyperventilating; Danielle noticed.

“Amber, are you sure you don’t want to talk about this? Maybe it will help you…” She trailed off.

I thought about it for a second. “You know what? Maybe you’re right. I’ll tell you everything.”

3. CONFESSIONS

WE BOTH WENT TO THE KITCHEN TO GET SOME COFFEE. IT WAS STILL TEN, BUT it was going to be a long night.
Danielle told me she was going to take a shower, so I waited for