Dreamers (The Dreamers Series) (11 page)

“No, I’m not doing anything until I know what you did.”

“I showed her what I would do to her if she ever came near you again. Leave it at that.”

“I led her to that point. She’s drunk Dominick, she was completely blind-sided. I wanted you to get information, not hurt her.”

“Honey, it’s all mental. I didn’t hurt her—exactly.”

“She ran out of here bleeding. What did you do?”

“I made her smash her own face in with that candle. She wasn’t going to stop. You have no clue what she was thinking. She was going to hurt you. She was going to force you to...” His eyes blaze in anger.

My head becomes blurry at the words he just imparted. He was protecting me. I don’t know the side of her he knows, I can only see from the outside. I need to look into his memory to be able to really understand the severity of his words.

“Can I see?”

“Go ahead.”

I dig deeply for a moment, still new at the art of fishing through the mind of another person. He was telling the truth. I saw her, and he was right. She wasn’t going to stop, she couldn’t. She has deeper problems than I could have ever imagined.

My body begins to tremble as I see her in the true light Nick was able to shine. He saved me from—myself, and from her in uncontrollable impulses.

“I told you, baby, I wouldn’t lie. I had no choice.”

He pulls me into his arms, holding me with an intensity I’ve never experienced in my life. I’ve never felt so safe, so—loved.

“I love you, Nick.”

“No, you don’t.”

“What? How can you say I don’t love you after the lengths I went to tonight to try to find answers?”

“I trusted you, I stayed out of your head and you go behind my back and do something as stupid as this? What were you thinking? You aren’t dealing with a girl who has a little crush on you, Syd. She is obsessed. She had no intention of stopping. If I hadn’t done what I did, there is no telling what would have happened. You wanna know the scariest part? It’s not that she didn’t want to stop, she COULDN’T stop. What does that tell you?”

“That she’s drunk and used bad judgment.”

“No, it says that she has no boundaries to what she will do to have you, in every disgusting way possible.”

“I understand now, and I’m sorry for going behind your back, but can we just focus on the important part here please? What did you find?”

“This conversation is NOT over, Sydney.” He sighs at me disapprovingly, but answers my question. “I saw a few things, not much. Heather was standing over my body. There were wires everywhere, monitors beeping; I think it must have been right before I died. Mrs. Peyton was there, they were fighting. I couldn’t hear what they were saying. It was still fuzzy, I couldn’t fully see anything. At least now we know they were both in on it somehow. Heather knows Mrs. Peyton.”

“She knows Mrs. Peyton? I can’t believe this. This is huge news. Kinda off subject, but I do think I’ve figured out why you can’t reach her mind. She’s on medication. She said it was from nightmares that she had when she first moved in. Courtesy of you, no doubt. The medication is probably what’s keeping her mind unreachable.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” he replies sullenly, evidently sour at tonight’s events.

“Look, I know you’re pissed at me about tonight, but I had to. I had a chance and I cashed in. Don’t be mad at me, Nick.”

“Oh, Sydney honey, I’m not mad—I’m fucking furious. You put yourself in this position because I asked you to help me. I did this to you.”

“I put myself in that position because—because…I love you.”

This has to be the first smile that has settled in his eyes, reflecting supreme happiness.

“You really do?”

“I don’t know how, but yes. I have known you for such a short time. I guess sometimes fate steps in and we don’t get to choose.”

“I love you, too, Sydney. More than I have ever loved another person in my life.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to crossover.”

“You can’t stay like this forever, Nick.”

“I don’t want to go any place you aren’t going to be.”

“We will figure it out, somehow. I have something now that I didn’t have an hour ago—leverage.”

“Leverage?”

“I will guilt her into talking. She hurt me. ”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s not right in the head.”

“I know how to handle her. No worries.”

“Right, because you had everything under control just now…”

“Look, we just admitted we love each other. In the best of circumstances we are never going to work out. Can you just stop running that sexy mouth and kiss me for a change, while we still can?”

“That, I can do.”

He gently touches his lips to mine, soft and sweet. For the first time since we met there is no tampering, no lust, no urgency—just love.

“Don’t you ever—and I mean EVER—do that shit again, Sydney.”

“Never, Nick. I promise.”

“Now, close your eyes and get ready for your surprise.”

Utter amazement seems a hugely understated word in describing the scene before me as I open my eyes. Everything I have ever hoped to experience is resting in the palm of my hand. Sprite fairies wisp past my face, stopping only to kiss my eye lids. The air moves with a shimmer that one might only expect to find in a dream—which is exactly where I am. Here with Nick, as he makes every beautiful dream come to life. He has converted my room into an amusement park of every wish I’ve ever hoped for. There is no bed, no dresser, no apartment walls at all. We seem to be in a beautiful park, its dusk outside. A rushing waterfall tingles my ears with its flowing waters, a warm breeze flows through my dancing red curls, slowly unfolding them along my bare shoulders. I’m no longer wearing the taunting ensemble I had thrown at Heather earlier in the evening; instead a sleeveless spring dress of sparkling ivory flows across me like a feather weight scarf. It drapes loosely, hitting just above my knees. The fabric feels as if it’s been sewn of clean fresh air, so light against my glowing skin. There are no boundaries to the place we are. Green hills roll into the horizon which is illuminated by a soft pink and orange haze. The sun sinks naturally into the grassy floor. The only thing more I could wish for is that this dream had a replay button. I could watch that sunset over and over again and never tire of the beautiful scene. It’s unnaturally perfect, but it leaves me in sheer amazement.

Just as I wish for the sun to rise and fall again, it unfolds before me, recreating the scene just as it played out a moment ago. My eyes widen, as Nick watches carefree from a short distance away. He looks so peaceful as he watches me enjoy my surprise.

“This is my surprise—everything I wish for? Wow, Nick! I don’t know what to say. This is so—perfect, if that’s even a good enough word.”

He shrugs with a grin, savoring the happiness he has provided. “Have fun with it.”

Dominick has allowed my own personal desires to paint the picture for this brilliant date. Words couldn’t describe the emotions I feel right now. Euphoric might be the closest, though still not strong enough a description.

I begin thinking of everything I have never attempted to wish for at the cost of reality never having allowed it. I envision witches kissing vampires under the moonlight of a purple sky. They appear just as I imagined them. They are so captured within each other, like they’ve been looking for each other for a lifetime. My feelings for Dominick seem to be influencing the behavior of my fatal lovers, as they won’t take their eyes off each other. Witnessing true love and desire is a beautiful experience. I set the stage for a darker mood as violet lightning bolts stain my green roiling fields, turning the grass charcoal black, then melting into a sea of dark waves. I’ve always wanted to see a black ocean. Everyone’s ideas of paradise are different, but mine seem to lean into a realm of darkness—dark paradise, tropical disaster. At any rate this is the most exhilarating moment of my life. It feels real—so real the torrential waves are beginning to make me nervous. The fierce water hits my face with force, knocking me under. The more fearful I become the more I realize I have stepped out of the best dream I’ve ever had and straight into my worst nightmare. Drowning is my biggest fear, has been since I was a child. I panic as I begin to go under.

“Sydney, be careful. Don’t let your fears swallow you. You’re in control here,” Nick warns me sternly.

“I can’t, Dominick, I’m drowning!” Salty black water fills my mouth and nose. My lungs burn for oxygen as I sink deeper into my thrashing angry ocean.

“Change the scene. I won’t change it for you, it’s your dream,” He demands.

I grab at the water that now fully drenches my head, desperate for something to grip and pull myself back to the surface. My vision is blurry from lack of oxygen. Dominick’s face swims behind my eyes. How can he be so calm when I’m drowning in front of him?

“Sydney, you aren’t in an ocean, you’re dreaming. Breathe, baby. Trust me.”

I put my life in his words, trusting that he would never lead me to harm. I close my eyes, inhaling deeply. My stinging lungs find instant relief as I fill them to bursting capacity with fresh clean air. The sea water passes through my lungs invisibly, like nothing more than a bad thought floating through my head. Absolutely nothing is as it seems here in this world. The struggle within me dissipates as I grasp for new thoughts to pluck me from this ocean. In a matter of seconds I awake in one of the most special places in my memory. I’ve taken myself to the courtyard where I first saw my beautiful Dominick. He stands perched against the tree, just as I remember. His smile is genuine this time, not evil.

“Come here, baby,” he calls.

His strong protective arms are open, waiting to receive me. I run to him, landing in my safe place.

“I was so scared.”

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you about mixing nightmares with dreams, but you fell into it too fast. You really like to land yourself in trouble and give me a heart attack, don’t you, Kitten?”

“You looked perfectly calm to me, Asshole. I’m the one who was panicking. It felt so real, my chest is still throbbing. I really couldn’t breathe.”

“Remember what I told you before: nothing can hurt you here except yourself. You weren’t drowning. You were holding your own breath because you thought you were drowning. Just do me a favor and try to keep your dreams in a happy zone until you learn how to control your mind, will you?” He shakes his head with a cocky, yet relieved grin.

“So much for you being my knight in shining armor,” I sulk.

“You had things under control. You need to learn mind control. It’ll be useful while you’re here. It’s not doing you any favors for me to bail you out every time you have a bad thought, that’s doing nothing more than keeping you reliant on me, and I might not always be here to protect you. Understand?”

“I get it. Can I take us somewhere else now? I want to go somewhere—happy.”

“Where you go, I go.” He smirks.

Hand in hand we easily slip to another location, one of my very favorite places. Not a place of fantasy, but a place of wonderful memories.

“Do you know where we are, Nick?”

“No, but I like it.”

“This is the backyard of my childhood home.”

It is exactly as I remember it. The grass has been perfectly manicured, and I can smell the clippings. It reminds me of a summer morning. The pool is clean and sparkling. My favorite large oak tree still stands with a tire swing hanging from the largest branch. Again, I’ve set the mood at dusk, my favorite time of day. I gaze into the bulb of the light post Daddy installed when I was six years old. I can almost feel his stubble on my face as he would hug me tightly. I can see him.

“Daddy!”

“Baby, he can’t hear you. He is a figment of your imagination.”

“Oh,” I reply sadly.

I quickly eliminate Daddy from my dream, knowing letting him go a second time would be impossible. He is in a better place. I have to leave it at that.

I wonder about Nick, and how he learned so much. I wonder how many disappointments he had to experience before he realized he was just dreaming all the people he loved into his world, with no interaction.

“It’s pretty sad seeing the people you love and never being able to hold them. Did you ever see me after you noticed me in Heather’s memories?”

He speaks without pausing, hiding nothing for a change. Our walls have crumbled, leaving us exposed and vulnerable. I trust him with my heart, and I know he must trust me too, as he responds fluidly without hesitation.

“From the moment I first saw you nobody else mattered. Why do you think I was so shocked the first time I saw you in the courtyard? I had envisioned your face there in that window a million times, only that time you could actually see me too. I couldn’t let you know at that point that we weren’t really in a courtyard, that you were merely sucked into my fantasy place. The courtyard is a place I used to go in Savannah, Georgia. I would take off from my family and end up there every time, knowing I would find my center again. When I saw you that night I knew that you were going to be different. You didn’t turn away from me, you actually came to me. In that moment I had never felt so elated, and yet so devastated that I could never have you the way I wanted you. I needed to push you away, but it was impossible. I was definitely not expecting the whirlwind you were about to spin on my life.”

He lifts my hand, kissing it softly as if I were his queen. I can’t break eye contact, his beautiful aqua eyes have entranced me, and I don’t want to fight it. I want him to know how he made me feel that first night, from my own mouth, not from the times he thieved from my private thoughts. I ease us out of my childhood backyard and back into the place we first met—Nick’s courtyard.

“From the first night I saw you I was ready to jump straight into your arms. Now here I am, in the most amazing place I’ve ever seen, with the most amazing person I will ever know. There is no place I would rather be than here, in our place, with nothing and nobody but us—forever.”

We stand again against his tree, losing ourselves in each other’s embrace as my sweet magical fairies circle us creating a tornado of glitter.

“Our place, I like the sound of that.” He smiles.

His Savannah isn’t quite as dark tonight. Our love has built a bridge of diamonds and platinum, stretching towards a bright shining light resting on the horizon.

“This is how I imagine heaven, Nick. It’s perfect.”

“Can I show you MY heaven?” he asks.

“I would love to see it.” I close my eyes, then reopen them widely, for effect.

A room of mirrors surrounds me, casting my image every direction my eyes will reach. Aside from the creep factor of the funhouse similarity, I thoroughly enjoy the romantic implication. I’M his heaven. I could have never imagined a more beautiful thought.

“You’re not gonna turn into a creepy clown and play carnival music now, are you? I don’t like funhouses.”

“What’s the matter, kid, you don’t like clowns?” He turns into a clown before my eyes, dying laughing. “Would you like a balloon?”

“Nick! I’m so getting you back for this.” I dig deeply into the recesses of my memory for a refresher on the appearance of a certain person Nick definitely wouldn’t like to see.

I wait anxiously for him to stop laughing long enough to notice that I’ve shifted into a replica of Lana, his creepy stalker.

“Aww man, that’s so wrong, Syd. You brought out the big guns, no fair.”

“Come here, baby. Give Lana a kissy.”

“Hell no! I want my girlfriend back. Pleeease. No more clowns, I promise,” he begs.

“Okay, okay, I can’t deny those puppy dog eyes. Can I have a kissy now?”

He doesn’t even answer, he tackles me to the ground drowning me in his love.

Hours pass as we float from place to place, covering not only the majority of the imaginary United States, and Europe, but also fantasy places I never knew existed. Dominick has a wild sense of adventure. I have to say my favorite place we’ve visited tonight was the top of the Eiffel Tower. We lunged hand in hand toward the ground, flying at the speed of light, landing into a cloud of red feathers. If someone had suggested I would be on a date with Dominick spent flying from the peak of a skyscraper, skiing down Niagara Falls, riding a hot air balloon to Mars, or eating a hot wing the size of a car, I would have thought they were insane. But here we are, having done all those impossible things in a matter of hours. I can’t wait to see what we can get into next.

“I don’t think I will ever eat another hot wing again, Nick.”

He laughs so heartily I can help but join him, even though my stomach aches from my gluttonous illusion.

“No dessert?”

“Ugh, you’re trying to make me sick, aren’t you? So we don’t have to go? Admit it, you think my adventure is gonna be better than yours, and your ego won’t let me out-do you.”

“I don’t think so, princess. You couldn’t out-do me if you tried. Cute theory though. Now, where exactly are we headed?”

“Hawaii. We are turning the Pacific into a sea of molten volcano lava and parasailing over it. It’ll be fantastic.”

“Not bad, Kitten. Let’s go.” He winks.

Nick drinks up every second of our flight, his face glowing in elation. I’ve never seen him more relaxed. He would never admit it, but I think I did manage to out-do the master of illusion himself. There might be only one more thing that could cap this night off into the realm of perfection.

I land our feet on a calm beach, with water of aqua to match his alluring turquoise eyes. Waves caress the sugary sand gently, mimicking a soft lullaby. Total darkness envelops us with the exception of a sky filled with dazzlingly vibrant stars of blue. I pluck one of my favorite songs from my internal Dominick-themed playlist, playing it aloud throughout the air waves.

“Who is this?” he asks.

“Lana Del Rey. It’s called Dark Paradise, do you like it?”

“I really do. It’s perfect. Can this be our song?”

“That’s why I chose it. It always makes me think of you.”

We cuddle on a large bed of feathers, created by myself of course. He pulls in a few of his own accompaniments as well, although I’m not sure what he plans on doing with them.