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I stood on a plateau, darkness surrounding me like a warm blanket until a sea of hooded figures turned toward me. Their burning gaze sent fiery chills up my spine and through my extremities until I shivered. I turned to flee, and instead I teetered on the edge of a gorge, the drop endless and black beyond rocks that jutted out, jagged like a set of claws made for tearing the flesh off young boys stupid enough to jump.
Either way I turned, certain death awaited.
Fear stroked my shaking form, creating a panic as feral as a cornered bear and I spun back to the crowd of reapers...
...and sat straight up in the seat with Julia shaking my arm. “Nick, wake up, we’re home. This is our stop.”
I blinked and wiped my eyes, grabbed my backpack and followed her off the bus, still in a stupor, with my heart banging a new hip-hop tune in my chest. The dream still as vivid as the bite in the air, I tried to shake it, but the disturbing vision clung like a leach.
“Are you okay?” Julia asked.
“Yeah. I’m just having a hard time waking up,” I said and started the short trek home with her hand clasped in mine. The brisk spring wind wound through the streets, shuffling the lush trees and blowing the blooming flowers, demanding they bend to its force.
“You want to come over for a while?”
“Sure, but I need to stop at home and drop my backpack off.” Julia’s mother always had fresh cookies or pies on hand and I wasn’t thrilled about going into an empty house, especially after the nightmare. Besides, the pit stop offered a chance to be alone with Julia. Maybe I’d even get to second base this time.
The thought made me smile and I stole a glance at Julia. She sent her secret smile back in my direction telling me we were both on the same page. I couldn’t help the thunderous patter of my heart and as we rounded the last corner, all I could think of was the feel of her lips.
My mother’s car sat in the driveway, along with a silver sports car I didn’t recognize, and I stopped walking. “I thought my mom was working,” I said and traded a glance with Julia. The same disappointment pounding in my veins reflected in her eyes.
Fear rocketed to the forefront of my mind and my mouth ran dry. I broke out in a run, darting across the street with a cursory glance. Julia’s feet slapped the pavement in her bid to keep up, but I didn’t slow and flew into the house, sliding to a stop in the entry. Julia slammed into me and I teetered, out of balance for a second before catching myself and putting my finger to my lips.
My mother’s voice carried through the house and I knew the terse tone. She wasn’t happy with whoever owned the car outside. I tiptoed toward the kitchen, with Julia’s hand clasped in mine.
“Why, Dylan? Why now? I thought you said he wouldn’t be affected until he was eighteen?”
“I don’t know,” a deep voice penetrated the walls “He shouldn’t be seeing them. Not yet.”
I peeked around the corner trying to catch a glimpse of the man behind the musical timbre. He looked like he’d just stepped off an island cruise, with light kakis and a pastel yellow shirt that made his modest tan stand out. His dark hair reached his shoulders, curling every which way, like my hair right after it dried. When his weathered face turned in my direction, my breath caught at the blue-green glow of his eyes, hypnotizing and calming at the same time.
Julia shivered as his gaze passed over her and she pulled her hand from mine, backing out of the house like she had seen a ghost. Caught between intrigue and worry, I hesitated, wondering if I should go after Julia or step into full view of my mother.
“But...” My mother started and the man raised his hand, stopping her and nodding in my direction. She spun, gawking at me with wide eyes. “What are you doing sneaking around like that?”
I stepped into view and shrugged. “I, um, I didn’t recognize the car...” I said, still trying to make heads or tails of their conversation. My gaze traveled to the stranger in my kitchen and back to her.
“How long have you been there?”
“Not very long.”
She sighed and traded a glance with the man. “Nick, this is Mr. Mckay and he was just leaving.”
Mr. Mckay raised a questioning eyebrow. “Holly, this conversation is far from over.”
“Dylan, please just go.”
For a moment, I thought she was talking to me, but her gaze didn’t leave his and I had never seen her eyes pleading like that with anyone before. Who is this guy? Mr. Mckay broke the stare and swung his gaze to mine like he heard the question.
“I’ll let your mother explain that. Right now I need to swing in and see your grandmother.”
My mom’s face blanched and she grabbed Mr. Mckay’s arm. “Dylan,” she said and her voice shook. He glanced back at her.
“Holly, it’s her time and I need to do damage control before they get out of hand.”
“But it’s my mother.”
“I know. That’s why I’m going,” he put his hand over hers and sighed. “There’s dissention in the ranks and if I don’t correct this, it will be all out war.”
“Correct what?” I was now more confused than ever.
“Please,” my mother pleaded.
“If I don’t, they’ll come after my son,” he said softly, but I still caught it, followed by the immediate reaction of my mother. Her gaze sought mine and then jumped back to the man in front of her and she shook her head, letting go of Mr. Mckay.
The realization struck me like a two-ton truck slamming into a brick wall and I reached for the counter. I stared at the man and then my mother. “Who is he?”
“Nicky,” my mother started and I grit my teeth.
She only called me Nicky when she wanted to avoid the subject. Anger brewed under my skin and I stood straight and pointed at Mr. Mckay. “Who the hell is he?”
Mr. Mckay’s eyes sparked and he stepped toward me, towering. “You will not talk to your mother that way.”
Fear shot through me like a razor slicing through my soul but I stood my ground. “Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?” I shot the question, not really wanting to know the answer but challenging the anger I saw in his narrowing eyes.
“Don’t,” my mother yelled, but she wasn’t quick enough, the words already spilled from his lips over her protest.
“I’m your father,” he said and grabbed my arm.
Tingles spread from his touch through every fiber of my body and I stared at his unearthly eyes, drowning in their depths just before the world went black.