CENTRAL VIRGINIA-THE MOUNTAIN
The Present
Clarion lay awake, staring up at the sky through the limbs of the tree, getting glimpses of the full moon as they swayed in the wind.
In the distance he could hear cars moving down the mountain on their way home and knew he had yet to go back in time. He realized, he must have dozed for a time while waiting because he somehow ended back into one of his dreams with the lass who could somehow see him which didn’t make any sense. And to make matters worse, he couldn’t seem to get his mind off of her.
Was there a connection to her and the curse? He didn’t think so, but if not, why was she constantly showing up in his dreams? And why did he feel the need to protect her?
What was stranger still, was the fact that the dream he had a thousand times before, was now showing him things, he had not seen before. The explosion, where did that come from and how did it come about? And why was he seeing it with her? Were they connected? Or was he merely conjuring dreams that had no consequence or bearing on the past or the future? Were they just dreams? He didn’t think so. No. There was a reason for them, he just didn’t know what.
Readjusting his position, he crossed one booted foot over the other and looked down at the design moving of its own accord under the skin of his forearm. He had half a mind to cut it out, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to rid himself of it in the past, to no avail. They were connected now. In body and in spirit—even though it was a battle of wills at this point, one day, one would win out over the other, and Clarion knew that would be the day he either ended the curse or died from trying.