Undead Roses
Dreams
A body is falling face forward onto the floor. The face seems to be covered in shadow, distorting its features. Suddenly, deep, emerald eyes are staring deep into my soul as the head of the mysterious person turns to me. The shadowed person’s hand flies forward as if they are reaching for someone who is standing just out of my line of sight. This person seems so intent on reaching whoever it is before them, as if reaching that person is the only important thing in the world. Suddenly, the body disappears through a thick mist that has appeared above the floor. From the corner of my eye I see a shadowed person pass behind me. Turning quickly, I see only an empty, black, mist-filled room. Chains rattle from a corner in the room and I turn again only to see another shadow float past me. A pressure on my shoulder has me turning quickly. A flash of silver dances in my vision and then an intense pain floods my whole body. Red-flowing, dripping red-I grab my stomach where most of the pain seems to be coming from and feel something sticky quickly covering my hands. A sickly sweet smell fills the air. My vision blurs and then I’m falling. I am caught by the same shadowed person I saw before. Dark shadowed creatures quickly appear from the mist and begin to advance on me. Pointed teeth appear from grinning lips and still the creature’s advance. The mist closes in; my body grows colder as the sharp teeth begin to fall swiftly towards my neck. Just before the strike I see those same emerald green eyes surrounded by dark mist filling my whole vision. “Drakova!”
*****
I woke up, my body damp and my heart pounding, gasping for breath. That voice…it always seemed to call me away from the nightmares that had begun to plague my dreams. It was powerful and frightening yet strangely comforting at the same time, as if it was familiar but that can't be true. His eyes, the only thing of the mysterious man I ever see, carry so much memory and mystery in their depths that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend knowing such a man. Besides, he's not even real, just a figment of my imagination.
Turning, I looked at my alarm clock to find that it is barely 1 o’clock in the morning. Laying back down I let out a groan and tossed one of my pillows against the wall. My dog, Alnselm, looked up at me from his bed by the door and let out a large yawn.
“Well, there’s no way I’m going to be falling back asleep now,” I said looking pointedly at his open expression. Sitting up, I stretched quickly and then stood. I moved quickly outside of my room and headed for the couch in front of the TV. I flipped a light on and began a hurried search for the current book I was reading. Finding it buried under one of the throw pillows, I quickly opened it to where I was and flopped down onto the couch. I easily lost myself in the fantastic world before me.
*****
Time, it’s such a simple word but it holds such endless meaning, for me anyway. Whenever I hear that word I can only think of the time I was given with him. Him… I don’t even know if he was real or just some figment of my imagination, but the moment I saw him I felt as if I knew him. I know he was always with me every step of the way. I lived with him all my life, but it wasn’t until it was too late that I finally realized he was there.
I never even knew his name, he was just there. Every time I was in danger he would come. Just suddenly he would be standing before me. He opened my eyes to what the world really is; danger. He showed me things, things that others could only dream of, things that were technically impossible…
I fell for him. Of course I fell for him… How can anyone not fall for someone who was there every time they were needed or every time you thought you were alone? If anyone knew my feelings, our story, they would call me crazy. Crazy to be in love with someone who doesn’t exist…but to me he was so real. I touched him, I saw him, I spoke to him, I trusted him… How could he not be real? There are millions of people in this world, but to me, in the end, it all comes down to one. Him, because you see I never stopped loving him, even though now he’s gone.
I made the worst mistake of my life, something I have regretted ever since. I just let him slip away…
*****
“Angel, please tell me you weren’t out here for most of the night.” I jumped, dropping my book to the floor. As I regained control of my heart I let out a light chuckle.
“Good morning to you too, Sara,” I said leaning down and carefully picking the book back up, making sure to check if any of the pages had bent on accident.
“I’m being serious here,” my tomboy, brunette room-mate said as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice. “It’s not healthy how much sleep you’ve been missing, especially when you work a full time job and have a boyfriend to balance on top of that.” As she spoke she grabbed a cup from our cupboard and poured herself a drink. After she was done speaking she quickly took a gratify drink of the tart juice.
“Oh, yes,” I replied. “Because my job is so demanding and my boyfriend is spontaneous and loves taking me on expensive dates and buying me gifts every day.” I laughed. “I am probably the only person you’ll ever meet with such a boring life. Nothing ever happens in this town, especially not to me. Besides, you don’t need to worry. I just barely got out here.” Lie, I thought, making sure to hide my face behind my book once more. Even with my face hidden I knew Sara was probably giving me one of her award winning doubtful looks.
“You had another one, didn’t you,” she stated.
“No.”
“Alright, scoot over,” Sara demanded as she began walking towards me. When I hadn’t budged by the time she had reached me she forcefully grabbed my legs and threw them off the couch and sat down.
“Sara,” I said indignantly, resituating myself so that I wasn’t falling off the couch.
“Oh, be quiet. Now tell me, what happened this time?” she sat cross-legged on her cushion and put her hands in her lap, looking at me intently.
“Nothing special,” I replied, still trying to read my book. “It was just a bunch of jumbled figments that I’ve already seen. Him falling, strange noises and shadows, me being practically murdered, the strange creatures advancing on me, and then his eyes and his voice.”
“You’re such a kill joy,” Sara said feigning irritation. “You don’t even seem slightly excited that you saw and heard him again.”
“Might I remind you that I don’t really even see who-or what-ever this man really is and that I see him almost every night now. It’s kind of getting old,” I said setting my book gently down onto the coffee table. “Although, he did say something different tonight and he seemed angry.”
“Angry?”
“Yeah, like his eyes were glaring. I’m not sure if it was for me or whatever those things are that are around me, but he seemed to be very upset about something. And also, this time I think he said a name. He called out, Drakova,” I said slowly, trying to sound the name out correctly.
“Drakova? What does that even mean? Oh, maybe it’s that vampire that catches you before you hit the ground and tries to drink your blood!” Sara said, practically bouncing up and down on the cushion.
Great, I’m allowing her to suck me back into being excited about these dreams. This has got to stop, I thought watching Sara as she continued to drone on.
“How do you know it’s a vampire?” I asked, interrupting her.
“Hello. Creepy shadow guy, with pointed teeth trying to bite your neck; what else could it be?” she replied almost as if it was the most logical choice in the world.
“Ok, you know what? No more of this. They’re just dreams and you’re just plain crazy,” I said standing abruptly and heading towards the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Sara was right behind me. “As far as I am concerned, I could care less if I never had another dream about that guy.”
“Fine, if you don’t want him, I’ll take him gladly,” Sara said matter-of-factly as she sat down on a stool at the counter.
I stopped reaching for the cereal in the cabinet and instead turned back to her, my mouth hanging slightly open. “You know what; I take back what I said about you. You’re not crazy; you just have absolutely no brain.” We stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before we both erupted into laughter that was quickly joined with Alnselm’s loud barking as the doorbell rang.
*****
I woke up, my body damp and my heart pounding, gasping for breath. That voice…it always seemed to call me away from the nightmares that had begun to plague my dreams. It was powerful and frightening yet strangely comforting at the same time, as if it was familiar but that can't be true. His eyes, the only thing of the mysterious man I ever see, carry so much memory and mystery in their depths that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend knowing such a man. Besides, he's not even real, just a figment of my imagination.
Turning, I looked at my alarm clock to find that it is barely 1 o’clock in the morning. Laying back down I let out a groan and tossed one of my pillows against the wall. My dog, Alnselm, looked up at me from his bed by the door and let out a large yawn.
“Well, there’s no way I’m going to be falling back asleep now,” I said looking pointedly at his open expression. Sitting up, I stretched quickly and then stood. I moved quickly outside of my room and headed for the couch in front of the TV. I flipped a light on and began a hurried search for the current book I was reading. Finding it buried under one of the throw pillows, I quickly opened it to where I was and flopped down onto the couch. I easily lost myself in the fantastic world before me.
*****
Time, it’s such a simple word but it holds such endless meaning, for me anyway. Whenever I hear that word I can only think of the time I was given with him. Him… I don’t even know if he was real or just some figment of my imagination, but the moment I saw him I felt as if I knew him. I know he was always with me every step of the way. I lived with him all my life, but it wasn’t until it was too late that I finally realized he was there.
I never even knew his name, he was just there. Every time I was in danger he would come. Just suddenly he would be standing before me. He opened my eyes to what the world really is; danger. He showed me things, things that others could only dream of, things that were technically impossible…
I fell for him. Of course I fell for him… How can anyone not fall for someone who was there every time they were needed or every time you thought you were alone? If anyone knew my feelings, our story, they would call me crazy. Crazy to be in love with someone who doesn’t exist…but to me he was so real. I touched him, I saw him, I spoke to him, I trusted him… How could he not be real? There are millions of people in this world, but to me, in the end, it all comes down to one. Him, because you see I never stopped loving him, even though now he’s gone.
I made the worst mistake of my life, something I have regretted ever since. I just let him slip away…
*****
“Angel, please tell me you weren’t out here for most of the night.” I jumped, dropping my book to the floor. As I regained control of my heart I let out a light chuckle.
“Good morning to you too, Sara,” I said leaning down and carefully picking the book back up, making sure to check if any of the pages had bent on accident.
“I’m being serious here,” my tomboy, brunette room-mate said as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice. “It’s not healthy how much sleep you’ve been missing, especially when you work a full time job and have a boyfriend to balance on top of that.” As she spoke she grabbed a cup from our cupboard and poured herself a drink. After she was done speaking she quickly took a gratify drink of the tart juice.
“Oh, yes,” I replied. “Because my job is so demanding and my boyfriend is spontaneous and loves taking me on expensive dates and buying me gifts every day.” I laughed. “I am probably the only person you’ll ever meet with such a boring life. Nothing ever happens in this town, especially not to me. Besides, you don’t need to worry. I just barely got out here.” Lie, I thought, making sure to hide my face behind my book once more. Even with my face hidden I knew Sara was probably giving me one of her award winning doubtful looks.
“You had another one, didn’t you,” she stated.
“No.”
“Alright, scoot over,” Sara demanded as she began walking towards me. When I hadn’t budged by the time she had reached me she forcefully grabbed my legs and threw them off the couch and sat down.
“Sara,” I said indignantly, resituating myself so that I wasn’t falling off the couch.
“Oh, be quiet. Now tell me, what happened this time?” she sat cross-legged on her cushion and put her hands in her lap, looking at me intently.
“Nothing special,” I replied, still trying to read my book. “It was just a bunch of jumbled figments that I’ve already seen. Him falling, strange noises and shadows, me being practically murdered, the strange creatures advancing on me, and then his eyes and his voice.”
“You’re such a kill joy,” Sara said feigning irritation. “You don’t even seem slightly excited that you saw and heard him again.”
“Might I remind you that I don’t really even see who-or what-ever this man really is and that I see him almost every night now. It’s kind of getting old,” I said setting my book gently down onto the coffee table. “Although, he did say something different tonight and he seemed angry.”
“Angry?”
“Yeah, like his eyes were glaring. I’m not sure if it was for me or whatever those things are that are around me, but he seemed to be very upset about something. And also, this time I think he said a name. He called out, Drakova,” I said slowly, trying to sound the name out correctly.
“Drakova? What does that even mean? Oh, maybe it’s that vampire that catches you before you hit the ground and tries to drink your blood!” Sara said, practically bouncing up and down on the cushion.
Great, I’m allowing her to suck me back into being excited about these dreams. This has got to stop, I thought watching Sara as she continued to drone on.
“How do you know it’s a vampire?” I asked, interrupting her.
“Hello. Creepy shadow guy, with pointed teeth trying to bite your neck; what else could it be?” she replied almost as if it was the most logical choice in the world.
“Ok, you know what? No more of this. They’re just dreams and you’re just plain crazy,” I said standing abruptly and heading towards the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Sara was right behind me. “As far as I am concerned, I could care less if I never had another dream about that guy.”
“Fine, if you don’t want him, I’ll take him gladly,” Sara said matter-of-factly as she sat down on a stool at the counter.
I stopped reaching for the cereal in the cabinet and instead turned back to her, my mouth hanging slightly open. “You know what; I take back what I said about you. You’re not crazy; you just have absolutely no brain.” We stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before we both erupted into laughter that was quickly joined with Alnselm’s loud barking as the doorbell rang.
♠ ♠ ♠
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