Lucid (5 page)

As I slowly close my eyes the weight of sleep pulls at me, dragging me further into the darkness. I don't resist it. I let it take me. Deeper. Until even the sounds of the day slip away, and there is nothing but the black.

When the weight of the black becomes to much to take my eyes slowly open once again to take in the world around me. I am still laying in a bed... but it's not mine.

The deep chocolate colors and natural wooden furniture make it feel like this room is a part of the woods I am usually stuck in. The thick scraggy feel of the woven blankets, combined with the animal furs strewn across the bed made the room feel almost wild.

As I slide out of the bed and slowly make my way around the room I can't help but notice there is nothing personal in it. No picture frames line shelves, nothing is out of place. The only thing that is out of order in the room is the thick, deep gouges that line some of the walls, like they kept a animal caged inside this place.

Since it is just a dream I suppose there is no harm in snooping. So I slide my hands across the carved dresser and slowly open the drawer to see the contents. Maybe they will give me a clue as to the rooms owner.

I pull the first thing out of the drawer and it is... clothes. Duh... people keep clothes in dressers. I continue rummaging but all I find is some socks and boxer briefs, all in black. The second drawer houses shirts, again all in black. I open the last drawer on the bottom and find jeans. Shockingly they are all... dark. Dark blue almost black. This person seriously needs a clothing color upgrade.

I thrust my hands deeper into the drawer hoping to find something that can help me identify where I'm at... or whose things I'm rummaging through. At the bottom of the drawer I can feel something hard with sharp edges. Pulling it out it turns out to be a picture frame. The glass is cracked and split but the family in the image looks happy. They all have dark black hair, tanned skin, and blood red eyes.

The woman is holding a small child who I feel an almost familiar kinship too as I run my finger slowly across his smiling face. But the other three hold no meaning to me. The man and I assume his wife. And their two children one older, and the younger boy. The photo looked worn and well loved except for the split glass. The edges were slightly torn and darkened as if they had been through an ordeal. It was the only item in the room that felt like it meant something to whoever owned it.

Gently placing the photo back in the dresser I walked to the door of the room.  Opening it slowly I peeked out into the hallway but there was nobody there. No monsters or beasts come to kill me it was silent.

The natural wood carried its way into the hall as well, and it muffled my steps as I worked my way toward the open doorway at the end. The hallway opened up into a large great room, sparsely decorated with leather furniture and large furs. It was like going back into the dark ages. The only visible technology was the dimmed lights, giving the room a dark foreboding ambiance.

 With no other alternative I walked up to the only other door in the room and pulled it open. The late evening breeze was chill, which made me glad I had gone to sleep in the clothes I had worn for school that day. The sun was just beginning to dip below the treeline, casting long shadows across the ground. And a deep thunk was the only sound that broke the shrill chirping of birds and insects.

I followed the hollow thumping sound around to the back of the small log house.  And there was Deegan. Slowly and methodically chopping through a pile of wood. His muscles bunched and twisted under the repetitive motion. The dull hollow thunk of the ax struck a melodic rhythm, but he never looked up from what he was doing.

“Hey... Deegan?” I called softly, but he just continued his rhythmic movement without even turning to glance my way.

“Helloooo?”  he continued to give absolutely no indication that he even knew I was there standing in front of him. So I worked my way next to him avoiding the continuous drop of the ax, and began waving my hands in front of his face.

“This joke isn't funny anymore Deegan.”

Moving closer I was about to grab him and shake him for playing a trick on me, but just before I reached him there was a rustling coming from the woods. Like something was getting closer. Flinching I began to back away from the noise, when suddenly it came jogging into the clearing.

It
as my mind had instantly called it, was actually
she
. She couldn't have been much taller than me. She sported the same dark hair, impeccably tanned skin, and deep red eyes as Deegan. And just like Deegan she didn't appear to have a single ounce of fat on her body. And as if to say her athlete's body wasn't just for show, she had a
huge
deer slung over her shoulder. A deer that probably outweighed her. She was carrying it effortlessly, which clued me into the fact that she was probably like Deegan. Definitely not human. She was...something else. But what that something else was I had no idea.
 

Wrapping my arms tightly around my stomach to hide my less than athletic self, I scooted closer to Deegan. Once again he didn't even turn my way.

“Helô Dee... What's wrong?”
 

“Just thinking,” Deegan replied, setting the axe down and facing the woman.

“You look pissed.” Her accent wrapped thick around her words. Thicker even than Deegan's accent.

“Eira... If I left...”

“Do I think Seig would go apeshit...? Yes I do. But I have a feeling you will go anyways.”

Deegan's whole body deflated at the words like they were the ones he feared most. The small woman slowly dropped the deer to the ground and walked over putting her arms around Deegan's large frame. And I felt a bitter weight constrict my throat and tighten my gut at the sight. This was my dream... I dreamed him up... and I certainly didn't like seeing some little dream vixen wrap her arms around him.

“Where you going anyways?”

“There are things that I must do Eira... I do not wish to leave you here but there is no choice.”

“You do what needs doing Deegan O' Faoláin... that is your mother in you, you know.”

“So I'm told.”

“Eira, shouldn't you be doing something about this mess.”

Both Deegan and Eira's muscles tightened and flexed as they turned to greet the new man and woman that exited the forest.

“Of course Lord Alpha.” Eira murmured. Scuttling over to the deer she gathered it up on her shoulders and without even a backward glance began walking the deer out of sight.
 

The tall man and woman that had entered the clearing had a smugness about them, like they enjoyed when other people feared them. The man, the Lord Alpha, whatever that was, bore a strong resemblance to the older of the two boys in the photo I had found upstairs. So much so that I was sure it was him. His pitch black hair had gotten longer and his face crueler but I was certain. The only difference was the long scar that covered the left side of his face, over his eye, which red and sharp and a little glazed over.

“What little brother no greeting?” He rumbled in almost laughter.

“Hello Lord Alpha.” Deegan responded flatly. His eyes had yet to leave the ground, like he found the tangles of the grass absolutely fascinating.

This side of Deegan had never made an appearance before in my dreams. A side of Deegan that was not in absolute control. A side that was not an intimidating predator, rather it was a side that screamed of a broken worn down prey. A Deegan that could not overcome the hopelessness of his situation. I didn't like it. This man making him feel this way. My dreams making him feel this way. If I was going to dream of him I wanted to dream of the Deegan that was strong and in control, the Deegan that didn't have any problems.

“Don't be so morose. Everything I have done has been for the betterment of the pack.”

“Of course Lord Alpha.”

“Mother and father just happened to get in the way... you understand right
 little brother
.”
 

Deegan's whole body flinched like the man had struck him. His face turned up for the first time since the man had showed in the clearing. Eyes blazing Deegan spat at the man's feet before turning around and stalking off into the woods. The mans deep laughter broke out across the clearing at the sight of Deegan's retreat.

“Seig you shouldn't tease him so... he's still sore about it.” The woman finally spoke, in a coy voice.

“You should mind your own business and stop lusting after my brother... you're just a low level bitch after all.”

“Seig my Lord Alpha-”

Her plea was cut short as the man, Seig, began striking her. Over and over fist struck flesh until she was on the ground whimpering in submission but even then he did not stop. He began unbuckling his pants and I knew what was coming next. I wasn't about to stand there and watch it. So I turned and ran. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me down the path Deegan had disappeared down.

It wasn't hard to follow where Deegan had gone, he had made no effort to hide his tracks. The path became harder to navigate as it went uphill. The thick underbrush scraping at my jeans, catching into them like claws holding me back.

I just kept running. Running until my legs felt heavy and dull. Until my body was weighed down with my fatigue. And still I ran. I had to get away. Away from that. Away from everything. I needed Deegan's comforting presence now more than ever.

Finally I managed to break through the thick undergrowth and succeeded in making it to the top of the incline. It was the top of a cliff. The wind was cold and harsh this high above the trees.

Deegan's lupine frame sat there at the edge of the cliff like a dark gargoyle, with his claws dug into the soft earth. The wind ruffling his pitch black fur until it looked like a mess of tangles. Slowly I made my way up to him, while bracing myself against the howling wind.

With his wolfen face pulled back in a grimace I couldn't help but reach out to comfort him, even if he couldn't see me. But the moment I ruffled my hand through his dense fur, he spun around with a snarl. When his eyes locked onto where I was standing it was like he was seeing through me and I knew then that he truly could not see me.

Even so I knew he could feel me because he had turned into my touch, and that was enough. After what I had seen whether he was a dream or not I'm sure he needed comfort just as much as I did. So I slowly wound my hands into the thick fur along his neck. The emotions of the day hit me hard and I buried my face in his fur along with my hands.  I could feel the heat of my tears running down my face but there was nothing I could do but continue to sob silently against him.

After a few moments his bunched muscles finally unwound, as he began to relax under my embrace. After a few moments longer he even began lean into my touch, and my heart swelled with joy at the contact. The contact of two broken people leaning on each other for support.

“Mercy?” He queried pulling back slightly to gaze around the area I stood. “That's you isn't it Mercy... You shouldn't be sleeping right now... you shouldn't be dreaming in this place... It's dangerous.”

''I had to see you Deegan its getting crazy when I'm awake these monsters are everywhere.”

His body didn't move like he was waiting for some cosmic sign that he had guessed correctly.

Letting out a long sigh at our inability to communicate verbally, I began searching for something on the ground I could use to write. If I could pull things out of a dresser drawer, if he could
feel
me, then more than likely I could make marks in the ground... hopefully. Not finding anything to write with I bit the bullet and dug my fingers into the soft earth.

'I needed to be with you.'

He was staring hard at the dirt where I was writing, and before I had a chance to scratch out what happened during the day, he made a wild guttural sound somewhere between a sigh and a whimper.

“You
can not
be here Mercy. I must send you home.”

“Wait no those things will kill me!”

But my plea went unheard and he threw back his head and let out a long sharp howl. My whole body flinched back and my eyes closed at the harsh sound so close to my ears. As my eyes closed the sound faded off to nothing and when I opened them I was back in my bed, and my phone was beeping like it had gone crazy.

Chapter 10

Dragging myself out of the bed at the sound of my phone ringing, I rummaged around the room in an attempt to find it. When I finally found the small red device the screen was flashing Olivia's name. So I answered it dutifully.

“Where the hell are you?” her howl practically echoed through my end of the phone. “Did you fall in a ditch and die or something? I've been calling you for the last half hour.”

Glancing at the time on my phone it said it was only... 4:45... shit. How long had I slept? It hadn't felt like a long dream, but the passage of time said otherwise.

“Are you still...”

“Waiting on you? Yes so hurry up.” Snapping my phone shut I bolted out of the house and towards the diner.

When I pulled into the parking lot everything was as calm and as normal as any weekday should be. Just the regular bustle of people going about their day, stopping to get some food, nothing out of the ordinary like lizard men, or giant wolves with blood red eyes. Every time I found myself in a normal place doing a normal thing, it only made me feel crazier for believing, thinking that the other things... the weird things, could be real.

Inside the comfortable retro diner  was warm, helping the chill of the weather wear off quickly. Its deep red and orange painted hues felt warm and homey, safe. But I was beginning to think that even this place could house monsters.

Olivia was sitting in the booth we had always chosen as children, when the dreams started I had stopped going out of the house. Spending every day moping about waiting for the dying. But Olivia remembered the importance of the seat we had spent so much time laughing and enjoying life in. As I slid into the booth across from her she didn't look up. She didn't need to.