Bound in Blood 1 Clandestine (8 page)

A crackling sound brought her attention back to the left side
of the room. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace that hadn't
been there a moment ago. Emily looked around the room, trying
to see who could have started it. She was still the room’s only
occupant. She half expected a troll to jump out of the fire and say
boo
or something along those lines.

A soft voice purred from behind her.
“I find a fire to be
quite relaxing,don’t you?”
Emily jumped and spun around with a shriek.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you, Emily. I forget how quiet my
passage can be.”
Standing in front of her only two feet away, was an
overwhelmingly handsome man. Although middle aged, Emily
sensed a timeless quality to him that made him seem ageless.
That’s weird. She didn’t usually have dreams where she was
crushing after an older man, no matter how hot he might be and
he was gorgeous. He had broad shoulders with powerful looking
arms. His stance was as powerful, his hair was golden. Hints of
silver blemished the golden locks, while his eyes sparkled like
flawless sapphires.
Emily replied mechanically, still stricken by his beauty.
“That’s okay.”
She had never met this man before. How did he know her
name? That normally would have freaked her out. Her dream
self was completely intrigued by the mystery, if confused by it.
He motioned for her to move to the chairs before the fire.
She silently did as he said. Her movements were hesitant and
cautious, waiting for a terrifying blob monster to ooze out of the
cushions. After all, this was one of
her
dreams, which were
typically vividly spooky, over the top or unrealistically happy. In
fact, she once had a dream in slow motion. She was running
towards a hot guy with open arms across a field of sun flowers
the way it was in the movies. Completely corny and pathetic, but
apparently that’s the sort of things her mind cooked up, after she
was done, running the show for the day.
When the man sat, she noticed that in the illumination of the
fire, he cast no shadow on the nearby wall. She glanced beside
her own seat and saw her enlarged shadow, where it should be.
How was that possible? She had never seen anything like that
before. Honestly, she had never seen anything like this place
before either. She gave her imagination a pat on the back for the
attention to details.
“Who are you?” Emily said shakily. For a dream she felt
awake. She was even wearing the same clothes, she had worn
earlier. Suddenly, she felt underdressed for the rich
surroundings. The light blue shirt, boot cut jeans and Nike’s
didn’t feel a
ppropriate in a place this lavish.
“Oh,I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t introduce myself,” he
apologized, sincerely. “I am Alexander and I’m quite pleased to
make your acquaintance.”
“Well, I’d introduce myself except you seem to already
know me.” She replied unintentionally curt. “Forgive my
rudeness, but would you mind explaining that to me?” As Emily
spoke, she caught a small blurry movement out of the corner of
her eye. When she looked further, it had disappeared. Emily
could have sworn it had been a person, but was skeptical since
she didn't there didn't seem to be anyone else in the room. So
what was it?
If this was a dream, could the sleep version of herself be
cooking up another layer of strangeness? Emily couldn't help
thinking that she had already outdone herself with this one. She
didn't need anything else to spook her. Though, it was getting
more difficult to think of this situation, as a simple dream.
The man’s liquid voice brought Emily back to the
conversation. “I do apologize, Emily. I brought you here because
I needed to talk to you. Let me get right to the point. So, you
may return to your slumber. It’s of the utmost importance that
you engrave my words into your mind. I heard you are
concerned with the happenings of your little town. I’m here to
tell you not to be troubled by, such trivial matters. The situation
is completely under control. Rest assured, my dear girl and
please control, any urge to undergo your own form of private
investigation."
He sat back in his chair, laying his arms on the large arm
rests thoughtfully, as if pondering impossible math calculations
without a sweat. You may not like the repercussions of such
findings. It is detrimental to your wellbeing.”
Emily shook her head in irritation at Alexander's cryptic
words. “I don’t understand. You’re gonna have to give me more
than that, what situation? Why is it dangerous? Who told you I
was concerned,when I don’t even know
what
I am supposed to
be concerned about? Also…”
Alexander cut her off, “Trust me dear Emily. I value this
town and its surroundings greatly. I will not allow any harm to
partake here. Nevertheless, I am not at liberty to discuss the
details with you.” His face was gentle and sincere as he spoke. “I
don’t mean disrespect. It’s only that you would not yet be able to
understand. What you could understand, would frighten and
endanger your safety. It is also possible, very possible in fact that
such knowledge on your part would mean damage to my family
and I refuse to take such chances I’m sure you can understand
that. All I will speak of at this time is a few pieces of advice that
I hope you bearin mind quite considerably.” He finally hesitated
long enough for a response but Emily still had a thousand
questions.
A key point didn’t escape Emily. “Yet? What do you mean
yet
?”
Alexander appeared thoughtful. He pressed his hands
together forming a steeple at his mouth. “I can’t tell you
everything now. I’m sorry for that but that’s just the way it is.”
He removed his hands from his face and looked at her
expectantly.
Giving up Emily said, “I guess if that’s all you can give,
that’s all I can take.” She figured she shouldn’t expect much
cooperation from a dream. Emily decided not to push it. Her
words were mostly a muttering to herself anyway.
“Good I’m glad we see eye to eye on this matter.”
Alexander hesitated for a moment and then as if reading her
mind he said, “This isn’t a dream. You are really here in spirit.”
He didn’t give Emily a chance to question this information, like
she wanted to. “My advice to you is simple. Evil danger does not
merely remain in the shadows. When ruby borders emeralds,
may their prey heed warning. He smoothly stood finalizing their
conversation.
Emily sighed deeply,” “I don’t understand any of that. It
makes no sense to me.” She stood, following him to the entry
into the hall. As she walked, fury radiated from her. She hated
riddles, especially when they sounded like a fortune cookie. She
had never been good at them. The advice he gave sounded like
nonsense to Emily, nothing but gibberish.
Alexander turned briefly to face her as he spoke. “The
answers will come to you with time my dear. I do humbly
apologize. As I have previously stated, this is all the knowledge
that I can afford to bare at this time. Honestly, you should feel
privileged that I have divulged,as much as I have.” He moved
passed the wooden archway before turning back. “Now, you
must get some rest. Don’t worry, we will meet again. Let the
journey take you back to once you came. May you go in peace
forever more.”
As she passed through the archway into the hall, she turned
to ask him just one more question. He wasn’t behind her
anymore. She peeked back into the big room to see if he returned
to the chairs. That scan turned up empty too. God, that was
frustrating! Was everyone she met from now on going to have
that power? She started down the hall,hoping it wasn’t the part
of the dream where something jumped out of one of those locked
doors to scare her awake.
She didn’t understand how she was supposedly only there in
spirit. An idea sparked, and she pressed her hand on her arm. It
felt solid enough to her, so she gave it a good pinch. OUCH! She
rubbed her arm furiously willing the pain away. This was all so
confusing. For one thing, weren’t spirits supposed to be
transparent? Also, when she pinched herself, she should have
woken up, that never happened of course. As she passed the
doors her view of the dream seemed to fade more and more until
there was nothing left but blackness. Great, Emily thought
drowsily. Now what”
When she opened her eyes, Emily shot straight up in her
bed. How had she gotten home? The last thing she could
remember is falling into the street. Remembering she had hit her
head, she pressed the spot and winced. While there wasn’t an
open wound, there was a bump the size of a goose egg,
reminding her vaguely of a third eye. Did her dad find her and
carry her home?
The clock on her bedside table said it was ten in the
evening. Sam usually isn’t even home yet. He gets off around
seven but occupies his usual stool at the bar till eleven at the
earliest. Sam was nothing if not routine. She stretched her
muscles and got up to see if any damage control was necessary.
She peeked out her door,but couldn’t hear any sound that
indicated he was home. He wasn’t capable of making no noise,
even when just watching TV. Silence was always broken by the
sound of crushing beer cans, feet hitting the coffee table and him
rummaging for something in the kitchen. There was also her
personal favorite, the sound of him thanking the beer Gods by
releasing a roaring belch before cracking open another can. Not
to mention, the TV was so typically blaring loud she could hear
his shows perfectly from the comfort of her room.
There were none of these things out there, so she decided to
see for herself. Walking down the hall, she realized belatedly
that shewas still in her regular clothes. That’s weird, she thought
quizzically. It wasn’t normal for her to not put pajamas on before
going to bed. Even when she was dog tired she at least took off
her jeans. She had never been able to stand sleeping in jeans, no
matter what the circumstances were. Even if she passed out that
still didn’t explain everything. How did she get home, and who
put her in her bed and tucked her in?
The house was dark with not a single light on. The front
door was locked and her black backpack sat beside it like usual.
She went to the window and pushed back the curtains. Sam’s
truck wasn’t on the street. It could be in the garage but he usually
only parked there on his days off.It wasn’t the type of vehicle
you needed to hide in a locked garage to avoid damage or theft.
Well, it might have been once, before Sam's intoxication and
carelessness got a hold of it.
Emily went to check his room but it was empty. The bed
was still made. In fact, she could tell it was still made from when
she had done it forever ago. She got tired of seeing an unused
bed looking rumpled and recently vacated. Emily’s mom always
kept the bed made neatly every day without fail. The crisp clean
sheets had to be tucked in tight and the decorative pillows in
perfect position.
The only sign of Sam living in the room was his dirty
clothes strewn about on the floor. His Romeos lay tossed by the
bedside table. She highly doubted Sam sat there to take them off.
He never let so much as a fingertip touch that bed, at least not
that she ever saw. She knew why this was so she didn’t need to
ask. It was of course because it was the bed he shared with her
mother once upon a time. Even if she had wanted to talk to Sam,
he wasn’t exactly an open book. In his world, things are better
off unsaid.
She was still really tired, she guessed she should just go
back to bed. The whole way back to her room, Emily’s mind
raced thinking of how she had gotten back to her house. It wasn’t
reasonable to assume that she had gotten herself home, tucked
herself into bed, and just forgotten about it. The night after the
first run in, the memories had been repressed, or temporarily
erased. In a weird way, she wished these memories would
disappear too. At least then, the mental stress that pressed on
every corner of her brain would melt away.
When she curled up under the sheets she shivered but not
from the cold. Luke’s green and red eyes burned in Emily’s
memory like flames engulfing all they touched imprinting
themselves forever.
Those eyes were something out of a scifi movie. She’s
never even seen something like that in scary movies. She
cringed, remembering how petrified she was in the beginning,
but how quickly his spell caused her to long for him.
When ruby
borders emeralds, may their prey heed the warning
. The words
from her dream,scrolled through her mind. Maybe that’s why
she had dreamed of Alexander and that beautiful place? Her
imagination ran wild with the mark Luke’s eyes had left on her.
Alexander didn’t seem like a dream a
nd neither did that
place, she had felt completely aware and in control. He said that
Emily was there in spirit and it did really hurt when she had
pinched her arm. She looked at her arm and was not surprised to
see the small bruise on her skin. The only part that remotely
seemed dreamlike, was when everything faded away to darkness.
What else had Alexander said?
Evil doesn’t merely stay
hidden within the shadows
. She guessed the evil hidden in the
shadow, referred to Luke and her attacker from the other night.
However, they came out in the dark, which meant that in a way,
they were still shadowed. Luke had followed her under the street
light and didn’t seem to mind the cars driving, witnessing their
little meeting. As Emily toyed with ridiculous theories, she
slowly felt herself giving into unconsciousness, until she was left
with what she hoped would be a peaceful sleep.