Dreamers (The Dreamers Series) (10 page)

“What about C.J.? I read Mia’s mind, I see that he’s coming here tonight?”

“She’s working on that right now. We’re gonna fix everything.”

“Syd, I don’t know if I wanna go anymore. I can’t lose you.”

“Stay focused. I won’t have you in pain for eternity because of me. I couldn’t bear that.”

“Eternity without you is not worth living.”

His face is filled with more emotion than I’ve ever seen. This isn’t lust, its love—real love.

“I have to go, Nick. I have a plan.”

“What plan?” he asks cautiously. His expression begins to change from curiosity to irritation. “Hang on a second, why are you dressed like that?”

“Please don’t ask me to lie to you.” My eyes close in pain as he quickly figures out what I’m doing.

“No, Sydney.”

I pull myself from meditation before he can talk me out of it. Knowing I’m hurting him tears at my heart, but I don’t have a choice. I have to do this.

“Cayden’s coming,” Mia chimes in behind me.

Her face pales briefly as tears stream down my face. She sighs loudly, ridding herself of any distraction that could challenge our mission. Her ability to tune out emotion must be from her training in the medical field—psychology, I’m sure. She gives me that look, silently urging me toward my goal.

“Sydney, if you’re doing this, you have to do it well. Love makes us do stupid things, but this idiotic stunt of yours takes the cake. For some unknown reason—I get it, I see the fire in you. So get your ass up, dry the weakness from your eyes, hike up that skirt a few more inches, and let’s do this damn thing.”

“Let’s do it.”

***

Heather arrives promptly as scheduled, hugging me the second she hits the kitchen.

“Wow, you look—hot. Sorry but there isn’t another word.”

“I thought you might like it.”

“It smells great in here.” She turns toward my sister. “Hey, Mia, how have you been?”

“Fine, thanks. How about you, Heather? How are things?” Disgust coats each word with sarcasm.

“Great actually. Everything seems complete now that your sister is here.”

“I’m sure it does.” Mia turns from Heather, facing me. “Syd, can you get me another glass of wine? Pour one for Heather, too.”

“No thanks, Mia. I don’t really drink. It doesn’t mesh well with my medication.”

“Medication? What kind of medication do you take? I’m a nurse, I can easily tell you if you can mix the two,” she prods.

Heather looks uncomfortable, avoiding the question.

“Ah...what the hell, you only live once, right? Pour me a glass too, Syd.”

“You’ve got it.” I dump a healthy glug into an empty wine glass. “Mia, what time is Cayden arriving?”

“Any second now.”

The doorbell rings right on point.

“Heather, can you get that?”

I want to see her reaction as she sees a practical twin of Dominick walk through our front door.

“Cayden?” she asks as he comes through the door.

“Yes. Nice to meet you…uh…”

“Heather.” She extends her hand cautiously.

It’s no surprise that she looks as if she’s seen a ghost.

“You okay, Heather?” Mia asks with a cynical tone.

“You look so familiar. Have we met, Cayden?”

“Who knows? It’s a small world.” His irritated aqua eyes find mine. “Hello, Sydney. How are you this evening?” he asks sarcastically.

“Just fine, thanks. I’m glad you decided to make it.”

The evening goes off without a hitch. Everyone enjoys dinner and drinks more wine than we should. Heather keeps a close, cautious eye on Cayden, just as he does her. It reminds me of a gun battle in the Wild West. Cowboys watching for the first one to draw. The tension in the air is almost edible. Mia and I continuously scan the environment, waiting for all hell to break loose.

“I have to say, this was an amazing meal.” Heather raises her fourth glass of wine in cheers, breaking the silence.

“So, Heather, what was that medication you were talking about earlier?” Mia quizzes, hoping she is inebriated enough to let her guard down.

“Anxiety medication. I had a ton of nightmares when I first moved in. He kinda looked like him, actually.” She points at Cayden with a drunken shaky finger. “He was kinda creepy, but Mom fixed him right up. No more nightmares, no more freaks haunting my dreams.”

Mia and I look at each other as Cayden watches Heather like she has a third eye.

“I had no idea, Heather. What exactly does your mom do?” Mia asks.

“She’s a doctor. She works with crazies.”

“That’s not a very professional way of putting it.” Cayden looks offended. “I’m assuming you’re referring to a psychiatrist?”

“Yes, a psychiatrist. You’re pretty uptight aren’t you, Cayden? I don’t know if I like you very much. Did you just come here to stare at me all evening or do you have a thing for dykes?”

“Excuse me?” His eyebrows lift at her belligerent tone.

Mia and I intervene. She pulls Cayden from the table, and leads him toward my room, clearly to inform him of the situation and offer the proof he will clearly need.

I pull Heather into the living room. A fire already blazes in the stone fireplace.

“You’re pretty drunk, aren’t you, Heather? You aren’t being very pleasant to our guest.”

“I think I drank too much. And aside from that, that dude has stared me down all night. He reminds me of that guy and he’s freaking me out.”

“What guy, Heather?”

“I would much prefer to talk about something else.”

“No worries. I’ll get rid of the company. I want to be alone with you anyway.”

The time has come, it’s time to strike. She is trashed and completely at a disadvantage. If she’s purposely hiding from Nick, she certainly won’t hold the strength to continue in this condition.

I walk into my room to find a pale faced Cayden with his fingers on the Ouija board cursor.

“Does he understand the situation?” I ask Mia.

“I believe so,” she replies.

“I’m sorry, Sydney.” He began to cry. “He really is dead.”

“We are going to help him Cayden, I promise.”

“I want to strangle that bitch until she talks.” His anger flows towards Heather.

“No! We have to be smart. We will never find his body if we let her find out we know anything at all. Play the game. Just do what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it. Understand?”

“You really love him, right? You aren’t tricking him for some sick fantasy are you? He has never loved anyone before, it would kill him all over again.”

“I love him, as impossible as it sounds, I really do. I’m aware of his condition, I wouldn’t play that against him.”

He nods.

“Right now I need y’all to go. Take Mia home, she drank too much wine. You can come back for her car tomorrow.”

“No, Sydney, I’m not leaving you here with her. This is a bad idea, I won’t go along with it.” Mia’s voice cracks.

“Mia, I know what I’m doing. She won’t hurt me.”

“Let her do what she needs to do,” Cayden instructs Mia. “And you, Sydney, take care of my brother.”

“You’ve got it, C.J. I’m doing everything I can.”

“I’m assuming my brother shared that ridiculous nickname with you?”

“He sure did. Nicky wuvs his wittle C.J.,” I joke.

“Wow, it’s been years. I haven’t heard that since we were kids. Sometimes I really miss that little butthead. Do you think I could visit him tomorrow?”

“Absolutely, but for tonight y’all need to skedaddle. I have a wall to break down.”

“Okay, Sydney, but take this in case things get out of hand.” He hands me a can of mace.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, but I’ll keep it close. Goodnight, guys.”

As they leave, the impending tragedy of what I need to do looms in the air. Heather is waiting in the living room; Nick waits in my dreams. Even if it means disappointing my love, I have to handle Heather first.

Here we go.

“Tonight couldn’t have been more perfect, baby.” She smiles broadly. “I don’t deserve you.”

No, you don’t. What you deserve is a knife in the back, like you gave me for lying about Nick.

“Heather, can you walk me to my room?”

“Um—I guess so. Are you drunk?”

“A little,” I lie.

“Me too.” She laughs.

As we meet my door I begin giving her instructions. It’s my world tonight. I’m going to give it all I’ve got.

Loosen her up, she looks nervous.

“Hey, lay on the bed. I wanna show you something.”

“Um—okay.” She lays down watching me closely.

“Do you like dancing, Heather?”

“No. I’m not good at it.”

“That’s too bad. Do you wanna see me dance?”

“Uh—yeah,” she stumbles over her words.

I point the remote at the iPod dock, having preselected the perfect music for the occasion. Enigma fills the room, and by the look on her face she realizes something amazing is about to happen.

I lose my shirt, avoiding any amount of reason before I can change my mind. My skirt follows, slithering to the floor. As I pass by the mirror I notice the curves of my thighs, I look good.

“Whoa, what are you doing, Syd?”

“Dancing for my sexy girl. You don’t like it, baby?” I move slowly—seductively, as her eyes eat away at my bare flesh.

She lays speechless on the soft bed, her mouth hanging partially open. Her tongue grazes her teeth. She’s getting weak—exactly as I want her. This is the moment, not a dream. I’m doing this, no matter what. I drink in the power I feel. It wets my mouth like ice cold water in the desert. I’m enjoying myself more than I should. Teasing her is fun. I feel the pleasure Eve must have felt as she crossed that forbidden line in the Garden of Eden. Her breathing is heavy and her shyness melts away like smooth chocolate on a hot plate. That sexy essence within her emerges as it has in many times in my recent dreams. As she lifts herself from the bed, making her way into my space, my own breath begins to quicken. This is for Nick. No amount of pleasure she can provide me will alter my agenda. She takes the reins, digging her beautiful white teeth into my bottom lip and then grabs my waist, throwing me on to the bed. She trails her fingers down my thigh while she digs her tongue into to my skin. As she nibbles on my wrist I make a noise only known to those who have experienced sheer ecstasy. As hard as I’m trying to keep myself in the position of control I’m losing it quickly. Her lips put me into a trance, her tongue swirls in a circular motion over my skin causing nerve impulses to go wild throughout my entire body. She knows exactly what she’s doing. My consciousness floats in and out as her warm tongue drags down my leg, then back up hitting a spot I have never felt before. I picture Nick’s face as she burrows into my insides, taking over the reasonable part of my brain. As soon as I see his face in my mind I begin to daze out. That’s when I hear him.

“Sydney, what the hell are you doing? Get her off you, now!”

“I brought her here for you. Now, get what you need and hurry up!”

“Fuck no! Get her off of you now, Sydney!”

“No, Dominick. I didn’t do all this for nothing. She’s here, she’s completely inebriated. Do it now.”

“I can’t focus on anything aside from the fact that her hands are all over you. I’m going to fucking kill her.”

“The longer you wait the longer she is going to have her hands, her tongue, and her mouth all over me. I’m pulling out of meditation now, you have less than a minute to go in and get what you need, make it count.”

I open my eyes to find she is fully atop me now. At some point her clothes seem to have come off too. Things are getting too close. I’m pretty certain a full minute has passed, long enough for Dominick to have gotten what he needs. If I don’t hit the brakes, this will go too far.

“I’m just not ready for this yet, Heather. Stop.”

She doesn’t though. I’m pinned under her strong arms, completely unable to get up. She bites the inside my neck, I feel blood flowing.

“Heather, stop it!”

Again, she ignores me, thrusting her tongue harder into my skin, drinking the blood her bite ripped from my sensitive skin.

The candle beside my bed flips on to the floor, extinguishing the only light in the room. That has to be Nick. He’s penetrated her mind. Her face turns white and her body becomes limp, falling atop me as I wait in fear. Her body convulses and shivers. He got to her. I don’t want him to hurt her, I can’t stomach that. I have no idea what’s going on between them right now.

“Dominick, stop it, that’s enough!”
I plead with him as I pull myself into meditation.

I’m unsure what I’ve missed, but she is in sheer terror as her face twists and contorts. The only words I hear come from his mouth are bolstering severe curses and threats.

Poor Heather, she thinks I am trying to develop a relationship with her and I lead her into a terrifying den of insanity. Bracelet or not, I can’t allow this to continue.

“Let her go, Dominick. Now!”

She jumps off me with intensity as he releases her. “I’m sorry, Syd, I’m so fucking sorry.” She runs from my room, blood dripping from her mouth and nose. Her feet slam the floor as she makes her way into her room, slamming the door behind her.

I throw my clothes back on, fearfully shaking in the center of my bed. I did this to myself. How could I have been so stupid? Heather is mentally fucked right now. All I wanted was to find out the truth, not land her in an asylum.

Floating between meditation and reality has become easier, somewhat like second nature.

“I’m taking a sleeping pill. You be ready when I get there because I’m really pissed off at you right now. You took it too far, Nick.”

I quickly pop the Ambien I had stashed in my purse—furious, sad and completely confused. This isn’t me; I led her right into the lion’s den, knowing full well he would annihilate her when he found out what I was doing.

I close my eyes, letting the medication fully mingle with the wine. Succumbing to the darkness of the man I now realize I love.

***

“What did you do to her?”

“She hurt you, you’re bleeding! She bit you like a fucking animal. Come here.”