Authors: Diana Nixon
“Good night,” quietly I said.
I still didn’t want to sleep, so I put on my favorite
turquoise cashmere sweater and went to the balcony. To my surprise the night was
warm and windless. I could see the lights in the windows of several other
rooms. Each of them had a balcony, so I noticed some other students, not asleep
yet, just like
me. Sitting in a comfortable rocking chair, I began to
think about the events of the day. If a few days ago I felt that my life
couldn’t be changed even more, I was
definitely
wrong. My not very long
stay in Dever literally turned everything upside down. My thoughts were in a
mess, my feelings were in a mess and, guess what? My whole life looked like a
blasted mess too! I didn’t know whether I would see the nightmares again when I
went to bed, but apart from that, there was one more problem.
Christian…
What kind of nonsense was going on when we were
together? Was my excitement in front the Alexis’ office caused by his presence
there? Why do I feel everything that he feels? Or do I feel only what he feels
about
me
?
More questions... Even fewer answers...
Having decided to leave it all until tomorrow, I
returned to the room and went to bed.
An endless stream of thoughts was rushing through my
head. So I feel
her
, now I see
her
, so I touch
her
hand…
Again and again I was thinking about what happened today. Again and again I was
trying to find the answers to the million of questions that worried me so much.
Never in my life have I felt such a confusion and such a
strange attraction. Yes, I was drawn to her like a magnet; I couldn't take my
eyes away. Even when I looked at the remote objects I watched her with the
corner of my eye, wanting to see the light blush cover her cheeks when our
gazes meet, to see how excitedly she throws back her rebellious locks of long
hair, to see how her eyes sparkle when light falls on them...
All of her was a mystery for me. I couldn’t understand
my own feelings. But most of all I was surprised, no, rather
overtaken
by what I had seen when we shook hands.
And I saw the pictures... Pictures from my dreams - they
were wrapped around our arms, as if invisible stems of outlandish plants. I
couldn’t get that image out of my head. God only knows what she would
think
of me when I behaved like a freak. But something in her eyes haunts me... A
look of surprise, eyes full of understanding. Could she feel and see the same
things?
Eileen...
How many emotions were brought by her image into my
world. Those different feelings, those new feelings...
Here and now I can’t sleep. I'm standing on the balcony,
breathing in the aromas of the night and thinking about her. Stop…
these
are
already not
my
thoughts.
Eileen is on the lake. How strange, I know this lake;
it’s located on the west of the campus. I see how she puts her hands into the
water; I see how she goes into the water, going farther and farther away, as if
someone calls her there. I’m filled with fear. I'm trying to call her name, but
I can’t find my voice. I’m trying to follow her, but my body is still. I can
see how she disappears under the sheet of water. But I’m powerless. I'm
surrounded the darkness. I feel pain, fear, and emptiness... No!
I open my eyes and see myself again standing on my
balcony, trembling. Dream. It was only a dream.
Her
dream!
“Oh, God!” I whisper with my lips. I ran into the room,
grabbing
the cell phone, and call Amanda.
“Hey, Christian, we...”
“What's wrong with Eileen? Is she okay?” not letting my
sister to finish the sentence, I ask still trembling from head to toe.
“How did you know? However, it doesn’t matter. Yes,
she’s all right. But she had a nightmare. Again.”
“Pass her the phone, please,” I say. Amanda calls her
and Eileen picks up the phone.
“Christian,” she says with exhausted and seems to be
tear-stained voice.
“Eileen, can you tell me what your dream was about? It’s
very important,” as calmly as possible I'm trying to ask not to scare her even
more than she already is.
“You know the answer,” she says. “Otherwise you wouldn’t
call me in the middle of the night.”
“Do you mind if I come over now?”
“Sure, come.”
Having no explanation to all that just happened, I dress
hurriedly, grabbing the first thing I see and run out of the room. I don’t wait
until the elevator comes, and run down the stairs two floors below. Room
№ 408. At my knock the door is opened by sleepy Amanda.
“I don’t know what's going on with you guys, but I don’t
like it at all, Christian,” she sends me a worried look.
“I know, neither do I. Where is she?”
“On the balcony. Just be careful. She’s already
frightened to death by all these nightmares.”
I nodded and went to the balcony silently leaning back
against the wall. Eileen, not even turning around, knew that I was there.
“I can’t stand it anymore,” in a barely audible voice
she said. “I don’t know what’s happening to me and I don’t know what to do. I'm
afraid to close my eyes, I'm afraid to fall asleep, I...”
Her voice broke and without saying a word, I came closer,
turned her to face me and wound her in my arms. She was crying. I didn’t even
need to see her face to know what she was feeling at that moment.
“We'll think of something, Eileen. I'm sure that someone
from Meridin will help to interpret our dreams.”
“So you see them too,” she whispered. It wasn’t a
question, it was a statement, but I still answered.
“Yes. For many nights.”
“And what do you see there?” looking at me with her eyes
full of water, asked Eileen. I raised my palm and wiped one tear off her cheek
with my fingers.
“I see drawings, drawings on the water, which spread in
circles. And some patterns on the surface of the lake. Every time I wake up
because I hear someone screaming. I seem to sink into the darkness and...”
“Into the darkness... Of course!” Eileen says as if
realizing something I still don’t understand. “So it's
your
hand I see
in my dreams. Whose is the other one?”
“The other one?” I ask confused. “Eileen, I’ve never
dreamed of anyone’s hands, I saw only you.”
Eileen pulled away and looked at me puzzled.
“Just me? I can’t be possible. What did you see today?”
“As you walk into the lake, farther and farther away,
and then disappear. I want to help you, but I can’t. I can’t call you, I can’t
even move,” I say, still feeling wild fear freezing my veins.
“And
I
see Christian, as someone calls me into
that lake, and I can’t resist this calling. I go into the depth, but I don’t
understand why I do this, though I do know that I don’t want to go there. It’s
terrible. And then, the light around me disappears and I feel the pain, not
mine,
your
pain, Christian. I feel
everything
you feel.
“So today in the Alexis’ office...”
“Yes, I saw everything that you saw,” Eileen nodded
helplessly. She sat in the chair, pursed her knees and wrapped her arms around
them. I couldn’t stand to see her in such a miserable state. I took a deep
breath and hunkered down in front of her, taking a few locks of hair away from
her face.
“Let's go back to the room,” I said. “It’s cold here.
And you need to get some rest.”
“I don’t want to, I don’t want to fall asleep again,”
like
a naughty child she said, shaking her head. I even smiled a little.
I sat down next to her, put my arm around her waist, pulling her closer to my
chest and touched her forehead with my lips, taking her breath away. However,
she wasn’t the one caught off guard there. My heart stopped and I froze feeling
again that weird sensation I felt watching Eileen’s picture, send by Amanda
just a few days ago. My thoughts blurred when every inch of my body leaned to
that girl sitting next to me. Some unknown excitement wrapped us in its embrace
and I knew Eileen could feel it too. She looked at me and our gazes locked,
sending millions of silent messages to each other.
“I will stay with you, I won’t go away,” I said quietly.
Eileen sneered breaking the contact.
“You're talking just like my grandmother.”
I laughed in response trying to ease the tension between
us.
“Well, I‘ve never been compared to someone’s grandmother
before!”
“But you behave just like her and you both don’t tell me
how awful I look, when crying,” Eileen added, covering her face with her hands.
I just shook my head and followed her into the room. At
that moment, she was so beautiful that even her tears couldn’t spoil what I saw
in her.
When we entered, Amanda was sitting on Eileen’s bed,
holding a cup of hot chocolate.
“I grabbed this at home and I knew that it would be
useful,” she said smiling, holding out a cup for Eileen.
“Maybe you can find some more chocolate for me as well?”
I asked.
“You will owe me, Christian. Many more sleepless nights
and all my stocks will run out fast!” she warned.
“Don’t worry, sis, I’ll buy you some more chocolate for
Christmas,” I assured her, smiling genuinely.
“Only if
this present is one of many others,” said
Amanda strictly.
I turned to Eileen and sat on the edge of her bed.
“Feel better?”
“
Much
better,” she admitted. “Don’t know what I
would have done without you, Faireys,” she grinned, looking at Amanda and me.
Something occurred to me just then.
“Eileen, can I ask you something? Amanda said that Nora
had called you Fairey...”
“Yeah, it was weird, but I can’t explain it.”
“I see,” I nodded disappointedly.
“I hope that someday we’ll find the answers at least to
some of our questions. And, Christian, you don’t have to stay here overnight.
I'll be all right. Really,” Eileen said, squeezing my hand.
“Are you sure? If you still change your mind, or...”
“I'll call you,” she smiled. “And thanks for everything.
Sorry I didn’t let you sleep well.”
“It’s not your fault. Sweet, chocolate dreams,” hinting
at the cup in her hands, I said. “If this thing works for you, as well as for
me, you will spend the rest of the night in a dream. In a
good
dream.”
I leaned over and left a light kiss on her cheek.
Already turning to the door, I noticed a familiar glow.
We both felt some invisible electricity flowing between
us. And I liked it. A lot.
Once in the hallway, I almost knocked over Amanda, who
spilled some of my chocolate on the floor.
“No gratitude, Christian!” she flared up.
“Thank you, dear,” I said, taking my cup and left.
Chapter 7. New
sensations (
Eileen)
If Christian hoped that after
such
a good buy I
would be able to fall asleep, then he was wrong. And not because his kiss,
getting so deep under my skin, no. Now, my cheek, where he left that very kiss
tingled with already familiar warmth. And that warmth wasn’t only on the cheek;
it spilled all over my body. Just like hot chocolate. God, I had to play it
cool, but I couldn’t. And yet, I felt…
calm
? Once again, I tried to
listen to my feelings,
just my own
feelings. I felt really calm, and
there was no more fear.
“Eileen?” judging by the voice, it wasn’t the first time
that Amanda called my name. “Could you explain, please, what has happened
between you and Christian? He almost knocked me down, and you sit here with
that stupid smile on your face, and... Wait a minute, I know this
little
smile
,” Amanda grinned.
“I don’t understand what you are talking about,” I said,
as calmly as possible, putting the empty cup on the table, and going to sleep.
This time I didn’t dream, but pleasant warmth and
serenity never left me till the morning.
The next day I woke up from the heels clip-clop. Opening
my eyes, I saw Amanda, with incredible speed running around the room like a
small hurricane.
“Morning, sweetie. Sorry, I overslept and now I’m
terribly late for my first day of studying,” she said apologizing. “But I’ll be
gone soon, and you'll be able to enjoy the remnants of your sweet dreams.”