Phoenix Rising I (36 page)

“Not really,” Anna was lying on her back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what to say.” She was silent for a minute. Then, “Grey came to my office today.”

Brooke stopped dead in her tracks, dropping the pink shirt she was holding. “Grey? The guy from that band? The one from
Playgirl
?”

“Yes, that one.”

“Anna, oh my God! What did he say? What did you say? Tell me.”

“I didn’t see him. Well, I didn’t talk to him anyway. I’m not sure why he was there,” she sat up.

“Did anyone say anything about it?”

“No. I didn’t give them a chance. Brooke, he was in my office. Not just in the building. He sat on my sofa, in my chair. He used one of my towels!”

Brooke smoothed Anna’s hair back, knowing that Grey had been on Anna’s mind too much for the past few years. It had started as a crush and ended with Anna loathing him without ever having met him. The two women had joked about Anna being certifiable because of her feelings for Grey. Then there had been Memphis and her disastrous night with him just a few weeks ago, which she hadn’t entirely explained to Brooke.

“We do need to go drinking tonight,” Brooke said.

“I have nothing to wear,” Anna laughed.

“Oh, I can find something. Trust me.”

Brooke did find an outfit for Anna. She wanted something comfortable but hot. She opted for black jeans and a gold colored tank top paired off with a leather biker style jacket. Anna tied her hair back into a ponytail against Brooke’s advice. She still looked cute but looked very young with her hair back.

They went to a new club not far from her apartment called The Underground. It was literally underground. Its foundation was an old basement that had been dug out and expanded. The setting was dark and gothic. There were torches on the walls leading down to the main room. Old candelabras and chandeliers provided minimal light on the inside. The air was foggy, half from the fog machine and half from the cigarette smoke.

“Get us a table, okay?” Brooke shouted over the loud music pouring from the jukebox.

“Sure.” As Anna walked away, she already saw men beginning to eye Brooke. She wondered for the tenth time tonight how the two women had become friends. They were so different.

There was a table near the stage but set off to the side, a nice place to hide out. Of course Brooke would want a table in the limelight, but maybe she would be able to suffer it out for this one night. Anna didn’t feel like being in the spotlight. She had barely sat down when Brooke returned with drinks.

“We are set up for the night,” Brooke said. “The bartender is a hottie.”

Anna smiled. “That always helps doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I got you a screwdriver. The band tonight is supposed to be decent. They start soon. Not much of a crowd, though.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the drink.” Anna watched Brooke for a minute. Her eye was on the bar. Brooke fell in love at least once a week. It looked as if her next victim were already chosen because she couldn’t keep her eyes off the bar. Anna decided to let her off the hook. “Go ahead, Brooke.”

“What?” she smiled.

“The bartender. Go ahead. I’ll be fine. Once the music starts we won’t be able to talk anyway.”

“Anna, you are a true friend. I’ll keep you in drinks all night,” Brooke squealed and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thanks. Send me a beer next time.”

“Sure thing,” Brooke smiled and sauntered up to the bar.
Y
e
p, the bartender is a dead man
, Anna thought.

Anna sat listening to the jukebox for a while. The band would be on any minute.

Chronicles was the name. They weren’t signed yet, which meant they were probably better than most of the bands on the radio. She nursed her screwdriver. Brooke had a thing about ordering fruity drinks before midnight, shots for thirty minutes, and then beer to finish off the night. Weird concept, but Anna had gotten used to it.

She glanced over at Brooke, who was leaning over the bar touching the bartender’s arm. He was flexing for her, and she was acting as if he were the only man alive. Brooke had a way with men. She was bubbly but never appeared air headed. She was always in control once she chose the guy. She got them in her sight and moved in for the kill. Anna wished she could be more daring like that and wished she could have the confidence that Brooke had.

Anna finished off the screwdriver and motioned to Brooke for a beer. At the same time, the lights went down even further and the stage lights came on. The crowd had grown before Anna had realized it. She must have been in her own world when they came in.

The first song rocked. It was loud, guitar driven, and energetic. She couldn’t understand the singer too well. He had his mic turned down too low. Why did bands always make this mistake? She looked around the crowd who seemed to be enjoying the song. The crowd was mixed. Under thirty, but not too young or too old. The crowd was always a good indication of the talent. The under thirty crowd always had the most experimental groups. They would play around with the bass line and would often use synthesizers and mixers to help fuel the music.

She had been deep in thought when the second song began. The voice was haunting but wasn’t that of the lead singer. No, this voice made her soul ache. Grey. The visions were coming now. Hard. Fast. The past. She could see the past, could see her fighting just as Grey had said. She was part of a troop, a team, part of his team. They were fighting against some unseen force that sought to separate them.

Smoke billowed in the distance, barely visible against a hazy background, which made almost no sense. It was as if she were seeing a dream instead of a reality. She reached out to touch the image in front of her. Her fingers brushed against nothingness as the music swirled around her. Looking up at Grey, she felt him kiss her sometime long ago. Their distanct past crept up on her, a past she swore she had only dreamed. Oh God, her head pounded, her heart ached. She was frozen.

Chapter Five

“Anna,” Brooke called. “Anna, God, are you okay?”

Anna looked up at Brooke, tears gleaming in her eyes.

“Let’s go, now,” Brooke said, taking Anna’s arm and pulling her up.

The crowd had grown. They knew who he was, too, and loved his unannounced performance. The crowd was too thick, and when Brooke tried to lead Anna out of the club the back way, they were pushed to the front of the room. Anna didn’t realize how close they were to the stage until she looked up. She was so close to Grey that she could have reached out and touched him.

Anna stopped. There was no getting out of this crowd. They were packed in around her, drowning her. The music was deafening to her ears. His voice was deafening to her soul, ripping her heart out. He was singing about lost love and airplanes. Something about missing someone.

Her head spun, and the visions came again. She was on the ground, he was standing above her. She was on her stomach. She looked back, and he was over her, screaming. Then she saw herself wearing a gold colored gown, and he was standing behind her holding her. They were in some strange place. It looked like an apothecary’s room. Then she saw him again, over her. He was shouting at the sky, fists raised.

Anna came to herself. The vision had been so strong she had almost passed out. She had slid into the crowd, hoping he hadn’t seen her. She knew him! She
had
loved him. Oh, God, this was horrible. Everything he had told her in the hotel room had been true. She felt as if her heart had been ripped out. Oh, God! She couldn’t think. She felt Brooke pulling her out of the crowd again, and she felt the tears streaming down her face.

Anna didn’t remember going outside, but she felt the cool air on her face. Somehow Brooke had managed to get her out of there. “Anna, what happened in there?” Brooke’s worried eyes stared at her.

“I … I don’t know,” she managed. “I need to go home,” she said.

“Okay. I’ll get a cab.” She pulled out her cell phone and began to dial. Anna heard her talking to the cab company. “They’ll be here soon,” she whispered to Anna.

Anna sat on the sidewalk, which was cold beneath her jeans. They were in the alley behind the club. A dangerous place, she knew. She stood. “Brooke, we should wait inside,” she said.

“No, we will be fine. Let’s just go around to the front.” Brooke held out a hand to Anna. She took it and let her lead her to the front of the building.

Anna didn’t let Brooke walk her in. She kissed her friend on the cheek, squeezed her hand, and then went inside her building. When she made it inside, she collapsed in a heap on the floor. She cried until her body ached from the sobs. She had seen their life, their past. Grey had been right. He was a fallen God, and she had been his lover. This couldn’t be happening to her. It couldn’t.

* * * *

Anna had been here tonight. He had sensed it when he walked in. That may have been why he chose to sing with the band. That was unusual for him, to sing with another group, but he had felt a presence here that he couldn’t deny. He knew that she was here. He had caught a glimpse of her when the crowd swirled around him. She looked frozen, terrified. He wanted to reach out and touch her. As soon as he saw her, she had disappeared.

Grey wondered for the rest of the night if he had only imagined her. How could he have possibly felt her, so strong, so absolutely with him and have only imagined it? It just wasn’t possible. She had been there. He had felt her on the air, in the energy of the room.

He had looked for her in every woman he had ever met. None of them could compare to her. In his nights on the road, he had searched for her in all of the crowds, in every stadium and every young girl. He had never found her, though. Until Memphis. And now, he had been inside her body, loving her, sharing his soul with her.

He lay in his bed and pondered over how to approach her. He had left the club after a couple of songs, but he knew that she had left after the first one. He was forced to continue because of the crowd. He wanted to chase after her, though. It was as if the whole room had stood still for a moment. Everything was in slow motion and blurred. Everything but her. He saw her clearly for a few seconds, and then the room moved and she was gone.

It was two
AM
now. Grey hoped sleep would find him soon. He was being tormented by the smell of oranges and the feel of a leather sofa beneath him. He was tormented by a woman with red hair and crystal blue eyes. Anna. He was haunted by Anna.

Grey finally fell asleep somewhere between two
AM
and sunrise. He was in a deep sleep when the sun rose, but he wasn’t sleeping peacefully. He was dreaming of Anna. He saw her standing near him, wearing a gold flowing dress with flowers in her hair, making her look like a medieval princess. They were in a field, and the sun was shining behind her head, and she was laughing. He was laughing, too. He thought it felt odd to laugh a true, free laugh. He hadn’t done so in so long.

He looked up at her. He was lying on the ground on his side. He wore a white shirt of some airy material that blew freely in the breeze. He could feel his hair lightly wrapping around him. She leaned toward him, her hair falling against his face. He caught a hand full of it and let his fingers run through it slowly. Her smile was intoxicating to him.

He watched her stand. She threw some flowers at him, teasing. He stood and chased her then caught her against a tree and put his arms on either side of her head. He leaned forward and kissed her, slowly and purposefully as they melted into one another. She suddenly broke the kiss and ran again. He was in pursuit of her. She wasn’t running fast, but he felt as if his feet would not move.

Something was coming. He could hear it and feel it, but he couldn’t see it. She was in danger. He wanted to tell her not to run so far or so fast. He couldn’t catch her. She was too far away. He reached out to her, but she turned and laughed, running even more. He called to her, screamed her name. She was too far away. Too far, too far.

Grey tossed and turned while he was on the bed. He called out a name in his sleep. He reached for an unknown something. Then he woke, drenched in sweat, with a name on his lips. “Anna!” he screamed as he watched the leader of the Inoco guide his horse toward Anna. When she fell, her head hit against a rock. This was the moment when he had lost her, the moment when she had entered the real world and left the world of the dreams for good. The Inoco had succeeded in shutting her out of their world.

* * * *

Anna did everything she could to avoid sleep that night, but when her third cup of coffee still hadn’t made it into her system, she caught herself nodding off. There had been something in Grey’s words that sounded more like a warning to her than the crazy ramblings of a deluded rock star. During the day, it was easy to pretend that he was nuts, but as the moon rose and the clock chimed the hour, it was growing increasingly difficult to deny the pull she felt toward Grey.

There was so much more going on between them than a one-night-stand. She had known that if she and Grey ever crossed paths, the energy would be explosive. She had been right. Their one night together, that huge mistake, had started something within her, making it difficult to think about anything else other than him and his weird notions.

Even now, as she sat on her sofa, fighting sleep, she knew that to give in to the fictional sandman would be to do so much more than nod off. She would be opening herself up to another invasion by Grey, a force she still hadn’t figured out how to deal with yet.

“Go away,” she murmured as her eyes grew heavy. His laughing face loomed above her, warning her that she was moving into the realm of dreams. He wouldn’t have laughed had this been real life.

“I’m here to talk to you,” was his reply.

“Can’t talk,” she managed, still not giving in to the gods of sleep.

“Yes, please talk to me. Come, take a walk with me. I’ll show you everything you need to see.” He held out his hand for her, but she resisted.