Destiny Dreams And Demons

It had been two weeks since the funeral and Adam and I had seen each other nearly every day. I was really enjoying having him around; we would sit and talk about our lives, our hopes, our dreams, you know, everything people talk about when they get to know one another. Two days before, had been Adam"s birthday and I had mentioned that this was going to be my thirtieth birthday and my first alone. Adam, whom I had grown quite attached to, looked at me and promised that I wouldn"t be alone at all.

"If you"d like, I can come by and pick you up for breakfast then I can stay by your side until you tell me to leave." I remembered him telling me.

My phone rang on the bedside table and I answered it, "h.e.l.lo?"

"Hey, wanna go get an early start on your birthday? It"ll be a late birthday present for me, spending a day with my favorite person. We can start with breakfast then who knows. What do you say?" Adam chimed from the other end of the phone.

"Okay, just give me an hour so that I can take a shower. K?" I answered with a smile.

"Cool, then I"ll see you in an hour." He laughed and hung up the phone.

I climbed out of bed and got in the shower. I stood in the hot water enjoying the soothing rush of excitement of knowing that the rest of my day would be with Adam. I would get to feel that energy that I found so much solice in. I finished my shower and stepped out in the warm air of my bathroom. I looked into the fogged mirror and wiped it clear but what I saw was not me.

Instead, I saw a beautiful red headed woman. Her fire, red hair was full of curls that fell around her face which was fair, with stunning deep green eyes. Her nose was slender and perfect with lips that were sharp and define.

I had never seen her before but I already knew this woman. I knew who and what she was. She was Drusilla McCoy and she had been a Kethra.

#

"Drusilla," I whisper and watch her whisper in the mirror simultaneously. I"m suddenly not in my bathroom in my home anymore; I am in front of a mirror in a cottage. It is an old cabin with a fresh layer of dust laying on everything. I spot a dress on the bed; it"s a long blue dress that is plain and simple. I dress myself and start walking to the kitchen. There is a pot of stew brewing on the wood burning stove, it smells delicious. The cabin is warm and the air is thick with a smell of rosemary and sage.

I hear something in the distance that sounds like voices, angry voices approaching. I walk toward the door and hear a pounding that nearly knocks the door down. I feel a surge of fear through me as I walk to the door. I open the door to find a mob of villagers with torches, pitchforks and sickles in their hands. "Yes?" I say calmly.

"Drusilla McCoy, you are under arrest for the devastation your witchcraft has created and brought upon this village by drought and disease. You are hereby sentenced to death by fire!" a big, burly man that I have never seen before bellows. He is a big man with a big beard that grew to his chest. His name is Cato Jenkins. He is a Protestant Pastor that has been on a witch, demon and vampire hunt for nearly a decade. And now, he is standing at my door.

"Under whose authority? Whose suspicion? And on what grounds, exactly?" I ask sternly.

"The authority is mine!" Cato roared back. "The suspicion comes from the village that has lost everything due to your sins. Their crops died because of your drought and disease that destroyed their livestock. They have lost everything, yet you have everything, how convenient for you."

"You cursed us! You witch!" someone shouts from inside the mob.

"That does not mean that I am a witch. My land lies lower than that of my neighbors meaning what little rain we did receive ran down to my land keeping my crops alive and growing. My livestock did not die and rot. This was not of my doing! If you will it, take what is mine and I shall leave you all in peace with no ill will. But your crops and livestock dying was none of my willing. I did not curse you for I am not a witch!"

Silence falls over the crowd as they contemplate my statement. Soon, a voice, an old woman calls out, "BURN HER!" and I am seized from my door by both arms. I begin to fight but that will do nothing more than prove that I am not human. I could escape away from them now but what would happen later. Cato would hunt me down. He would even go through each person that the village people know are my family. Casimir, I"m not too worried about, is a Kruznik, both immortal and immune to any type of mortal wound. My worry is my beloved Lena. She is a Kethra, as I am. We may be immortal but she would suffer the same fate that I am now, if I were to try to fight. We are not immune to mortal wounds, as Casimir, we cannot die of a mortal wound but we carry the scars as a mortal would. I could never condemn Lena to this torture, so I do not resist.

They bind my wrists in shackles in front of me and begin leading me toward the village. The walk is long but the mob and pastor are so driven by their excitement that our four mile walk takes only about an hour.

Soon, they have me on top of a pyre with a single tall stake rising up in the middle. A few of the men nail my shackles to the stake as I plea with them. I know these men; they were called friends for quite a few years, since Lena and I moved to this area.

They do nothing but laugh now as they turn and jump from the pyre, signaling that it was done. I watch in terror as Cato grabs a torch and walks in front of the pyre to look at me. "Drusilla McCoy, you have been accused of and judged for witchcraft. You are found guilty!" He lowers the torch to the wood that surrounds me and the fire catches and begins to spread. Cato turns to the crowd, "You all now lay witness to the purging of the evil from this town. May G.o.d bless you all for your discovery and strength in destroying this demon." He turns back to me and finishes as the flames begin to dance around my feet, "May G.o.d have mercy on your troubled soul." A smile curls up the corners of his mouth.

He disappears into the flames that now engulf me and a crash of thunder roars above me, I know that the G.o.ds do not approve. I feel the fire dancing on my skin and my dress has now caught the blaze. I hear song rising up through the smoke and I make out shadows dancing around the pyre. My heart sinks and anger fills me. These humans, on their witch hunt, are burning their champion.

My hope in the human race had been slowly fading over the years watching as they hunted each other under false pretense and false suspicions. Cato wasn"t the first monster of the mortals that I had encountered. Past monsters had pursued and committed similar venture and crimes against innocent human beings. And he surely won"t be the last beast that I encounter before my final breath.

The shadows circle around me dancing and singing, all I can do is keep breathing in the thick smoke that now rises from the planks under my feet. It smells of burnt flesh as it invades my nostrils. The flames consume me now and I can feel the heat dancing up my legs and torso. My fangs surface as my pain and rage overwhelms me. My hope in the human race is gone and I almost break free but I look out through the flames and find compa.s.sion in light green eyes. Tears spill out and down his soft cheeks. His chin trembles as he watches the horror of my fate.

Soon the crowd disperses and the flames are burning out. The man with pale green eyes looks around then runs to what is left of the pyre and me. He climbs the hot planks up to me. He pulls a key from his vest pocket and unlocks my shackles with one hand and catches me with his other. "Are you still alive?" he asks as he cradles me.

"Aye," I manage to whisper in my weak condition. My eyes flutter open and I peer into those fair eyes that are full of compa.s.sion and concern. He slides one arm under my knees and one under my shoulder blades and hoists me up into his arms. A small grunt escapes his lips as he supports my body weight against him. I manage to wrap my arms around his neck to help him and he takes off walking back down the trail road to my cabin.

We don"t speak on our way to the cottage and he struggles a few times under my weight. He is strong for a mortal man and his actions now confuse me. Why is this man taking me home? What are his motives? Who is this man? I can"t concentrate on a single thought in my mind, though.

We are walking through my door before I realize that we have gone the four miles back to my home. He carries me into my bedroom and lays me on my bed, gently pulling his arm out from under my legs then braces me so that he can move his arm out from under my shoulders. "I"ll be right back," he softly speaks before he leaves the room. I can hear his footfalls walking outside. He returns a few moments later with the water pale then leaves again returning with a white cloth and a knife in his hand.

He sets himself right beside me on my bed. He soaks the cloth in the water then starts dabbing the cool cloth across my face. He soaks it again then lays the folded cloth on my forehead and walks into the living room.

I hear a commotion outside and a dragging sound coming from outside and it continues coming from the other room. He walks back into the room and gently removes the rag from my forehead, soaks it again and replaces it. He lifts the pale and walks into the living room; I can hear water pour into whatever he brought inside. For a while, I only hear hustled footsteps in and out of the house and water pouring every time he comes in. Then he comes into the room, carefully wiggles his arms underneath my body and lifts me up off the bed and carries me into the living room where I discover that he had brought the trough into the house and filled it with fresh water from the well.

He lowers me into the cool water long way on my back. The water comes up to my chin and instantly relieves the searing pain I feel in every inch of my body. He sits on the floor next to the trough and takes the knife in his hand. His blond hair lays perfect on top of his head with eyes that now concentrate at the task at hand. Getting my dress or what is left of it, off of my skin. Most of the fabric burned away but patches had fused into my charred flesh. He begins cutting away a piece at a time.

It takes quite a while for him to remove all of the cloth left from the dress. I now lay naked in the water as this stranger continues to dab the cloth on my face.

I can see the look of distress on his handsome features. "I am truly sorry for your suffering. I do not know what you truly are but I can sense that you are not a danger but a savior. I wish that I had been able to stop my father but he only hears what he wants to hear and that is that he is right in his persecution of witches and vampires."

My eyes meet his and I know that he is sincere but at the acknowledgment, I also realize that this is Cato"s son. This man that has tended my wounds and taken such care of me is the son of a monster. Though his father had just finished diminishing my last bit of hope and faith that I had left for humanity, this stranger is reigniting my pa.s.sion and hope.

He gives me a rea.s.suring smile and I close my eyes as I submerge my face into the cool water and welcome the surge of relief that washes over me completely.

#

I opened my eyes and sit up out of the water; I was back in my own bathroom, in my bathtub. I didn"t know what had just happened or how I even got into the bathtub when I was just standing in front of the mirror. I remembered the fire and my body was still hot and slightly pink. I sat in the cool water enjoying the relief it gave my warm body.
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Suddenly, I heard a loud banging at the door and a panicked voice called my name. I jumped out of the tub, grabbed my robe and looked at the clock. I realized it was almost ten o"clock, Adam was supposed to be picking me up at nine. "No wonder he is panicking." I grabbed my cell phone off of the nightstand and realized I had forty-three missed calls. I ran down the stairs and slid right by the door with my wet feet. My legs slung right out from under me and I fell hard on my b.u.t.t with a loud thud.

"Abby? Are you okay?" Adam called through the door.

"Yeah, hang on just a sec, Babe." I picked myself off of the floor and fumbled with the lock on the door. I opened it to see a frantic look on his smooth features until he realized that I was standing in front of him in my short white robe with my wet hair hanging around my face. A sly smile crossed his face and one eye brow rose.

"First, you call me, Babe, and then you open the door in a robe, happy birthday to me." His half smile spread up his right cheek and a playful almost seductive look came into his eyes as he stepped into the door.

A blush warmed my face and I moved so that he could enter. "Sorry, I must"ve fallen asleep in the bathtub. I didn"t hear you. Sorry." I rushed to say and must have lost my blush because his face looked concerned.

"Abby, are you okay?"

I looked at him and shut the door. "Yeah, I"m fine. I just fell when I ran to the door. But I"m okay now." I laughed nervously wondering if I should tell him about Dru. He knew about Laylan and was intrigued by her so I thought about the possibilities. But I did have new information about Laylan first so I started with that.

We sat on the couch, facing each other. I had curled up with my blanket off of the back of the couch because I was still in my robe. Adam sat in front of me looking incredible in his dark gray b.u.t.ton up shirt with the top two b.u.t.tons undone. His black vest and blazer sat loosely on his frame as he leaned on his right elbow against the back couch cushions. His hair was perfectly laid down in the front swept to one side and spiked disorderly in the back. His eyes were light and his dark lashes looked like eye liner around his intense eyes. His lips were soft and perfect in a slight smile as I spoke.

I told him every detail of my dream that I had had the night before. I explained it all as he intently listened to every word I had to say. I finished at the moment I woke up and took a shower. I sat quietly as Adam thought about it.

"Wow, but I do have a question," he said and looked into my eyes as he squinted. "If you got up this morning and took a shower, then how did you fall asleep in the bathtub? Did you take a bath after you took a shower?" His face showed true confusion to his question.

I looked down and fidgeted my fingers at the realization that I really needed to tell him about Dru in order to answer him. "Adam, would you think badly of me if I told you that Laylan wasn"t the only person that I have in my mind?"

"What do you mean? You dream about another person, too?"

"Well, I don"t dream about Dru. I have visions of her life, through her eyes." I stopped as a smile crept across his face. "What?"

"Nothing," he shook his head.

"You think I"m crazy, don"t you?" I asked regretting telling him about Dru. I did sound crazy, even to myself.

"No, I don"t," his brow creased as he said; "I just find it all interesting to hear. So tell me about Dru. Is she anything like Laylan?"

My eyes widened as I looked up at him. I could see real interest in them so I decided that I would tell him. "No, Dru is from the Mortal World, she was royalty when she was born. She was betroathed to a man named Leonidas who was a prince and she, a princess, was also a hunter of vampire" I stopped to smile at the silly notion of vampires existing. Though I hadn"t forgotten Josh"s murder, it was still insane to think about. "Anyway, when she was eighteen, she was bitten by a Kethra and became immortal. A few years later, she met a man named Lothair, who was a lycan, you know a werewolf. She met Ares, the G.o.d of war, a few hundred years later and became the champion of the G.o.ds. She later met a man named Casimir who was a Krznik, a vampire who feeds on the blood of vampires. He and Dru fell in love and became companions for about a hundred years, until they had an argument that escalated into a ma.s.sive brawl between them. A while later, about twenty-five years later, she met a woman named Lena, whom she fell in love with. She and Lena became lovers until the day they died, thirty years ago tomorrow." I finished and waited for a reaction from my audience who seemed extremely acceptant and calm about everything I had just told him.

He looked into my eyes and I saw a glisten in his. "So what memory did you see earlier that landed you in the bathtub?"

My eye brows furrowed at his question. I had called them visions; memory would imply that Dru actually existed. Did Dru exist? Was she real? And how would Adam know? Or was he just a.s.suming? All of these questions ran through my mind in a matter of seconds. I looked into his eyes and lost all train of thought.

"Abby?" he mumbled and raised his hand to my face. His touch sent a warm wave through me. "Abby, what all did you see?"

"Earlier, I saw, no felt Dru get burned at the stake for witchcraft. I experienced it all and found myself submerged in cool water in my bathtub. I also have memories of…" I stopped, realizing how crazy what I was about to say was going to sound.

He looked at me confused, "Memories of what?"

I took a deep breath and said, "You. When you were born, when you learned to walk, your first birthday, I remember them all as if I were…actually there."

He sat a moment contemplating what I was saying then he seemed to gather his thoughts and looked at me. "Go get dressed and we"ll go eat. It"s already four o"clock let"s make the most of the rest of the day. Then you can tell me the rest." He paused with a smile. "If you want to, that is." I watched as he leaned forward to look deep into my eyes only inches from my face before saying, "You can trust me, Abby, I believe you. I know you"re not crazy."

"Do you know what"s going on, Adam?"

"Yes, I do, and I promise that I will explain everything and this will all make sense by the end of the day."