Chapter 9 – Dahlia
Dahlia
I’m going to die.
I’m in the dream again. I know it’s a dream, I’m lucid, and I can control it. Or I should be able to. But no matter what I do, I can’t seem to get away.
The man above me, the man I know is my father, has his boot on my stomach, pressing down hard and I’m squirming, trying to escape but I can’t. I try to control him, to get him to take his boot off, to change the game that I often can when I’m lucid dreaming, and yet he won’t move.
The look in his eyes is pure hatred. It crushes me to think, to know that this man is my father and yet he hates me so much that he would rather have me dead than give birth to a bastard child, a child that belongs to one of his serfs.
And he’s over there , I tell myself. Your lover is over there.
I turn my head to see the scene that always follows these moments.
The one where there is a man that I can’t see covered by soldiers that are holding him back, fighting him.
I hear his cries now, and they’re so painfully familiar, they kick me in the gut.
He cries for me, he’s screaming for me, he wants to save me.
I know my father is going to bring his sword down, slice my head clean off, and there’s nothing I can do to stop my fate. But I keep my eyes focused on the man I love, because I love him, I feel it deep in the marrow of my bones, a feeling that seems go beyond this dream, into the universe.
Because is this even a dream?
I watch as the man fights and I start to see more of him, the top of his head, his black, thick wavy long hair and just from that, just from that little glimpse, I know who it is.
It makes me scream.
But the scream dies in my throat.
And the world goes still as the blade slices me in two.
Instead of going black as it always does, the world glows white.
Brighter and brighter than I’ve ever seen it and then I’m hurtling through space, flung amongst the stars, in the most beautiful light show, and then I’m falling, falling back down.
I wake up.
Eyes open.
Staring at my ceiling in the apartment.
It’s pitch black. There’s only a faint light coming in through the window and I can barely see.
I push myself up so that I’m on my elbows, my head feeling like it’s full of lead.
My eyes adjust enough for me to make out some shapes in the dimness.
I’m lying on the floor in the middle of the chalk circle.
All the candles have completely melted down, which would take longer than twelve hours to do, and it’s night time so… have I been out for twenty-four hours?
I wince and lay my head back on the floor, trying to think.
This happened the last time I used astral projection, all the energy was sucked from me and I slept for a day straight.
Which means that right now it’s the next night, and fuck, I don’t know what time it is, but not only did I miss a full day of school, including organ practice with Valtu, I’m supposed to meet Livia for drinks.
I sigh and reach into the pocket of my jeans for my phone. I pull it out and tap the screen. It says it’s nine, which means Livia is already on her way here to meet me. I also see a few texts from Livia as well as several missed calls but when it attempts to face ID me, the phone goes dead.
Fuck.
I put the phone back down and stare up at the ceiling, trying to gather the strength to get up since I have to piss like a race horse. Then I have to charge my phone, quickly get changed and—
Oh my god.
Something just moved.
On the ceiling.
Something just moved on my ceiling.
I stare at it, trying to focus, my heart stuttering in my chest. My eyes still see the white impression the phone’s light left behind but I blink it away until, until…
I see it.
I see all of it.
A creature, black as sin, the size of a crocodile, on the ceiling. Long spindly limbs with crooked narrow fingers and claws hooked into the drywall, a leathery black tail at one end, a bulbous head at the other. Teeth. Open gnashing teeth and red dots for eyes.
The bad thing , a voice whispers in my ear.
Then it yells in my head: It’s the bad thing!
The bad thing on the ceiling twitches, hisses like a broken machine, ruby red eyes focusing on me.
I scream.
I scream bloody murder and get up, running to the door. At first it won’t open, then I remember I locked it, and I can hear the thing on the ceiling moving.
And then I hear a thump , the floor shaking beneath my feet and I know it’s right behind me, reaching for me with its claws and the door it won’t open fast enough, I can’t get out fast enough, it’s going to drag me to hell with it and—
The door unlocks. I yank it open and run out, shutting it behind me just as I see a whirl of black. It hits the door, making it thump, and now the doorknob is fucking turning.
I fumble for my keys, searching each pocket of my jeans, trying to hold the doorknob straight while the creature on the other side starts to twist it. Someone down the other end of the hall comes out and asks if I’m okay, having heard my scream, but I can’t even answer.
Finally I find my keys in my back pocket of my jeans, pull them out and quickly lock the door.
I start running down the hall, going past the guy who is staring at me perplexed.
“Rabid animal,” I mutter as I go down the stairs3 x, trying to seem like it’s just some lost raccoon and not a literal fucking demon. “Going to get pest control.”
I run outside the building and into the dark and I keep running, not sure where I’m going, only I have to get away and—
I turn the corner and run right into someone solid, tall and dark.
I scream again and then strong hands grip my biceps and I hear Valtu say “Dahlia? What happened? What’s wrong?”
Valtu? What the fuck? Why is he here?
I don’t know what to say to him either. If I mention the bad thing in my room, he’s probably going to want to play hero and go investigate.
He knows nothing can hurt him. And yet that’s the worst thing that could possibly happen, even worse than a demon on the ceiling, because he’ll see the pentacle and the crystals and the candles and he’s going to know I’m a witch.
And fuck, does he even know right now? Did all the energy I used toward astral projection drain me of my glamor?
But from the way he’s staring at me, dark brows furrowed, deep eyes full of worry, I don’t think he suspects. My glamor must be holding.
“I…” I say, trying to explain in the most plausible way. “I had a bad dream.”
His frown deepens and he looks me over. “A bad dream?”
I nod, swallowing quickly, then turn the tables over to him. “What are you doing over here?”
He lets go of my shoulders, looking the tiniest bit chagrined. “I was worried,” he admits, placing his hand at the back of his neck. “You didn’t show up to class today…”
Oh. Right. “I was sick,” I say weakly.
“I actually called you…”
I stare at him for a moment. He called me? I guess those were the missed calls on my phone. “I was worried when you didn’t show up. Are you okay? You look a little pale. What is it?”
I have to say, I’m liking Valtu doting on me like this. The fact that he genuinely seems worried is a foreign feeling to me. I can’t remember the last time anyone enquired after me and meant it. Maybe my parents…
I give him a quick smile before I can dwell on that too much. “I’m fine. Just stomach flu. I, uh, couldn’t bothered to charge my phone. I just kept sleeping for most of the day.”
“And you just woke up,” he notes, looking me over while pursing his lips. “You’re wearing the same clothes as you were in class yesterday.”
I glance down at my tank top and wide-leg jeans, suddenly aware of how chilled the night air is. “I was just too tired to change,” I say dumbly.
“So you had a bad dream and…?”
I shrug. “Thought a walk would clear my head.”
“It’s getting cold out,” he cautions.
“The cold feels good after all that heat.”
He studies me for a moment. “Well, I’m glad you’re up and about,” he says. He gestures toward the square in front of us. “Mind if I accompany you on your walk?”
I give him a shaky smile. “Not at all,” I find myself saying. But of course, it is kind of a problem since Livia is going to make her way here any minute. What if she runs into us? What if she acts like she knows me before she realizes I’m with Valtu.
“Must have been some dream,” he comments as we head toward the bridge. “I can practically hear your heart racing.”
I shoot him a sidelong glance. “You must have good hearing.”
A small smile tugs at his lips. “What was the dream about?”
I take in a deep breath and decide to be bold. “You were in it.”
His brows raise. “And it was a bad dream?”
I nod. “It was.”
“May I ask what I was doing in your dream?”
“I think you were trying to save me,” I admit, not wanting to tell him the rest.
“Save you?” He looks surprised. “From what?”
I shake my head, gnawing on my lower lip for a moment as we cross the bridge. “I’m not sure.”
“And did I?” he asks, his voice growing fainter. “Save you, that is?”
“I don’t know. I woke up.”
“And decided to run for your life?”
I give him a weak smile. “I’m not always the most rational person.”
He nods slowly, seeming to think that over. “Being rational is overrated, in my opinion. There’s less surprises that way. I think surprises are what make life fun, don’t you?”
I glance at him, the way the streetlights cast shadows in the hollows of his face.
To think I saw him last night getting his dick sucked by some human.
To think that this is the sort of lifestyle he leads when he’s not lecturing about Bach or teaching us proper hand placement on the keys.
The sexy yet respectable Professor Aminoff on the outside.
A depraved bloodsucking vampire ho on the inside.
I feel it again. The pressure between my legs, the blood pumping thicker through my veins, my nipples getting harder against my bra, all at just the image of him last night, all the things I wanted to do to him, the things I wanted him to do to me.
He breathes in deeply through his nose and fuck, I know he can tell. The only thing I can hide from him it seems is who I truly am.
“If you feel like going for a longer walk,” he says, his voice now taking on a silken quality, like a warm bath, “maybe I could persuade you to help me with the donations at the library.”
Normally I would said yes, but after the dream, the demon, and the vampire sex dungeon of last night, I feel like I need to stay in public.
I may find my guard lowering around Valtu, but I also don’t fully trust being alone with him either, no matter how concerned he seemed to be about me.
I mean, he actually called me on the phone.
Found out my number because he was so distraught that I wasn’t at class, and when he couldn’t get a hold of me, he actually showed up almost outside my front door.
I know vampires are known for stalking their prey, so this does have me a little on edge.
Remember what he is and what he’s capable of , I remind myself. He may seem to have morals, but he is still the predator and you are still the prey.
For now.
“Or,” he says, seeming to read me, “since you look like you should take it easy and relax a little, how about I finally take you up on that drink?” He flashes me a wicked smile that makes me weak at the knees. “I promise I won’t bite.”
Oh, if you only knew what I knew.
“Sure,” I tell him. “But I’m afraid I don’t have my wallet on me, so I’ll have to owe you.”
“I’m sure I can manage.”
“And I also request it be one nearby because I have to pee like crazy.” His brows go up. “I guess that was information you didn’t need to know.”
He laughs. “I plan on getting a lot more information out of you. I find you beguiling, you know. I can’t quite make heads or tails of you.”
Good , I think to myself. Keep it that way.
“Depends on how many drinks I have,” I tell him.
“Duly noted,” he says. “I know of a good bar that makes some gorgeous negronis. Just up here.”
I look up the narrow street and at that moment I spot Livia walking toward us in a hurry, like she’s running late to meet me.
Oh fuck .
Please don’t say anything, please don’t say anything, I think.
My eyes are trained to her and I can tell when she spots me, her eyes brightening for a moment, then they go to Valtu and she quickly looks straight ahead, her face impassive, like she never saw us at all.
Luckily he wasn’t looking at Livia at the moment she was looking at me or he would have seen the recognition.
However, as she does pass us, along with the rest of the people on the street, Valtu’s head practically snaps around, his nostrils flaring.
I stare at him and hold my breath as he zeroes in on Livia, nothing but pure hatred distorting his face.
Holy shit.
He knows a witch just by smelling her.