Caught Between a Mate and Love

Chapter 16: The Chosen Ones

I had the dream again that night. I hadn't had it for so long, I forgot all about it. Actually, it was similar to the first dream, the one where a man was cursed by a mermaid because he threw her egg out, but it was more of a continuation.

He was a few years older now, and still proud as ever. He had a nice car and a small house of his own, bought from the family money. A pretty girl lived with him, but she wasn't human. He didn't know that, he thought she was the love of his life even though she was a lie.

She played with magic whenever he was gone, continually bewitching him and leaving him in a dizzying sense of his former life. He was still vain, handsome, charming and whatever else people knew him as, but now there was confusion. He didn't know why he loved her when clearly he should have been looking for his mate, all he knew was that he wanted her. He did everything to make her agree to marry him, but she never would. She was just playing a game.

Then, in our first diner, which he owned, an out-of-towner strolled in, alone. She looked his age, and as vain as him. I could tell she earned it, though. She was a beautiful rebel in her own time, as women then were treated much lower than now. Walking alone in a new city made her an easy target for him to taunt, but then they locked eyes and the deed was done. Her sharp brown eyes softened and his proud mouth slacked when they came to be a foot apart. At that moment his witch girlfriend entered the diner, probably for spending cash. Even though I knew she didn't want to be with him forever, seeing him with his mate enraged her with a dangerous jealousy. You couldn't see it, what with the graceful smile plastered on her face, but I knew. She grabbed his arm, and then he was confused.

Then the dream sped up in multitudes of images as I saw him go from girl to girl, trying to figure out why he was behaving so erratically. He eventually conceded that, indeed, he accidentally laid a mermaid's curse on his family line. He tried everything to fish the mermaid back out but the waters were clear of any magical creature. Then, he decided he didn't want the out-of-towner, which was his big mistake. Being with the witch confused him and tore his mind apart, until he developed a sort of schizophrenia. She left him as soon as she found out and his poor mate came in, too late, to try put the pieces back together. The final scene was of her cradling his head in her lap, while he talked to an invisible mermaid, with their only son sleeping in a bassinet by the fire.

I woke up with a start. This was not going to happen to me. Whatever Chris thought, Zack was just a human boy that I let grow into my heart. I may have been lying to myself but I don't think anyone would want to accept the truth, with the knowledge that we might become something less than ourselves. It was scary. I used to giggle at the idea of crazies, like the ones in the movies who made everything seem more comical than real life, but that dream scared the shit out of me. I didn't want any possibility of this happening to me. I never wanted to look like him, with haunted eyes and a crazy laugh when he talked to his invisible mermaid. I didn't want to give up on Zack.

I purposely left my phone in my room, so I could better ignore his calls and texts. I didn't want to make any more rash decisions, now accepting the idea of risking my sanity. To make my day more confusing, Chris acted different around me. Casually touching my shoulder when he passed by or smiling at me from across the table, and taking care to really engage in conversation, as if he was trying to figure out every last detail of my life. He even played a little soccer with Joey and Marco, either to impress me or learn about them, either was I was secretly proud. I kept accidentally comparing him to Zack, but I found it hard since Zack never met any of my family. Nothing had to be a secret with Chris. He did live with us.

"Can we go for a walk?" He asked about an hour after playing with the boys. I was getting ready for work but decided my family owns the place, I could be late if I wanted. He led me outside, past the huge piles of crap for Tony's wedding, which was only a week away, and handing me an extra jacket as it was becoming frosty outside.