i slammed the door behind me as i stepped into my room and went straight for the bed. there was something fundamentally wrong about what had just happened... my soul had responded when Lucas had called me Isis, and those flashes... they seemed so real...! this much i knew... whatever he said made sense to me... but i couldn't figure out how or why...
i got up and started pacing... i tried to remember the dream i had had last night.... nothing.
what was i going to do...? why was my life in such turmoil all of a sudden...? and why could i not get this out of my head. i was very good at pushing unpleasant things to the back of my head and forgetting them there. but not this. something about Lucas had already got under my skin and i would be a fool to deny it. now that i though of it... even last evening, when i had first seen him, he had irritated me and made me angry, but i couldn't have ignored him...! i could've easily avoided him even then, written him off as some psycho and left him at the cliff but i still let him into my car.
i heaved a heavy sigh and decided that the best place to get answers were from Lucas himself. should i go to him and demand an explanation...? how had he known my name when i had dropped him home... i went through our entire conversation in my head and i was pretty sure that i had not let my name slip. neither could he have seen my name written anywhere in the car. and why was it that when he said i knew him well my heart had quite literally cried yes...?!
i turned toward the door and then stopped... i was being so damn stupid...!! everyone knew each others' name in the village. if parents were from around here then he was bound to know who i was. my father may have mover back here only after retirement but my family had been around here for ages and everybody knew me. as for all the other things he said... he might have just been pulling a fast one on me and here i was getting all worked up about it.! the flashes and dreams could've just been because off all the stress of the last two weeks of my life....!
yes that was it... the more i thought about it, the more sense it made.
i crashed back down on my bed. i was not going to let this jerk work me up. whatever the hell he was playing at, i had called his bluff. it was lunch time anyway now and as a rule dad and i ate together so i went to wash up before going down.
"dad, who lives in that big estate in the east village..? i asked between mouthfuls.
"where?" he had this glazed look in his face like i'd just woken him up from a deep sleep. i probably had, we hardly ever talked.
" umm.. you know, the estate by the stream."
"By the stream? you mean the Garden Estate? i didn't know anyone lived there at all. why?"
"Oh nothing, i was just passing by it yesterday and i saw a Dodge parked up front. so i was just wondering." great... that's the best thing i could come up with.. i needed to grease my brain...!!
"well last i knew, some family from Vienna used it as their summer home but i've never really seen them around, maybe they're in town" with that he picked up his dish and started walking towards the sink. that was all i was going to get out of him.
"Here.. let me get that." i offered.
"Thanks kid, did you manage to get to the super mart?"
"Oh.. gee.. no. i'll just make a quick run now."
"Do you need any more money?"
"Naah dad, thanks." wow.. we were actually being civil....! when had this happened...?
"Okay then, i'll be in the garage."
I didn't really feel like going but we really were running low on rations so i finished with the dishes, picked up the car keys and drove out to the village square. it was my turn to cook the dinner anyway so i though i'd pick up some fresh veggies too and make something nice. at least if i was busy i would think less.
"Mia!" i heard my name being shouted as i was about to walk into the super mart. i turned around to see a fair haired boy practically bouncing towards me.
"Ludolf..! hey...!!"
Ludolf was one of the few friends i had in town. he, like most of the kids around here had been schooled in a boarding in Graz. And he, like most of my friends form the village had graduated Last month. But i was surprised to see him here because he had big dreams and wanted to go to Columbia University to study Astrophysics... yup he was a brain but he certainly didn't look like a geek. in-fact, he looked like he'd walked out of the pages of some glossy magazine.!
"I've been trying to get a hold of you since forever..!" he said with the most charming smile on his face.
"Oh don't bullshit me Fink. you aren't even supposed to be here! i though you'd taken off for the States. what happened?"
"Well, college starts in September and i finally decided that i didn't need to go out there to acclimatise. i'm pretty cool here. i'll just go a week before classes start. Besides, everyone is going to hang here for a while and since all of us are going to be scattered across the globe now i decided to spend a month home. Who knows when we'll all be together next."
"Gee Fink, you melodramatic sap-sack...! i'm not complaining though, mind you. i'll be all to glad to have you guys around for a while!" otherwise i would practically die of boredom!"
"Aww c'mon,.. you have David to keep you occupied..! nice of him to take a sabbatical too. you two love birds can have a blast!" he winked at me.
i didn't know weather i should laugh or sigh, so eventually i just snorted (and very loud too at that). "yeh i don't know about that. He's occupied alright. but i hardly think that his occupation of interests extends to me."
"What are you talking about woman?"
"I'm talking about that Bitch and a half cheating on me."
"what? when did this happen?" Ludolf was looking so shocked that i thought he would have a stroke right there...!
"Wanna sit down for a cup of coffee?"
"Lead the way."
"i already am." i winked at him.
----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Half an hour and two cups of coffee later, Ludolf had been updated on all the events of the last two days save the part about Lucas calling me Isis. For some reason, i didn't want to tell him about it. And i guess even without that, he had enough to swallow right now. he was gawking at me and i reached out and closed his jaw. "Don't drool into the cup man..!" i said with a smile.
"Are you mad woman! what were you thinking letting that guy into your car? You should've just called someone for help! He could've been anyone! He could've been a rapist! Are you insane?!"
Geez... Fink was such a drama queen! "But he wasn't. and you know i don't get reception at the cliff. besides... i thought you would be more interested in the David incident."
"Oh i am... but didn't i always tell you that i didn't like the guy...!"
"No you tard... you didn't...! he's your friend for crying out loud..!"
"He's only a friend because he's your boyfriend."
"Was.!"
"Okay... was. Damn i gotta tell Astrid about this! she is so gonna freak out...!"
I grimaced. Astrid was a good friend and all but in quite the literal and figurative sense, she was a blond. she was also Ludolf's Girlfriend. "This is going to become gossip headline, isn't it?" I grimaced.
"Lighten up Mia, we're all your friends and we're here to help you whenever you need us, and to annoy you if you don't. so bear with it. You can go and show your 'oh look at me, i like to suffer in silence' attitude to someone else."
"Fink, i'm really surprised you're not gay!" i said, throwing a coffee bean at him. "let's do it this way, let's all meet up tomorrow. What say?"
"Just because i'm mentally superior and waaaaaay better looking than you people does not mean i have to be gay..." Silence." Okay that came out wrong. Fuck that, tomorrow, three thirty, at Astrid's. okay?"
"Done deal!" i said smiling, and genuinely feeling much lighter.
Ludolf helped me with the grocery shopping and loading the stuff into the car, all the while keeping up a constant chatter. he was telling me all about what he was going to do when he got to the States and how much fun college would be.
"You know, you should come to the states too. i'm sure they have a good course for you." he said as he put the last bag into the hatch.
"I'm gonna think about that. i really need to get the hell out of this place. it's gonna bring me down."
"Be cool... i'll see you tomorrow."
"See ya Fink." i smiled back at him as i got into the car. GOD i was lucky to have good friends around. But as i drove off my mind automatically returned to Lucas. I found myself driving towards his house. It was starting to get dark as i pulled up outside his gate. a through sweep of the grounds confirmed that he was not outside but just as i was about to turn the car a light came on in one of the windows. They were curtained but the shutters were open and i saw a figure walking around the room. i squinted to try to see clearer. the figure seemed to be undressing. Fuck me...! i was stalking this guy now...! something was seriously wrong in my head. i needed to get myself checked...
i was still cursing myself when all of a sudden a heavy wind blew and the curtains were disrupted and standing inside was most definitely Lucas. Except there was something coming out of his back, something that looked like wings...!! WHAT...??
I didn't hear myself screaming, i didn't feel myself thrashing about. all i could remember was the image that flashed through my head. the image of Lucas, hovering in the sky, in a realm i knew about many hundreds of years ago.
Yes... i knew him....!