- Ten: Nightmare -
I don't remember when my thoughts transferred to dreams. I only remember Dom showing me back to the apartment and passing out on the red sofa again. I do, however, remember the dreams.
I sat in the back seat of my parents' old Volvo in a car seat. I was only an infant at the time, I guessed. "Turn left up here."
I recognized the voice, but it took me a second to comprehend it. It was my mother. The car turned, and my father's voice spoke saying, "Riley, are you awake?" I didn't answer because I was dazed by the idea of my father speaking to me. I had no recollection of him.
"Don't bother her. She's probably exhausted." my mother said. I remembered this event, but from where? My father took another turn, and I could see the street lights passing on his face. He was handsome, with blonde curling hair and light skin. I couldn't see my mother, but I knew we looked nothing alike. I looked at my tiny feet, trying to remember the event. Finally, it hit me. The déjà vú was cleared and I knew what would happen next.
"Another left up ahead." My mother said after a few minutes. My father turned, and I began to squirm. I knew what was coming next because I had already experienced it.
"Maybe you should put that map down. This road is getting rough." My mother said, worry pinging in her voice. My father did as he was advised and we drove on in silence. I leaned over to get a glimpse at my mothers face, and saw the two holding hands. It's as if they knew.
Just then, my mother screamed and pointed at something in the road. My father swerved, but in seconds we were rolling over and over down the large hill to our right. We stopped, and it was as if we were a snowball that was too big to add anymore snow to. I had never heard such silence. Every second that passed I was waiting for my parents to yell my name and ask if I was okay, but nothing came.
I tried to speak, but I was trapped in this child's body, unable to.
Daddy? I yelled in my head, beginning to worry. Nothing. I began to wiggle then, wanting to be freed. A terrible pain ripped through my side and I looked to see what it was. From the dim light of the full moon I could see my mothers headrest bar skimming my leg. I began to cry.
Help! I screamed, but I knew that I was finished.
Finally, after a few hours of screaming for help and crying, my throat gave out and I began to drift to sleep.
I love you, I whispered to my parents one last time. Before I was completely under, I heard we love you too ripple through my thoughts and saw a pair of glowing red eyes disappear into the darkness.
Dom
"You shouldn't do that." I growled to Eran as he returned from invading Riley's mind.
"She needs to remember the price she paid for being here in the first place." Eran answered coolly. He bore into me with his red eyes, probing my facial expression for any signs of fault.
Eran had a very unique affinity. He could enter people's dreams and manipulate them to his pleasing. It was a gift for him, yet a curse for others.
"What she needs is rest and a good night sleep." I spat. Respect for the Head was not a rule but an obligation, and yet the anger boiling within me was so foreign that I couldn't contain it.
Eran rose from his chair and walked to me until we were nose to nose. I was tall, but he was taller. That's how the Head is. Anyone can be tall, but they will be taller. Anyone can be fast, but he's faster.
Anyone can be an ass, but he's even more so, I chuckled inside. I immediately caught myself, hoping Eran wasn't probing my mind.
"You are not the Head here, Dominique. You have no say in what the girl needs, and you most definitely do not have a say in what I should and should not do. You may be a Ri, but that does not mean you can rule over me, do you understand?" Eran's voice dripped with venom that only a leader can concoct. I nodded in submission and left before any more damage could be done.
"Good," Eran said cooly, sitting back in his chair, "You've been keeping secrets from her."
"I can't throw everything on her at once, especially not something like that. Who knows how she'll take it." I defended myself.
"Secrets are like cancer for souls. Soon enough they eat away at everything you've worked hard to achieve." Eran said.
I knew he was right, and he did too. That would explain the smug grin on his face. I had to tell Riley. Soon.
"A mate is a one shot chance, Dominique. Don't let Riley slip away." I heard as I left the room.