Flash Fiction - In Dreams

As promised, here is another flash piece based on characters from my newest WiP, Soul Avenged.  I really need to do something nice for Zayne, because even though his part is small in the first book, I somehow managed to take everything away from him...

Ordinarily if I opt to include a song in my flash stories, I'll just post a link, but because this video is so freakin' awesome and Trent Reznor is too damn hawt, I decided to break my rules a little.  So enjoy...uh, just...don't forget to read the story.

In Dreams

My fingertips glide down the concave glass. Darkness lies on the other side of it. Pitch blackness that I cannot see beyond.

Laughter taunts me from my curiosity and I smile. Her voice. It drowns out the sound of my thoughts and moves through my body, commanding me to follow.

I twist to a stand, greeted by a cloudless sky and an open field. Somewhere, cloaked in swaying reeds, she hides. Like an aimless breeze, I drift through the meadow. Hollow stalks crunch beneath my boots and the conspicuous black of my clothing is a dead giveaway.  She chuckles then hums a familiar tune and I change direction, following a siren’s promise.

I dare not call to her and risk losing the game. Instead I continue through the tall grass, reaching out for the soft wisps of her song that trail behind her, carefree as a child chasing after butterflies on the wind. A flash of black catches my eye and I kneel to the ground. My hand swipes at the dagger on my hip. I lean forward, crawling toward the object that sits on a blanket of green, instinct beckoning me all the while. Closer, I come. Still, it lies.

I sneak from behind, unsheathe the dagger and slip the blade beneath its neck. Long locks tumble over bare shoulders. The song silences.

“I knew you’d find me, lover. You always do,” she whispers.

My hand replaces the sharp edge of the dagger and I tip her head back, seizing her mouth. As many times as I’ve kissed her, the sensation steals my breath. She pulls away and turns to face me; a wily look in her eyes.

I brush the stray hair from her face and place my hand against her cheek. Her skin is cold but smooth, soft as rose petals. The floral scent drifts past me and I close my eyes, wanting to devour the space between us. An ache blooms in my chest.

She places her hand over mine and kisses my palm. “How I’ve missed your touch.”

My fingers curl around her jaw and I move over her, forcing her back against the ground. I bury my face in her neck and suck in a deep breath. The tangibility of her taut flesh threatens my restraint. The tip of a fang pricks my lip. Drops of blood fall onto her throat, the skinny trickle disappearing around the curve of her neck. I lick the blood, spreading it outward and suckle the salty flavor. She moans and arches, begging me to take what she calls mine.

The black dress she always wears tickles my musings of what lies beneath, every crest and dip of her body, permanently etched in my memory. Her leg wraps around my back and I'm tangled in black tulle, drunk with the divine taste of her skin on my tongue.  Ambrosial.

As I pull away, her gaze captures my attention, bringing the world back to focus. “What is it?”

“The sun used to reflect in your eyes.” Her finger lightly sweeps over my eyelids. “Here,” she says then kisses the lingering sensation left by her cold touch. “Where has it gone, love?”

That familiar desperation suddenly settles over me. “Come with me.”

“God, I would…” She smiles, but the tear that streams down her temple reveals sorrow. “I can’t, Zayne.”

Eyes that mirror the bluest skies trail upward. A tumbling wave of storm clouds rolls in overhead, casting that blue into darkness. Contentment gives way to dread. Her eyes find me once more and widen with urgency.

“You have to go now.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Please Zayne, I fear the consequences if you stay much longer.”

I finally catch sight of our surroundings:  golden fields speckled with multi-colored flowers and patches of green, turned grey and withered. Lifeless.  Cracks erupt in the barren field as if the world would split and swallow us whole.  Shimmering edges of the horizon quickly disappear into the dark landscape, indiscernible against everything else.  A smothering gloom closes in on the two of us.

“I can’t leave you here.”

She exhales a shaky breath and another tear falls, landing on the dusty bed of dirt where it’s absorbed into the ground. “I’m so alone. The air suffocates," she whispers, fingertips caressing my jaw.  "The granules keeping time here fall cold against my skin and evaporate into eternity without you.”

I hold the dagger to my heart. “Then I will stay with you.”

Her stiff fingers cover my hands, eyes locked on mine. “I would push the blade myself if I could.”

The steel breaks through my skin.

Her eyes, trapped behind a diaphanous shield of tears, soften with resolution.  “But I love you more than my own selfishness.” The dagger transforms into a snake, wriggles loose from my grip and slithers away. “Here is where I’ll stay. In dreams.”

“Please Shey."  Pain bursts through my chest and travels through my blood, like venom, searing my veins in its wake. "I have nothing on the other side. I am nothing.”

A smile displaces her sad expression. “You’re wrong love. You are everything.” She leans upward to kiss me.

I close my eyes and reach to embrace her, arms crossing over one another, grasping the nothingness in between. I open my eyes to the dark room.  Bolting upright, I glance around.  “Shey!” I cry out for her. Only the howl of the wind outside answers my call. The empty darkness consumes me, fucking suffocates, as it crawls across my skin and I claw at the sensation.  Mocking shadows watch from their corners, amused. A hollow deep inside my chest begs for breath while silence crushes my skull.  My hands ball into fists at my temples.  Shey.

The gold picture frame on the nightstand beside the bed carries a soft glow in the darkness. Her face. That smile. Gone. I lie back to rest, eyes shrouded in blackness, and pray that dreams will return me to her.

For in the mourning, I will wake and the soothing melody of her song will fade with every swallowed pill.