Souls of Fire (5 page)

Rendered speechless, I stared at him, feeling terribly awkward and shocked beyond measure.

His face was the mirror image of mine; it was obvious he was at a complete loss for words.

Gradually, as my body got over the most recent shock of sensations, I became aware of the same strange feeling I had experienced earlier in class. Closing my eyes briefly, I could again sense the peculiar stream flowing between my consciousness and … the consciousness in front of me. There was an undercurrent of violence to it. Like the violent pull that had taken hold of me before.

My eyes snapped open, staring unbelieving at the stranger opposite me. My mind was blank. I couldn’t think straight anymore; couldn’t wrap my thoughts around a concept so utterly alien to me.

What the hell was going on? I didn’t believe in such things! I couldn’t even explain what ‘such things’ were! I didn’t have the slightest inkling of what any of this meant, nor how to deal with it. Hadn’t I come to this class in order to get some answers?

It was supposed to get better, not weirder by the minute!
I thought, as the rest of my mind spun around in confused patterns, trying frantically ― and failing abysmally ― to regain a hold on the reality I knew, understood, and accepted … the reality that was about to be shattered.

I couldn’t take any more. My mind screaming at my spellbound body to break free, my muscles finally obeyed, carrying me in a headlong sprint right past the professor, who stood left behind, his face a mask of confusion and shock.

I quickly headed for the cafeteria. Lunch was over, but the cafeteria was open until eight p.m., selling sandwiches and other cold refreshments in between eating hours.

I swiftly grabbed a sandwich, two large bottles of water, a plain yoghurt and an apple, went through the cash register and headed for my room, walking carefully so as not to drop my yoghurt and the apple which I had piled unevenly on top of the sandwich I was holding in my left hand.

Reaching the safety of my room, I carefully put down the food and water, feeling relieved to be free of the load. It hadn’t been heavy, but awkward to transport without a bag to put it in, my book bag being already full.

I managed to put the food and water in the refrigerator, and then sank down onto my bed, emotionally exhausted, and wanting nothing more than to disappear inside my room for the rest of the day.

Already lying flat on the bed, and too tired to get up again, I kicked off the black sneakers I had put on this morning ― my red high heels being too uncomfortable to wear too often ― and pulled a quilt I had brought from home up and over my body.

I curled up into a ball, snuggling into the cover, and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

Darkness had fallen, bathing the room in inky black shadows. As my eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, areas of grey sprang up between the black where the shadows were less dense, making it easier for me to make out my surroundings.

Dimly I realized this was not my room. Along with this realization came the sudden comprehension that I was dreaming. As in most of my dreams, though aware of it being merely a dream, my surroundings felt very real to me.

Suddenly, glowing coals in a big hearth opposite me that I hadn’t noticed before, set fire to the wooden logs piled on top, gradually bathing the room in a warm, soft light and heating up my freezing body.

The rising flames in the fireplace threw long shadows against the walls where the light reflected off the furniture and other decorative items throughout the room.

I was in a room I felt sure I had never seen before. I was about to look around more closely when I realized why my body had felt so icy.

I was naked, lying on a king-sized bed with no idea where I was, what I was doing there or how I had gotten there in the first place.

All of a sudden, a large hand, equally strong and beautiful, reached for me out of the darkness beside me. The fingers stretched into my long tangled tresses and wound themselves around strands of my hair, finally cupping the back of my head and leisurely pulling me forward.

The face before me was in shadow, even though I lay bathed in light; by all rules of nature, the fire in the hearth should have bathed him in light as well. Yet these rules did not apply to the realm of dreams. His face and body remained obscured.

I didn’t need any light; I knew without a doubt whose fingers were tangled in my hair, whose warm breath I could feel on my face, and whose soft full lips were but inches away from touching my own.

I could already taste the sweetness of his mouth, my body tingling pleasurably in anticipation. He inched closer, any second now I would be able to feel him, my mind picturing the exact shape and color of his sensual lips. Closer … closer …

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring? What…?

What’s that … ringing sound?

Where did the fire go?

Why is the room so dark?

Abruptly, I was torn from my dream. Slowly getting my bearings, I sat up, realized the phone that had awoken me at the worst possible moment ― and in some ways just in time ― was still ringing, and reached out toward my night stand, groping for and finally hitting the switch on my bedside lamp before picking up the phone.

“Hello?” I inquired, my voice still layered with sleep.

“Honey, were you already in bed? It’s only nine o’clock! Classes must be really exhausting for you to have gone to bed already, hmm? How are the classes? And the professors are they nice? Did you make any friends yet?”, my mom trilled into the phone, keeping up a steady monologue of questions without giving me the chance to actually answer any of them, and making my ears ring and my head hurt in under a minute.

That’s got to be a personal best
, I thought.

“It’s all fine, mom! No need to worry and grill me about everything, okay?”

“Oh sweetie, come on. Don’t be like that. I just want to know what you’re up to. It’s got to be so exciting, going to college and meeting all sorts of different people! I’m your mom, I’ve a right to know how you’re doing, you know,” she ended her sentence on a sulking note.

Grrrr,
I thought,
of all the moments you could have chosen to call me! I so don’t have the patience to deal with a million questions right now!!!

“Okay, fine. Don’t be mad, I just don’t have a lot to tell yet. I’ve only been here two days, remember?”

“So you didn’t make any friends yet? This is so typical of you!”

“Sure I did, that is, I met this girl in class this morning. She’s really nice and fun to hang out with,” I lied through my teeth, hating the necessity of having to lie to her, but knowing beyond a doubt that I would never hear the end of it if I didn’t produce a friend to make my mom happy. And judging by the way my past attempts at friendship had gone, I would have to make do with a lie.

“Really? Oh, I’m so happy for you, baby! That’s great! What’s her name? Where’s she from? Is she blonde, or brunette?”

That’s what you get for making up a friend,
I thought, sighing inwardly and making a mental note to write down all of the characteristics of my ‘friend’ so that my mom ― who had an amazing memory when it suited her ― wouldn’t get suspicious.

“Um, her name’s … Candy. She’s tall, thin and has long blond hair and long legs.”

Great, stick her in a cheerleader outfit
and find her a running back- boyfriend named Brad!

“As for where she’s from, I just met her, and it hasn’t come up yet, so why don’t you just give me a couple of weeks to settle in here, get to know Candy better, and I’ll give you a call then and fill you in on the blanks, okay?”

“Are you blowing me off?” my mom persisted on the other end of the line.

“Yeah … I’m sorry, but it’s just a really bad time right now. I haven’t eaten yet, and I’m really exhausted. We’ll talk in a little while, alright?”

“Okay, honey. Take care, and don’t forget to call me! Love you!”

“Love you, too, mom! Say hi to dad for me. Bye.”

“Bye, bye.”

After my mom hung up, I put the phone back on its cradle and let out the frustrated breath I’d been holding.

Finally some peace and quiet,
I thought, relaxing into the pillows behind my back.

With no other thoughts to occupy my mind now that my mother was no longer on the phone, my thoughts wandered back to the images and sensations of my dream, and I almost wished I hadn’t cut the phone call short.

I didn’t want to think about the dream, but the pictures came rushing back at me, the emotions so vivid they made my head spin with weakness and desire. I could feel the heat of the fire on my body, taste his lips on mine, even though the dream had been interrupted before he had managed to kiss me.

I got up, opened the refrigerator, and got out the sandwich I had bought earlier. The sandwich looked delicious, but I put it back after one short glance at it, suddenly no longer hungry.

An ache that had nothing to do with hunger in the usual sense ― this hunger was of a different nature ― was slowly taking hold of my body and mind. I was becoming restless, walking around the room aimlessly not knowing what to do.

I didn’t want to go back to sleep. I wasn’t sleepy anymore after having slept for nearly seven hours. Nor did I welcome the prospect of having another extremely vivid dream.

But staying in my room, where I had nothing to do but pace in small circles, was out of the question. I would go mad if I didn’t get out, I thought, grabbing my thick warm coat against the evening chill and heading for the door.

Outside, the crisp atmosphere had a revitalizing effect on me, clearing my mind as I inhaled great lungs full of cold fresh air. It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear, with brilliantly shining stars strewn across the black horizon.

I took a stroll around the small park I had detected from my balcony the other day. As it wasn’t very large, I had nearly walked once around it in twenty minutes.

Deciding to stay outside so that I could enjoy the star-lit sky a bit longer, I headed toward the old oak at the center of the park. The shadows were so dense in that part of the park that I only noticed the dark figure at the base of the tree when I stumbled straight into it.

I could tell at once that it was Aaron Chambers ― I felt it in every fiber of my being. How unlucky that I should happen to run into the very person I was trying more than anything to avoid. At least he seemed equally startled by my appearance.

I deemed it weird that I had felt neither a pull nor any other strange sensation. For, I was now absolutely certain that all the crazy stuff that had happened to me emanated from him.

From the moment I had felt the odd connection ― the bond ― between us as he was standing opposite me in the doorway of the auditorium, everything had started to click into place.

I hadn’t really consciously gone through every incident. It was more like a feeling I got, deep down, when I found myself in his presence. I rather
felt
than knew that he was at the root of everything that had happened to me of late.

I would bet anything that he was the figure I had seen leaning against the trunk of this old oak the day before when I had to grab onto the railing of my balcony for dear life.

Had it been his nearness that had caused the occurrence? I could still feel his presence very strongly, but there was no pull now, no fire spreading through my body, or anything else that I would have classified as ‘strange’.

Maybe it’s fading, this … whatever it is…

Mere seconds had passed since I had stumbled upon him. All of these thoughts ran through my mind in quick succession, until they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of his deep voice.

“Who are you?” he asked, reaching for me, his hand closing around my wrist in a tight powerful grip, his fingers painfully digging into my soft delicate flesh.

His voice had a dark menacing quality to it, an icy edge that made my blood run cold. Here I was, alone with a complete and possibly dangerous stranger, in the center of the deserted park, enveloped by pitch-dark shadows, with no one to help me and no one to find me in the first place.

Well done, Persephone, that’s probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever done! And possibly the last!
I thought, terrified, trying to come up with some way of getting out of this mess, and only succeeding in talking to myself ― again.

Getting no answer out of me ― I was scared out of my wits and couldn’t form a coherent thought ― Aaron Chambers asked me the same question again, his voice more dangerous than before, as he shook my body violently.

The shaking and the increasingly painful hold on my wrist tore me out of my terrified frozen state and had me calling out in pain and fear.

Apparently not having expected this kind of a reaction from me and having heard the fear in my voice, Professor Chambers stopped shaking me and immediately let go of my wrist.

“I won’t have to hurt you if you tell me what I need to know,” he said in a gentler voice that still held a menacing undercurrent ― apart from the more obvious threat of his words.

“Who sent you?” he pried on, looking at me intently through narrowed eyes.