Chapter 9: The dream

The next morning, we woke up to realize that it had been snowing all night. The soft layer of snow covered everything around us and made the scenery even more white- if that’s possible. We had breakfast like the previous day, but we decided to stay indoors since it was still snowing.

Chris and I hit the gym. I couldn’t stay still, although my muscles were aching. Chris took the role of my personal trainer, and he instructed me to do a few exercises that would help my sore muscles relax. The exercise made me feel better, not only physically, but mentally, too. There was an unsettling emotion slowly building inside me. I couldn’t understand the reason, as everything was looking good for the first time after a very long time.

Once in our room, I took a shower and tried to relax a bit. If I’ve learned one thing after all this, it was that I couldn’t fight fate; what was bound to happen, it’d happen. Maybe I was about to see one of these visions again, something reassuring since I’d had a rough idea of what was about to happen.

I exited the en suite bathroom, with my bathrobe tied around my body. Chris was supposed to spend more time at the gym, so I had the room to myself. Or that’s what I thought. It turned out that Chris had returned; he was standing only with his briefs and checking his phone. My eyes traveled from his broad shoulders to his well-defined biceps and deltoids and then roamed down his bare torso to stop at his four-pack. I involuntarily licked my lips, and when I forced my eyes to concentrate on his face, I found him staring back at me with a dark look.

“You like what you see?” he taunted me.

“Oh, please. Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve seen better,” I replied, my voice a bit hoarser than usual, and I silently cursed my traitorous body.

He eyed me up and down with a raised eyebrow, and I tightened my bathrobe around my body. I wasn’t wearing anything else underneath, but I was unsure if Chris knew that.

“Are you gonna take a shower?” I asked, after a few moments of silence.

He nodded and then asked, “Are you gonna get dressed?”

“Nope, I’ll walk around with my undergarments,” I replied, rolling my eyes at him.

“That would be very interesting,” he muttered with an amused smirk.

I ignored him and walked to the wardrobe to find clean clothes to wear. When I heard the bathroom’s door close, I sighed in relief. I waited a few more seconds, and thanks to my enhanced hearing, I caught the water falling in the shower. I dressed up as quickly as I could, and blow dry my hair.

I texted my mom to I discovered that she was at the spa with David. There was no way I’d join them and ruin their lovey-dovey atmosphere, so I was stuck with Chris. I checked my messages once again, and since Izzie was active, I video called her.

“Who is this cutie at the photo you sent me this morning?” she asked, as soon as she answered the call.

“Hello to you too,” I replied with an eyes roll.

“I don’t have to ask. I'm sure you’re great and that you’re having a wonderful time…” she continued, and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Uh, Izzie, stop it. It’s not funny. He is David’s son; he might end up being my stepbrother.”

“Really? You’re so unlucky,” she exhaled disappointed.

“Or you may be the lucky one. I’m definitely going to introduce you at him when we’re back,” I said with a grin plastered on my face, and I saw Izzie blushing.

“We will see,” she said looking shy, all of a sudden.

I heard the shower going off and without a second thought, I almost run to the window, opened it, and got out at the balcony.

“What was that?” Izzie asked troubled with all the noise.

“I thought you’d like to see the view,” I said and switched cameras so I can show her around.

“Ophelia, that’s amazing. You’re so lucky.”

I chuckled. I wouldn’t consider myself anything near lucky…

We chatted for a few more minutes until I heard Chris calling me.

“I have to go. Promise I’ll call you again,” I muttered and gave my best friend an apologetic smile.

“Have fun!” she said with a huge, but genuine smile, and I ended the call.

“What are you doing out here? You’re gonna catch a cold,” Chris scolded me once he found me at the balcony.

“I was in a video call with my best friend. I think David and my mom would like some privacy, so what are we going to do?”

“Come with me, I know exactly how we are gonna kill our time,” he said with a smirk.

We went bowling, we played pool and watched two movies at the cinema. I had a great time, and I think so did Christopher. We got to know each other better. I’ve to admit that I started to like him, as a friend, as the biggest brother I’d never had.

We meet with my mother and David later that evening to have dinner. My mom was smiling, and she seemed so in love. David was pampering her, while his eyes shone every time he looked at her. I exchange a couple of amused glances with Christopher; to be honest, we felt a bit awkward sometimes.

After dinner, David took my mom for drinks, while I and Chris went back to our room. We watched more movies and decided to sleep early since tomorrow we’re going snowboarding again.

That night I didn’t have a dreamless sleep. On the contrary, I had the most vivid and terrifying dream, I’ve ever seen.

I was floating above an opulent mansion; the exterior was made with white marble, and it was decorated with golden details. I admired the ravishing building for a few more moments until a group of men exited the residence and started descending the stairs to reach a parked limousine. The older of them was talking animatedly with a young version of himself, probably his son. They seemed happy, and they’re smiling.

One man, who I assumed to be one of the bodyguards, opened the door for them. The young man was about to enter when a huge blast and a deafening sound disturbed the peace of the atmosphere. The limousine was on fire, the older man had moved away in inhuman speed. I looked at him better; his pale complexion and empty-looking eyes remind me of vampires. He was definitely a supernatural.

A scream that looked like ‘father’ was heard, and I cringed at the immense pain and struggle I could sense in it.

The middle-aged man looked back at the car, and his expression immediately changed from astonished, to angry, and then sorrow was plastered all over his face. I looked back at the car, and I saw that the younger man was burning alive.

A gasp escaped my lips, and I hurried to his side to help him. Only to find out that I couldn’t touch him; I was something like a ghost. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I looked around desperately for help. His father came back, but he was careful not to touch the fire. Of course, he was a vampire; fire could burn him alive and even kill him.

He started barking orders from a safe distance, and soon a few men holding fire extinguishers came and tried to control the fire. Once the fire wasn’t consuming the poor man anymore, his father grabbed him and run away. He stopped only when he reached a hospital, he placed his son on a stretcher and ordered the doctors to save him, to save his son’s life.

“Give him your blood! Your blood will heal him! Your blood can save his life,” I screamed to that man, aimlessly. I was a ghost; he couldn’t hear me.

I looked back at the stretcher, the being on it reminded me nothing of the handsome young man I saw a few minutes ago. Heart aching screams escaped his lips until he was just whizzing. The doctors were at loss, they didn’t know what to do. They sedate him, intubate him, gave him fluids, and tried to access his general condition. I didn’t need a medical degree to figure out that the man in front of me was about to die.

His father let him die twice; once when he sped alone without grabbing him when the limousine exploded, and now when he didn’t give him a few drops of his blood to heal him. Suddenly, all made sense to me, the boy was about to die, and if he died with vampire’s blood in his system he’d turned, too. His father couldn’t change him without the approval of the Senatus de sanguine, because that would lead to both of them being sentenced with the death penalty.

A sob escaped my lips and I couldn’t stop crying. I prayed to someone, anyone who is above us to save him. He wasn’t supposed to die, not like that, not when he could have been saved.

I felt two strong arms shake me. My eyes snapped open and I saw Christopher with an anxious look on his face calling my name.

“Are you okay? Ophelia, are you awake? It was just a dream,” he muttered and stroke my hair.

I sat on the bed and wiped the tears that were streaming down my face. “It felt so real,” I whispered, and a chill run down my spine, as images of that dream came back to my mind.

“It was a bad dream. Everything is going to be okay. Should I call your mom?” he asked, and I nodded. I needed her, I wanted to tell her what I saw. If that was a vision, then that man was about to die, or even worse, he might have already died.

My mother came to our room, wearing her black silk robe and looking utterly confused and concerned. Chris stayed with David, and I was grateful since I need some privacy to explain to her what happened. When I finished my narration, her expression was even more serious, and she was agitated. I tried to convince her that we had to look for these men and see what happened. She promised me that we’d contact her parents first thing in the morning and my grandpa would investigate it. She tried to calm me down, but despite everything that she and Chris told me I didn’t catch anymore sleep that night. My mind kept going back.

The next morning, after breakfast I called my grandpa and described him in general what I saw in that dream. An attack against a supernatural, and especially one that humans were killed or injured, was something that we couldn’t leave pass unnoticed. My grandfather promised me that he’d look into this case and that he'd updated as soon as we were back home.

We went snowboarding with Chris, and that helped me clear my mind from all the disturbing thoughts. We used the chairlift twice and slide down faster than the first time. The adrenaline and excitement were all I needed to calm my nerves and soothe my inner turmoil. Chris taught me a few easy tricks with the snowboard. My mind got distracted from all the dos and don’ts I tried to follow.

At some point, we met with my mother and David. We went for snacks, and then we went back to skiing or snowboarding together. The sun was setting when we entered our rooms. I took a bath and dressed up, as we’d have dinner again all together. We chatted lightly and laughed. I was happy, but at the same time I couldn’t kick out of my heart the remorse; I was happy when I saw a young man loses his life in front of my eyes.

Once I lied down on my bed, all the feelings I was trying to hide came out. I couldn’t sleep, and I kept turning around in my bed, kicking the bedsheets, and punching my pillow. For the first time in my life, I felt completely useless and powerless.

“You can’t sleep?” Chris asked me, startling me.

“I was hoping that after all that we've done today, I’d sleep easily, but I was very mistaken.”

“I understand. Would you like to come with me? I want to show you something,” he said, and I sensed that he was slightly anxious.

I nodded and got out of my bed. He waited for me outside, so I dress up. I wore my leggings and a warm sweater. Once I was out of the room, he grabbed my hand, and started leading me through many corridors, we climbed a few stairs and passed different areas of the hotel. It was very quiet and there weren’t many lights on. We finally reached our destination; it seemed to be something like an attic. Chris left my hand, took some cushions from the sofa, and then lied down on the soft carpet. Since I hadn't any other choice, I lied beside him.

Once I looked up, I realized exactly why he had brought me up here. There was a part of the roof that was made of glass, and the night sky was perfectly visible. We were away for all the bright lights that cities have, and that made the stars spark like billions of small diamonds pinned on a dark velvet canvas.

We stayed there, completely speechless, gazing once again at Nature’s wonder. The serenity around us gradually filled my heart and my mind. Finally, I felt at peace. Everything happens for a reason. I couldn’t fight fate; I couldn’t alter someone’s destiny. The only thing I could control was my decisions and my actions; nothing more…

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, afraid to break the comforting silence around us.

“It is,” Chris muttered.

I turned my head to look at him, only to see him already glancing at me, with a hint of a smile on his lips.

We were so close that I could feel his breath on my cheek. His eyes darted between my eyes and my lips, and back. He was waiting for my move, for permission to kiss me…