The Immortals

Chapter 3

    It was a few days later, and Vanessa was falling back into her routine. There had been no more telekinetic incidents much to Kelsey’s disappointment. More than once, Vanessa got hit in the face with a pillow or some other soft, harmless object that her friend flung at her in hopes it would trigger her power. She went to her internship, her job as a bartender on Saturday and Sunday, and to her classes, the Monday after.

    Vanessa was still getting the dreams nightly though, but she actually kind of welcomed them now. Each dream she saw more and more of her ‘sexy dream man’ as Kelsey and Tiffany called him. It went from just seeing his face, to his whole body, which also didn’t disappoint. He was tall, probably about 6’3 or 6’4 with broad shoulders and a very fit frame. Vanessa could only imagine what his body looked like under his clothes. His clothes were another mystery she was trying to unravel. The night after the incident with the softball was the first time Vanessa had a dream where she saw more than just his face. In this dream he was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a tightly fitted long sleeve black knit shirt with a grey wool jacket over it. He looked like any other young wealthy man from the city on a casual night out.

    But then the next dream was much stranger. The man was walking through a dimly lit corridor in what Vanessa somehow knew was the castle from her previous dreams.  He was walking next to a small woman who appeared to be in her late 30’s but Vanessa felt was actually much older. She supposed her hair was blonde, but it was so light, it almost looked white, and was pulled back in a tight bun. Her emerald green eyes were serious and despite her small frame, she was probably no taller than 5’2, her whole being emitted power. Even though the man was more than double her size, it was very clear from their body language and posture she was in charge. You could see the immense amount of respect on his face, as well as possibly a little bit of fear. The man and woman walked through the hallway, but Vanessa couldn’t make out their words. The strangest part of the dream was what they were wearing. Both the man and woman were wearing long robes, the kind that you see monks wearing, or scholars from the Medieval times, maybe. Vanessa wasn’t sure. They were both long sleeved and just brushed the floor. The woman’s robe was white with gold trim around the collar and a gold rope belt around her waist keeping it closed. There was a large pin on her chest above her heart but Vanessa couldn’t make out what it was. She was barefoot. The man’s robe was a solid dark blue. His collar and belt were of the same collar and he did not have the pin.  The two continued to walk down the corridor deep in conversation, but no matter how hard she tried the words never became clear.

    Vanessa had the same dream three nights in a row. Each night it became more and more detailed, but still, no matter how hard she tried, she could not hear what they were saying. She found herself thinking about the dream all day no matter how hard she tried to focus on something else. Even when bar tending on Saturday night, when she was swamped, her mind kept going back to the dream and she couldn’t help searching the crowd looking for the mystery man. The other strange thing was she couldn’t shake the feeling she was being watched. She kept looking around but no one seemed to be paying too much attention to her, but it didn’t matter. She still couldn’t get rid of that feeling.

     Finally, after the fourth night of the same dream, Kelsey got fed up with her friend’s preoccupation. “Let me draw him for you.”

     “Huh?” Vanessa looked up. They were supposed to be watching some show on Netflix, but Vanessa was clearly not paying attention.

      “Your best friend is an art major, Nessa, use my skills and let me draw your man. It can help us find him if any of us happen to see him, “And you’re driving me crazy with this. You’re obsessed with this man and you never even met him.

     “I’m not obsessed,” Vanessa mumbled, hugging her legs underneath her blanket. It was brisk out for late September but not consistently cold enough to justify putting the heat on yet. So both girls were wearing hoodies and wrapped in blankets on their couch.

    Ok, maybe she was a little obsessed. But she wasn’t about to admit it.

    “Whatever, Kels, you would be obsessed to if this strange s**t was happening to you. Everything just seems so real.” Vanessa sighed, “You know what you should draw him, it might help.”

    So the two girls spent the next hour or so discussing and drawing, making an incredibly detailed drawing of the man from her dreams. Vanessa depicted him in his modern outfit, not the robes, assuming if he was real and they did manage to find him in the streets, he wouldn’t be wearing ancient looking robes.

     “Damn, I really am good at this,” Kelsey said grinning at the finished project. She pulled a scrunchie off of her arm, and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. “And my parents cringe every time it’s brought up I’m an art major. I’m going to be rich as hell.”

    Vanessa laughed. It was true, ever since Kelsey told her parents she was going to art school, it had been a sore subject between the three of them. It definitely didn’t help that her best friend and neighbor since Kindergarten was going to the same college for pharmaceutical research. But the truth was, Kelsey would be miserable in a field like that. She was born to be an artist. Vanessa had faith her parents would see that one day.

     “Show them this drawing, they’ll change their mind. You’re a genius Kels, thank you! It looks just like my dreams. If you see him on the streets, you’d recognize him immediately from this drawing.  And you’re right, I do feel better. I’m not sure how this is going to help me at all, but having something substantial makes me feel less crazy.”

    “No Problem. And now I get your obsession. Your description doesn’t do him justice. If this guy is real and looks even half as good as he does here, we’re sharing.”

    Vanessa laughed, “Wow Kels, I didn’t know you were into that kind of thing. You never brought it up with Tommy.”

    Kelsey wrinkled her nose in disgust when Vanessa mentioned her ex-boyfriend, “Because Tommy was a disgusting asshole, and I knew it from the beginning. The best thing you ever did was break up with him, even if you have been single for the last two years.” Vanessa was about to retort, when she suddenly remembered something. Looking at the time at her phone, Vanessa jumped up in a panic, ‘Oh s**t! That reminded me, I totally forgot! I have a date tonight!”

    “What! Since when do you have a date? And why didn’t you say anything?”

    Vanessa shrugged, “I’ve been distracted and forgot about it. You know Ryan Levine, he’s in my medical terminology and micro biology classes. I think you met him before.” Kelsey shrugged. It wasn’t ringing a bell, “Well anyway he’s been asking me out for months and I keep avoiding him. But I finally gave in during class yesterday. I’m meeting him for dinner and drinks in… s**t,” she glanced at her phone, “in an hour I got to go.”

    Vanessa ran into the bathroom to take the quickest shower of her life. She heard Kelsey follow her in the room to continue the conversation. This didn’t faze her at all, as this was pretty common between the girls. Privacy was very limited in their apartment. Vanessa stripped and jumped in the water before it even got a chance to completely warm up.

    Kelsey sat up on the bathroom vanity, her phone in her hand. Vanessa knew she was stalking the guy’s social media. “Eh, he’s kind of cute. The dorky kind of cute I guess. You don’t really seem into him, considering you even forgot about the date.”

    Vanessa ignored Kelsey for a second, “Do you think I should shave my legs?”

    Kelsey snorted, “Oh yeah, this guy is definitely the one. I can hear wedding bells in our near future. If you’re questioning whether you should shave, why are you even bothering going on this date?”

     Vanessa sighed, and decided to do a quick shave. While she had no intention of doing anything with Ryan tonight, Kelsey was right, she should at least attempt to put in some effort.

     “Honestly, to get my mind off my dreams. You’re right. I’m obsessing about a guy who may not even be real. No, I don’t think Ryan is my soul mate. He’s nice enough, but something about him always bothers me. Like he’s trying too hard or something. But as you love to point out, I haven’t dated since Tommy, and I think it’s time to get back in the field and not wait around for some imaginary guy. I feel like this is a good way to get my feet wet. A harmless date with a guy who I’m pretty sure I don’t want anything more than a friendship with. And if I’m wrong and it becomes more than that it’s great.” Vanessa quickly rinsed off her body and shut off the water. She didn’t even bother washing her hair.

    “I guess that makes sense. Just be careful Nessa. The guy seems into you, and he seems a little weird.”

    “I’ll be fine,” wrapped in a towel Vanessa leaned over the bathroom sink to put a little makeup on. Thankfully her skin was naturally smooth, so just a little eye shadow, mascara and a lip gloss would be enough.”

     “Wear your teal dress. You look great in it, but its conservative enough that it doesn’t scream, I want to get laid tonight.”

     Vanessa rolled her eyes, but ended up putting her teal dress on. 45 minutes after she was sitting on the couch in sweats and a hoodie, Vanessa was ready to go wearing a form fitting, but not too tight long sleeved teal dress. It was a scoop neck, so not too much cleavage was showing, but dipped down lower in the back, showing her bare back to just below her bra strap. The dress came just above her knee and she chose to wear it with a pair of white chucks. Again, so she looked cute, but not too sexy. Just a couple drinks with a friend. Kelsey had set up an Uber for her while Vanessa was showering, and she received a text that it was there just as she was slipping on her little fake leather jacket.

    “You got your cell phone, charged?” Kelsey asked, “money, both cash and a credit card, your keys to the house, your ID, and pepper spray.”

     “Yes mom. I have everything I need.”

     “I’ll take that as a compliment. Your mom is a total badass, and the one who taught both of us to have all of those things when we’re going on a date.”

    “True, But don’t worry. He’s just a guy from my class. I’ll send you a Snap when I get to the bar.”

     “Ok, I’m going over Sammy’s apartment tonight. She downloaded a new season of this anime we’ve wanted to watch. So I’ll probably be gone when you get back, unless things go way better than you’re expecting,” she said with a sly smile.

    “I doubt it. I’ll probably be back early. And Tiff just texted us she’s spending the night at Ben’s. You be careful too, text me when you get to Sammy’s and let me know when you’re home. I’ll text you when I’m home too.”

    Kelsey laughed while giving her friend a quick hug, “When did we become so old and cautious.”

    “Blame it on our dads. You know how paranoid they were when we moved to the city. It must’ve worn off on us. Alright, I gotta go, I don’t want my Uber to leave without me.” She gave Kelsey a quick wave and ran out of her apartment.