Chapter Two: Unanswered Questions
1967 Words
Chapter 2
Joey jolted awake, sitting upright and panting. What the f*****g hell?
He glanced over at the clock. Six-thirty in the morning. It was almost time to get up anyway. He swung his legs out of the bed and headed toward the bathroom.
What the hell was that dream about?
Even as he asked himself this, he couldn't recall the details of the dream, just that it started him awake.
That was.... Seriously f*****g weird.
After his shower, he dressed and made himself some breakfast. As he sat there eating, he tried to recall the dream. But all he could glean from it was an odd sensation that it was a mixture of something disturbing and something he needed to remember. The details were now lost in the mist of sleep. Well, whatever it was, it bothered him enough to come instantly awake. And he had a feeling it was going to come back... sometime soon.
When he left his apartment for work, he still had the curious feeling he was being watched.
“Mom?” Cail hesitated when she started to ask her question.
“Yes,” she said, not looking at her, rather she kept on counting receipts.
“Did we—“ Why was she afraid to ask? She took a deep breath. “Did we ever go to Scotland?” There! she had asked!
Moira stopped what she was doing, placed her hands on the counter and looked at her in an odd manner, like she was afraid of why Cail was asking. “Why do you want to know?”
“Just curious,” she shrugged, hoping to get that suspicious glare off of her.
She still eyed her with deep suspicion, like Cail was asking something she shouldn’t. “Why?”
Cail's attitude changed. Seriously? Moira was going to be cryptic? Of all the time for her to do that! "Oh, for--!” Huffing, she immediately wished she hadn’t asked. “Can’t you just answer me?”
“Answer her, Ma,” Patrick put in, walking by the two. He very casually walked over to a bookshelf and began unpacking a box nearby.
Cail looked at her brother. What did he know? Did he know something, too? Did everyone know something but her?
Moira looked at him as he set to work. “I just want to know why she is suddenly asking this.”
“Oooh! Just forget it!” Cail snapped, becoming intensely angry. She carried a bundle of candles out to the shop front window. Arranging them in a display, she then left the building.
Her dream still fresh in her mind, the last person she needed to see was Joey, but after Moira and her suspicions, maybe she needed the distraction.
She saw him heading her way, and contemplated ignoring him, but she suddenly realized her mother was watching her from the shop window and decided to let him see her.
“Hey, you!” he said as he approached her. “How are you?”
Catching another glimpse of Moira in the shop window, Cail replied, “Peachy,” She looked back at him and saw confusion on his face. “Sorry,” she smiled. “Mom and I are having a spat.”
A smile lit up those pretty hazel eyes. “Oh?”
Moira was still watching her, frowning at the sight of her with a man. She gave her a superior look -- which she knew was a bit childish -- and put her arm in his. “Let’s have lunch,” she suggested.
And, in yet another very childish gesture, she looked back at Moira, sticking out her tongue. She took Joey's arm and walked to the cafe. They were seated by a perky hostess who seemed too cheerful for Cail's liking. She handed them two menus then left.
"What was the spat about?” Joey asked a moment later when a waitress left with their menus and order.
“I asked her a simple question, and she refused to answer,” Cail replied sourly. She huffed. “Sometimes she acts like she’s a queen or something!” Okay, so she was being petty. But damn it, she wanted to know.
Joey’s eyes warmed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “There must be a reason she refuses to answer.” He leaned forward. “But I understand why you are pissed.”
She was still frowning when the waitress stopped by to top off their drinks. “I just wish she’d tell me what I want to know.” Her eyes dropped to her glass. “I just…”
Joey’s hand suddenly covered hers. “Hey, I get it. There’s something you want to know.” He shrugged. “Maybe she doesn’t know how to answer you?”
Cail blinked at him. She hadn’t thought of that. She averted her eyes because she suddenly felt silly.
Not silly. Just…
He was staring too intently at her, a sly grin on his face. She could feel her cheeks heat up under his gaze. So her eyes left his.
That was when she noticed them.
Yes, all three of them.
They were sitting at a nearby table sipping their wine. The two women were dressed in their flowing silks and their brother was in his brocaded robes.
And they were watching Cailleagh. Very intently.
She was suddenly uncomfortable. Joey took it to mean she was nervous. She smiled at him and blushed slightly. She idly wondered if he saw them sitting back there, staring at them. She doubted it. “Well, I just wish she’d answer my question,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“And what question was that?” he asked. His eyes still bore into her, almost as if he picked up on her agitation.
“If we’d ever been to—” The waitress suddenly appeared with more iced tea and a bowl of breadsticks and butter.
“To?” Joey asked when the waitress left.
“Scotland,” Cail replied. The oldest of the three turned and looked to her, slightly smiling. She’d heard her. "I keep... having this feeling we'd been there at one point. Like maybe I sort of remember, but I was too young at the time."
“Maybe it’s something she doesn’t want to talk about?” Joey offered.
“Maybe, but she acted like I shouldn't have asked. Like, it was wrong to ask.” She buttered a breadstick and began to munch. "Like she's hiding something from me."
“Oh,” he said. A wink. “Can’t help you there.”
Oh, boy! he winked! Those eyes twinkle when he winks!
Her eyes locked with his. Cailleagh looked at him now, her mind totally on him and not the three sitting nearby. She found herself wondering if dimples could get any cuter than they were on him. They deepened as he chewed the bread. His face had a two day beard that only enhanced those dimples.
And those eyes! They crinkled at the corners when he smiled. Their hazel color became a deep green as his happiness showed.
The dream came back to her, and the kiss that happened in that dream. Oh… jeez get a grip woman!
But the more she thought about that dream, the more she became aware of Joey as a man. The white linen shirt he wore was buttoned to mid-chest and stretched tightly across the area. She wondered what the skin felt like, the dusting of fuzz on that chest… She felt a heat settle in her solar plexus. A heat that she silently tried to Will away.
Down girl! Control those hormones!
She suddenly blushed and took a hefty drink of her tea. Whoa! Calm yourself! She smiled lopsidedly at him. “Thanks.”
“For what?” he asked.
“Listening.”
That smile lit up those eyes, and deepened those dimples. “No problem.”
Okay... I am officially going to melt if he keeps smiling at me like that!
The Realm
Way out on a Scottish moor, she stood, her long dark hair and copper colored gown blowing gently in the wind. In the distance, a lonely tune played on the bagpipes while tears flowed down her cheeks. She let the seed bowl of a thistle blow into the breeze carrying the white fluff away.
She turned. Far away, a confused young man stood looking at the stone circle. While confusion played on his face, he also had a look of wonder. She smiled at him, but her face was partially hidden by her hair. "Mo mhac," she breathed.
He looked at her as if trying to see who she was, but dared not get any closer.
She spoke again, this time the words flowing through the wind. She did not know if he heard her or not, for he disappeared from sight and the moor.
She smiled to herself. She would see him again.
The dream did come to her again. Cail was standing in the same spot, with the fresh air around her. And the three appeared.
Come home! the oldest said.
“Home?” she asked. “This is not my home.”
Oh, but it is! the middle sibling said, with a lilt of laughter.
You belong here, with your people, their brother said.
“My… My people?” Okay, this was getting confusing. “My people are the people of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not Scotland.” But even as Cail said this, she knew she was wrong. She knew it as sure as she knew her own heart.
In the distance, a bell sounded.
Cailleagh shook her head. “You’ve got the wrong gal,” she said to them, hoping they’d go away.
The bell got louder, as if it were warning her of something.
The three seemed agitated by the sound.
Cail suddenly realized the bell was her alarm clock. But try as she might, she could not wake up. In fact, she kept dreaming she’d woken up, only to find herself still in the stone circle. She’d make herself wake up again, only to have the stones surround her. She was beginning to feel like she was in a murky pool of water that she could not swim out of and kept sinking into. Cail wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. Up, up, up she kept swimming, and down, down, down she was being pulled.
“STOP IT!!” she yelled loudly, but nothing stopped the horrible sensation.
Again that ethereal laughter drifted toward her, causing her to shiver. To feel anxious.
Cail turned around to find Joey standing there with that dazzling smile on his face and those beautiful eyes. She was caught off guard as he leaned in to kiss her cheek, his soft lips trailing along her cheekbone to the corner of her mouth. His lips brushed softly against hers, sending shivers down her arms and back. She found herself clinging to him.
The kiss that followed was hungry, full of s****l desire and lust. His tongue swept along the seam of her mouth, licking, tasting. Then, it plunged in, twirling around hers, sucking. A warm heat bloomed in her core at the sensations his tongue created, and arousal was near at hand.
Moisture was seeping between her legs, and she was sinking fast and she knew it.
Try as she might, though, she couldn't stop clinging to him, raking her nails against the skin on his arms. She clutched at him, pushing her body against his.
A bell chimed again.
No! No! This is not real, it is not Joey and I will wake up now!
Her one piece of sanity heard the alarm clock again and focused on that sound until it was so very loud in her ear. She pushed at "Joey".
“No,” Cail said weakly. “I am waking up now.”
The alarm clock beeped so loud, her ears rang. She sat up in the bed, panting and sweating. Oh gods! What a dream...
She realized her painties were wet. She dressed quickly and bounded out the door.
Like it or not, her mother was going to tell her what she wanted to know.
Something was happening to her, and she needed to know what it was.
- Writer
