Thousand Years

CHAPTER 19- The Nightmare

Adrian was pacing in his study thinking about the things he knew about the accident. He wanted Ms. Kim to go-through all the facts again but at the same time, he knew he had hit a dead end. But one thing was clear to him, every time he came close to Dareanna or her incarnate, it did not end well. 

His mind drifted to Lora. He was attracted to her first because she looked like Dareanna, but now he was drawn to Lora’s personality. He did not want her to get hurt because of his past. He had yet to know for sure if she is the reincarnation of Dareanna, but he was not willing to risk her life for that. 

Adrian glanced at his watch and realized it was past 10, and Lora might be heading home. He had told her that he would come to pick her up.  He left in a hurry without giving an explanation to Ms.Kim who was about to say something to him. 

Lora had had a long day at work. She was really tired after trying to solve the fight that broke out between two customers who wanted to take a girl home. Madame was not at Exotic, so Lora had to get in the middle and explain it to the customers. Her shift ended at 10pm so she changed into her regular clothes and stepped out of exotic. 

She stood in front of exotic for a while hoping Adrian might show up. She could not help the feeling that someone was looking at her, but there weren't anyone around. The street wasn’t completely empty, but she couldn’t find anyone who was looking at her. The night was cold, and she wrapped her coat tighter around her as she decided to take a cab rather than waiting there.

She was about to call the cab when a car came to a screeching halt next to her.

As the shutter rolled down she saw Adrian. 

"Hop in. I'm so sorry I completely lost track of time".

"It's okay. I was about to get into a taxi though. I thought you weren't coming." Lora said as she got into the car.

"How about I buy you some dinner. Have you eaten already? " he asked.

"No. But I'm not hungry",  she said as she turned to look back.to see if anyone was following them.

" You seemed troubled. You okay Lora? "

"It's just that..nothing. "

"What's wrong, love?". She couldn't help but spill the truth when he asks like that.

"I had a feeling that I was being followed. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"Maybe. Let's go to my place today. I'll make something for you to eat".

"But.. Adrian"

The look in his face said he wasn't going to listen anyway, so she didn't say anything else.

Back at Adrian's place, Alora felt herself home. She took a shower and got dressed in one of Adrian's shirts. It came down to her mid thigh. And since it was black she thought not wearing any underwear would be okay.

Adrian had prepared her some salad and sandwiches. 

Adrian made a note to ask Ms. Kim to buy some more women's clothes,  since it seemed like he was going to have Lora around a lot more  than he thought.  And obviously keeping his hands to himself was going to be very hard if that woman kept showing up in his shirt like she was doing now.

"Go sleep when you are done eating. I'll be in the next room if you need anything else. "

Lora was surprised how awkward he had suddenly made things as he went to the guest room after asking her to sleep on his bed. She went out to the balcony of his room and gazed outside. She wondered how her life had changed when he met her. There was a feeling of familiarity , a feeling of closeness that she could not quite figure out. 

The other thing that was strange are the dreams that had started when she met Adrian. She thought back to them and the dreams were so vivid, she could say those were her own memories. But she had never been to Ireland and she did not know Irish. She thought that she would focus and research some more on her weird dreams if she saw them again.

She was about to go to bed when she heard a noise from the other room. She wasn't sure what it was. Maybe Adrian was still up, she thought as she went towards the next room.

Lora opened the door as quietly as possible, in case Adrian was sleeping she did not want to wake him up. He was lying down on bed, but he seemed to be talking to himself. She moved closer to take a good look at him.

His face held an unreadable expression. It was of something mixed with fear and anger. The blanket no longer covered him, his bare chest glistened in the light that came through the balcony of the room. Sweat was rolling down from his forehead, his hair was soaked but he was uttering something in a foreign language. He seemed to be having a nightmare. The language was strangely familiar but Lora couldn’t place what it was.  One thing was for sure, Adrian was having a very bad dream.

Lora moved closer to him and shook him slightly to wake him up. He suddenly opened his eyes, his usually bright blue orbs now a deep shade of blue , almost black as he looked at Lora.

Before Lora could think of anything to say, he hugged her so tight and whispered , “Dareanna” but she wasn’t sure if she heard it properly. When she pushed him back to look at his face, his eyes were closed again, and he seemed to be sleeping. She wanted to wake him up again and ask who “Dareanna” was but decided against it. Now was not the time. 

Lora gently laid him back on the bed and looked at his frowning face and eased back the wrinkles that had formed in his forehead.

Now he looked peaceful so she thought she would go back to her room to sleep. She got up from his bed but his hand was firmly holding hers and she could swear she heard him mutter “stay”. She did not think much as she laid down next to him and pulled the covers over them.

She was looking at his face gently trailing her fingers along the outline of  his handsome face and could not remember when she fell asleep.