PROLOGUE – AXEL’S VISION-2
631 Words
AXEL WOKE UP WITH A jerk, and his half-lidded eyes perused the bedroom. The light of the moon reflected in the glass panels of the south wall and filled the room with shadows in the corners.
His heart pounded in his chest. For one brief, but agonizing moment, he had feared that he was stuck there with those men, who were still staring at the woman’s body, which was lying prostrated in the shadow of that bush.
Now, wide awake, he breathed deeply and closed his eyes in relief. He was still in his house.
Axel’s relief was short lived, though. He had scarcely closed his eyes that he had another vision of the woman’s broken body.
She was still lying down on that hard and dry ground, which he had seen in his dream. Now, a monotonous rain whipped her mercilessly and washed the pattern in blood, which had been painted on her body, feeding the blood to the dehydrated soil.
The vision was so in-depth that Axel was able to see the rain drops which were clinging to the woman’s eyelashes. The light in her eyes had dimmed at first and then vanished. The lines on her forehead had deepened and marked her passing years on her face.
A few hours earlier, that face had been flawless. Now it was marred with an X, high on her left cheekbone and her features showed weariness, pain and despair.
Axel flexed his fingers and wiped his damp palms off on his thighs. Axel’s visions weren’t always so detailed, but there were exceptions, though, such as the one that he had had that night.
When the image finally blurred, Axel exhaled in a whoosh and then breathed in deeply again. He wiped his forehead and noticed that his fingers weren’t as steady as he knew them.
Axel shook his head and got off his bed. He tried to stand, but he had to lean on the night table for a few seconds before trying his wobbly legs again.
In the usual course of events, the man wouldn’t have needed help to find his bearings. Axel knew his lair as well as the back of his hand and could find his way through his rooms even if he hadn’t pulled the curtains aside to have the condo bathed in the light of the moon. Still, that night, he needed the support of the walls to reach the bathroom.
There, he leaned on the lavabo and stared at his reflection in the mirror. Staring didn’t help, though. He turned on the tap and filled his fists with cold water, which he liberally splashed over his face.
When the trepidation had slowly left his body, Axel drank a mouthful. His mouth had been dry, and his tongue had almost been stuck to the roof of his mouth.
That wasn’t enough. He brushed his teeth and only then, he left the bathroom. He started towards his terrace, but hesitated. He was restive and needed something more than to just listen to the owls in the night and the sounds of the lake.
With a shrug, he turned around and left his bedroom. He needed a glass of his best whiskey to wash away the metallic taste of death, which still lingered in his mouth. His toothpaste hadn’t succeeded in chasing it away. Besides, he also needed to make a decision.
Axel didn’t know the people in his dream, but he knew the house. He had seen that garden before. He had strolled around those grounds many times in the past and knew exactly where to find that pregnant bush, which was guarding the woman’s lifeless body now.
Now, he had to decide what to say to the police and how. He didn’t want to reveal how he knew about the crime, but they would ask and he needed to plot a strategy.
- Writer
