Black Hollow: Slumber's Destiny

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

DESTINY FRAZIER WIPED down the front counter, thankful that it was almost quitting time. If one more customer made fun of their new uniforms, she was going to pour coffee over their head. She thought the outfits were just as ridiculous as those who made their jokes, but she was stuck wearing them, mainly because her mother owned the Sunflower Coffeehouse. The name of the place wasn’t so bad, but the giant, bright sunflowers in the middle of their shirts and hats were a little overboard. All right, a lot overboard. She sighed as she tossed the towel back into the sink along the back wall. Of all things, her mother had to love sunflowers. Couldn’t she have developed a love for daisies or roses, something small and not so loud and gaudy?

Destiny glanced down at her watch. 10:15. Forty-five more minutes to go. She sighed, wanting so badly to get out of there so she could practice her dream walk. She had actually been able to reach someone, talk to them, and interact. Of course, the man didn’t realize they were truly talking, believing her a part of his dream. She didn’t try to change his mind, preferring to leave things as they were for now until she had a firmer grasp of what she was doing. It had been completely by accident that she had discovered the older man in the middle of the day a couple of months ago. She had enjoyed talking to him, even though she had no idea how she had even found him on one of her walks. It frustrated her that she hadn’t been able to find him every time she went into her dream state, but the few times she had met up with him, she enjoyed fairly well. She discovered that the more she talked to him, the more she actually looked forward to seeing him, and from what he told her, he sought her out, as well. Soon, she would be able to help her nephew, the real reason she learned to dream walk.

Someone had set a coffee cup on the counter Destiny didn’t see, and she almost knocked it over in her rush to clean up and get out of there. “s**t!” she yelled as she snatched at the cup to keep it from spilling over.

“Language!” her mother snapped at her. “And watch what you’re doing.” She shook her head, her lips pinched in a sour frown. “Where is your head at? The clouds?”

Destiny turned, ignoring her mother’s rebuke. She wasn’t far off the mark. Destiny’s mind wasn’t in the clouds necessarily, just her dreams. And she was eager to return.

“Go, go,” her mother said, sighing. “I’ll finish up here. Sheesh. Wherever your mind is, I hope it’s worth the mess you’re making here.”

Destiny tossed the towel into the sink and then leaned over, kissing her mother on the cheek. “Thanks, Mama. I appreciate it, and I’m sorry for the mess. I’ll work extra hard tomorrow. Promise.”

Her mother waved her off. “I doubt it. You’ve been this way for a couple of months. Go, go.” Destiny’s mother grabbed a clean towel as another customer stepped into the coffeehouse, still shaking her head.

Destiny kissed the woman one more time and then scurried away before her mother changed her mind.

As she stepped out into the night air, she paused a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, feeling it fill her lungs and expand her chest. As she slowly blew the breath out, she opened her eyes and stared up at the starry St. Augustine sky. It was too beautiful of a night to simply go home and sit in her room. Instead, she crossed A1A, taking a small beach access to the Atlantic. She kicked her shoes off, stuffing her socks inside before she stepped out onto the sand, searching out a small spot where she could sit and slip into her dream state. The moon shimmered on the water, giving her enough light to see by, the pollution of the city lights bouncing off the clouds and illuminating the beach, as well.

Destiny found a spot where the waves wouldn’t soak her while she had her eyes closed and stretched out on the sand, her hands clasped over her stomach. She worked on slowing her breathing, counting each one until she felt her body relax. Picturing Sandie—an unusual name, she thought—in his burgundy pajamas and thick, fluffy socks, she tried to reach out to him. Eventually, she noticed herself walking, her hands swinging past her line of sight as she felt the air around her change, shifting from the cool ocean breeze she knew caressed her body to the warmth of Sandie’s inn. She chuckled as she recalled the name, Daydreamer Inn. Fitting, she thought.

Walking through the main lobby, she made her way behind the front desk to a door she knew led to Sandie’s personal living quarters. It didn’t surprise her that he lived at the inn. From the few times she had met with him, he struck her as an introvert with particular habits. She entered the living room area of his small apartment, smiling as she noticed him already sitting in his plush recliner, legs crossed at the knee, a cup of hot chocolate resting on the end table beside him, and a thick book in his hands.

He glanced up, obviously having heard her walk in, and smiled at her. “I was afraid I missed you,” he said as he closed his book. He gestured to the recliner across from him, and Destiny smiled as she noticed the extra cup of hot chocolate waiting for her.

“I was afraid I had missed you, too,” she said as she crossed the room and settled down into the seat. “Mama let me go early.”

He leaned forward slightly, his smile soft under his light gray eyes and his shaggy, gray hair in desperate need of combing. “And where are you sleeping tonight?”

She lifted the hot chocolate to her lap, holding it with both hands. “I’m actually on the beach near our coffeehouse. It’s peaceful here. The beach has always been a calming force in my life.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being so exposed like that? What if someone meant you harm?” Sandie leaned back in his chair, picking his cup up and matching her posture.

“I’m in a pretty isolated part of St. Augustine, and it’s almost eleven, so most people are tucked away in their homes. Of course, I didn’t bring a towel, so I’ll have to wash my hair when I get home.” She chuckled as she lifted her cup to her lips and took a small sip, amazed at how real the hot chocolate tasted, the warmth washing over her face as the steam wafted out of the cup. As she lowered the mug, licking her lips as she did, she asked, “And how was your day? Was the inn busy?”

“It’s Saturday, so most of the guests were out visiting the town,” he told her. “Black Hollow has some unique residents. Of course, I did have to help a little boy who struggled to sleep. He had a rough beginning, his father being abusive to the boy’s mother. Now, he has a new sister and a step-father, so the house is a little louder than he is used to, I’m sure. It takes a lot to be a big brother.”

As he said that last part, she noticed his lips turn into a frown. “Did something else happen? You seem sad all of a sudden.”

He sighed, his shoulders slumping a little as he dropped his gaze to the cup in his hands. “I had a surprise visit from my brother tonight. We don’t exactly see eye-to-eye on things.”

“Oh? How so?” she asked, shifting in her seat slightly so she faced him better. “I didn’t know there was more than one Sandman, to be honest.”

“Oh yes,” he told her, his eyes lighting up with the idea that he could share something with her. “There are several families actually. There are a lot of children who need help getting to sleep. Sadly, my younger brother still follows the twisted beginnings of being a Sandman. Something I never subscribed to. I prefer to help people find their dreams. He puts them to sleep to fill their lives with nightmares.” He shook his head, sighing, and Destiny’s heart hurt for him. “He feeds on their terror, using it to make him stronger.”

“And does it actually make him stronger?” She never asked him about his abilities before, just enjoying getting to know him as she saw him. However, all paranormal creatures had some sort of power, one that either made them who they were or one they had to control before it destroyed those around them.

“It does, sadly,” he said. “When a Sandman feeds on a child’s terror, even going so far as to devour their eyes, it sucks some of the life from the child, as well, giving it to the Sandman. It’s why my brother is still fairly young and slender, able to move around with ease without the joint pain or arthritis.” He gestured at himself with one hand. “I’m like this because I choose not to feed on their nightmares, wanting to give them pleasant dreams instead. It’s weakened me over the years.”

“Will it kill you?” Panic gripped her, and she realized how much she had grown to care for the elderly man across from her in the few months they had spoken. She didn’t enjoy the idea she might lose him.

“Eventually, but not anytime soon,” he smiled at her, hoping to assure her, she knew. “I have a few centuries in me still.”

She wasn’t sure it worked. “You know this is your dream, too, right? In your dreams, you can make yourself look like anything you want. You can move without pain, feel younger or older, even change your appearance slightly. It’s all within your power as you control your dream.”

His eyebrows rose as he studied her. “Is that so? I never knew, to be honest. I usually just see me as I am. It makes sense, though, since I can help determine other people’s dreams.” He c****d his head to the side slightly. “Wonder why I never thought to try it.” He bounced his bushy brows at her then. “Let’s give it a try, shall we?”

Setting the cup of hot chocolate down beside him, he sat up straighter and took a deep breath.

Destiny watched as his hair shortened and straightened into his salt and pepper look, and his body slimmed down as his pajamas transformed into a nice business suit of ash gray. He even gave himself a dark goatee and mustache sprinkled with gray.

She swallowed as she stared over at his makeover, feeling a stirring between her legs as her breath caught in her throat. “Oh, my,” she said in a breathy whisper. “Um, yeah, you figured it out.” These dreams just got better. Or should she say, hotter.