A New Dream
1025 Words
She slowly opened her eyes at the sound of someone's humming.
"Where am I?" she whispered her question, and the angel quickly came to her side.
"You're awake," she heard the angel say to her, and a pang of sadness enveloped her heart. "Why do you look so lonely?"
"If you're still here, it means I had truly died," she answered the angel with eyes moist with tears.
She had died and she had left her siblings alone.
"Am I in heaven? You're an angel, and if I'm with you then this must be so," she continued, and the angel threw back his head and laughed out loud.
"You're funny," the angel told her. "Yes, this is heaven, but I assure you, you're not dead. We are still on my land, Le Paradis."
Her eyes grew wide as she absorbed his words.
"Y-your land?" she asked and the angel sighed.
"Yes, my land— or at least it will be when my father passes away." The angel stared at her big doe eyes down to her cherry lips. "You got shot in the leg and I found you."
"You mean you're not an angel?" she whispered as she stared at her savior's handsome face.
The young man studied her for a while, and then leaned over to her with their face nearly touching.
"No," he answered and then out of the blue, kissed her on the lips.
His manly scent filled her nose which made her heart beat faster and she tried to get up to escape. But the pain on her leg suddenly made its presence known.
"Don't move," her savior commanded as he fixed her bandages. "No need to try and get away either. You can't escape anyway."
"I can't?" she asked as she stared at the young man's handsome face.
"You can't. I won't let you," the man answered arrogantly. "You came to my land, nearly died, and I saved you. In return, you can never run away from me," he continued, his voice sounding harsh, and yet, the hands which touched her were gentle. "I'm your master now."
She swallowed hard as she stared at the man's intense eyes and somehow she had the feeling that she really had been captured. This man was no angel. He was the devil. He was her master.
========
"Jessie?" the soft tapping on her shoulder pulled her from her slumber.
"Yeah?" she answered as she straightened up on her seat.
They were at Sam’s place, in the living room, pouring over all the notes and books they had unearthed from his study, the university, and from the local library.
"Are you okay?" Caroline asked worriedly.
Ever since she confessed to them about what’s going on, her friends fussed about her more.
"Do you want to sleep properly? You can lie next to Hannah in Sam’s room."
Jessica shook her head. "No, I'm fine," she assured them. "I just dozed off a bit."
"Jessie, did you see something in your dream?" Sam asked which made her pause and wonder.
"Actually…I did," she answered and she frowned, trying to recall her dream. "But it was different this time."
"What do you mean by different?" the couple asked curiously and she told them about what she saw.
"It was like a continuation of the dream when I got shot and thought I saw an angel smiling at me," she said in wonder. "He wasn't an angel at all but just a man who saved my life."
Caroline and Sam exchanged looks. "Did he tell you something?"
Jessica’s frown deepened. "As a matter of fact…yes. He told me that he's my new master," she answered. "He was really arrogant too when he told me that."
"How about a name? Did he tell you his name?" Sam asked again and she shook her head.
"What a shame… If only we have a name or something then maybe we can have something to point us to the right direction," Sam continued as he looked at the pile of records all over his upholstery.
Jessica tilted her head as she tried to remember more, and then, suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Sam, he said that he owned the land! He said he will be the owner when his father dies," she said excitedly and the couple once again exchanged looks.
"What?"
"My God Jessie! If the one who's haunting you said he's to inherit the land, then it means he's the heir," Sam exclaimed. "So it means that the rumor which says that the ghosts in Le Désespoir are the previous heirs is real."
Jessica was shocked as she realized that it was true, and Caroline took her hand in a comforting grip.
"Don't worry Jessie, we'll help you. We'll try to solve this mystery so that you and your sister can finally break free."
"Thanks," she whispered as her eyes began to water. She was really grateful to the two of them.
"Let's start," Sam announced as he clapped his hands. "Now we have an idea where to start, let's go search everything about the heirs— starting in 1840," he continued as he handed them books and notes and they all began scanning them.
The ticking of the clock inside the living room, and the sound of the paper turning were the only sounds that could be heard for thirty minutes.
"I got one!" Caroline suddenly announced, and the other two dropped the books they were scanning to look at what she discovered.
It was an old news article Sam photocopied years ago when he went to France to do research.
"It's an article featuring the grounds on Le Désespoir," she said as she pointed at the article. "It also featured the graveyard there, and I think we have one close-up of the tombs and one has 1843 on it."
She pointed at the picture of a tombstone marked by a marble effigy of an angel carrying two people entwined in a lover's embrace. Below it was a tablet with inscriptions. Sam leaned forward to see it more clearly as he was the only one who understood French among them.
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