Falling for The Fallen

The rain hit me hard on my back, I was on the back of a motorbike, a large male figure riding, my hands tightly wrapped around him. Who was this? Where was I? I had no answer to either of these questions as I turned my head to try and figure out my surroundings. What the hell were those huge figures flying in the sky behind us? They looked like giants with wings, bright shining orbs for eyes. They were chasing us! I somehow felt safe with this stranger on the bike. My eyes snapped open and I jumped up in bed, sweat pouring from me as I scanned my room, illuminated by nothing except the moon shining through my window. This was the third time this week that I had such a strange dream, and it was beginning to worry me. Sighing, I got up from the bed, my feet on the cold wood floor as I walked over to close the window. Glancing up at the moon I was once again reminded of the strange winged creatures from my dreams. What were they? I sighed and glanced down at the street, an abnormally large man walked down it; he wore a long dark purple coat, so dark that it could have been black. This however was not the first time I had seen him; he was a regular at the restaurant I worked at. Grabbing my phone I sent my boyfriend -if you could call him such- a text via our chat messenger, Stephi♡: That odd guy was walking the street again Donnie: lol chill Donnie: Ur 2 paranoid Stephi♡: He walks past every night. It's odd I rolled my eyes and put my phone down, staring back out the window and ignoring any messages coming from Donnie, not sure why I had even bothered texting him in the first place. Suddenly the cloaked figure turned and looked up at me, my blood running cold without any real reason. It was so dark that I couldn't see a thing in the hood, it was as if he had no face. Hugging my arms to myself I shut my window and acted as though I hadn't seen him. Pulling the curtain shut I returned to the bed, sitting on the edge as I pondered over my dream. Each night when I awoke from it, the odd man would pass by my window. Perhaps Donnie was right, I was getting paranoid. Sighing, I lay back down on my bed, why was I being plagued by these strange dreams that felt so real? Should I consider seeing a shrink? Did I finally go crazy? My rescued pit bull Soul sat next to the window eyeing me. "What is it, boy?" Of course, that was all he needed to jump onto the bed. He was a rather odd case, I had rescued him from animal abusers and he had been by my side since, no one else could come near him, or me for that matter, he was very protective over me. He wouldn't even allow Donnie near me, although, this I took as a sign because Donnie wasn't that great to begin with. I stroked the large, jagged scar running over Soul's face as he dozed, his head crushing down on my chest. He was rather large and I had to wonder how I managed to survive his cuddles every night. Glancing back at the window, I felt a lot safer reminded of Soul's protection. *** I had just walked out of the house when my phone rang. "What is it, Donnie? I'm on my way to work." I glanced up the street before crossing it, my car had decided it would no longer be running at the beginning of the week. "Babe. When can I come over?" "Whenever you want?" "No, I mean for a weekend or something. Where that devil dog of yours is actually kept outside." I rolled my eyes, "Okay, firstly, babe, Soul is not going to spend an entire weekend outside. It's not my fault that he doesn't like you." And Soul sure did hate him, although that wasn't the only reason I didn't want him around. He had been trying to steer the relationship into something more intimate while I was trying to find a way to break up with him. Hinting just didn't seem to work with him at all. "Dammit, Steph! That demented hellhound comes before I do!" "I'm at work, got to go." I hung up and carried on down the road, not quite at work yet, but needing to be done with that conversation. *** "Stephi, your table is full again." My best friend and colleague Laura sing songed and I knew who sat at it before turning. It was the abnormally tall, large man who walked past my house. The one that no one in town dared to go near; the rumors about him were bad, some even said he was a serial killer. Aside from him being extremely large and brooding, he seemed rather normal to me. Even if he was a bit odd. His long dark hair which held white streaks hung down his shoulders, almost curtaining his face. He didn't glance up from the table as I approached. "Hi, would you like to place your order?" "Coffee. Toast." Okay, his voice was a tad scary too, sounding deep and gruff. Turning I went back to place my order with the kitchen, although we knew his order without fail. Every morning it was toast with coffee and nothing else. At night he would walk in and order a full dinner with coffee. His orders never changed. He never smiled or said another word. And I got to be his waitress every time. Laura stared at him, "I wonder what his story is. He seems so troubled." I shrugged, "It's not our business to judge him, if he wanted friends he would say so." "But he's gorgeous! Why is he never with a woman?" I turned to stare at him and he glanced up slowly, his face void of emotion as his eyes met mine. I frowned before turning away, his sight making me feel a bit uneasy. "He walks past my place at odd hours." "Do you think he's stalking you?" I let out a rather loud laugh, "God, no! It's just odd." "Are you still having those dreams?" "Yeah, I'm considering going to see a shrink. Donnie thinks I'm being paranoid." Laura rolled her eyes, "Steph, Donnie is a piece of shit." "I know, Soul still hates him." "Girl, that dog hates everyone who isn't you, but I think you should trust him on this and get rid of Donnie." "Yeah, I know, I haven't figured out how to break it to him yet, you know how he gets." The cook signaled the order and I went over to get it, ending my conversation with Laura for the day, it usually got busy around this time. That night, as I was leaving the diner, I noticed none other than the large stranger sitting outside in the rain. He looked so at peace, his head held up to the darkened sky, I briefly considered going over to him, but decided against it and made my way home to Soul, ignoring the chimes from my phone which were obviously from Donnie. I was abnormally tired tonight and after bathing decided to get some sleep, Soul beside me. My hand in a hand much larger than mine, I ran with a large, towering figure, flames and ruin around us. Screeching from above, turning my head I once again saw the odd winged creatures from before. Turning back I saw nothing about the person I ran with, the only thing I saw was the dark outline of a large figure. And he turned to me. My eyes snapped open, Soul scratching at me to wake up. Trust him to wake me to go out right when I was about to see the face which belonged to the stranger in my dreams. Sighing, I got up and padded barefoot downstairs to let him out. But as I walked towards the back door, Soul went to the front. "You know you're not allowed out front without your harness." He sat at the front door, whining and scratching frantically to get out. Grabbing his harness and shoving my feet into a pair of boots, I opened the door, and right as I bent to put the harness on, he gave the gate one bump and it opened up. "Did I seriously forget to lock it?" He looked up at me before walking out. No one would be out at this time so I dropped the harness on my steps and walked out to follow him around the yard. I had just turned to look up at the stars when suddenly Soul lifted his face, sniffing a few times before running in the direction of the gate. "Soul?!" I watched in horror as he ran straight through my wooden gate and down the road. With only a moment of frozen panic, I took off after him at a speed. I could only imagine the havoc he would cause if he attacked someone! "Soul!" I realized how crazy I must have looked to anyone, pajama shorts, fuzzy boots, and an old shirt, running down the street screaming "Soul". And then I lost sight of him as he rounded a corner. And as I got closer, expecting to hear screams, instead I heard howling. From Soul. I rounded the corner and froze, my heart hammering in my chest. Soul sat at the feet of the large man from the restaurant, howling right up at him. The man stared down at my dog, unblinking. "Oh, God." "Definitely not it." I frowned at his remark, "Uh, I'm sorry about my dog," I glared at Soul, "Would you shut up and come here?!" Soul stopped and held up a paw for this man much to my shock. He glanced down at my dog before bending to place a hand on his head. My breath hitched, I was expecting Soul to attack him, but instead, he wagged his tail and tilted his head to the side. I gawked with my mouth open, "How did you do that?" He looked up at me as if he had forgotten I had been there and stood, "Do what?" "That! He normally hates people. Wants to kill them." He glanced back down at Soul, "He and I have something in common then." I hoped he meant hating people and not wanting to kill them. Suddenly reminded of the fact that I stood out here with no one but this stranger and my dog who had apparently lost his mind, I felt a bit unsafe. "Soul, come on, let's go home." He sat unmoving, whining. "Jesus, Soul, not the time!" My dog refused to move. "Uh, look, um, big guy, could you maybe chase him or something? I would like to get him home before he kills someone." He glanced back down at Soul before walking back the way we had come, Soul following him. He gestured with his hand and I kept a distance as I made my way back home, my dog and his stranger following us. Once we got to my gate, Soul happily ran back inside. "Thank you, and sorry about that." His face still held little to no emotion as he looked at me. "Right, not awkward at all. Um, goodbye then," I turned to make my way inside, almost not hearing his words. "Sam. My name is Sam." And when I turned to acknowledge him, he was gone. Well, that wasn't odd at all now what is? I scoffed and went inside, slamming and locking my door while glaring at Soul. I had a feeling that this dog had somehow just changed my life, and not at all in a good way.