Fallen Heroes: Dark Dreams

Chapter 1: Dreams She was walking in an alley, her boots crunching on the dirty pavement. The air was moist and smelled of death and fear. The darkness seemed to envelop her, like a cloak... Familiar and yet not. She willed her legs to stop but she had no control. As always she was forced to move forward... Forced to face the monster she knew, with growing anxiety, was waiting ahead. Her legs kept moving. There were sounds of the city creeping though her unconscious mind. Sirens, traffic and shouting.. A familiar feeling of dread building in her stomach. Her dream body, the cage she was forced to live in, kept moving. Moving forward one step at a time. Then she smelled it. Blood. The metallic smell filtered into her being. It was getting stronger with each movement. She felt sick...but as always... Detached. Then, finally, she saw it. It was crouched... It's eyes yellow and menacing. Looking human and demonic at the same time. Long blond hair hung loosely around the creatures face. Once again she wished for an end.... An end to this dream. Lola woke up, covered in sweat. Her heart was racing and her breath came in shallow gasps. The door to her room opened and she looked up to see her friend, Mila, a cup of steaming tea in her hand. Mila wore a sympathetic look, her light blue eyes held a knowing look. Curly red hair framed her face. She moved towards the bed and sat down next to Lola. "I wanna ask if you're OK, but I know the answer.." she pushed a light brown tendril of hair out of Lola's sweat covered face. "I made you some tea... As usual.. Just how you like it." Lola sat up and hugged her knees to her body. "I should be used to these..." "Come," Mila said holding the cup toward me. "Drink some." Lola took the mugg and looked at Mila. "Can we go out tomorrow? Someplace loud and crowded... With lots of booze?" Her voice was raspy and hoarse. Slowly she sipped the sweet tea. She needed music... Loud enough to drown out the noise of bones cracking and flesh tearing. Loud enough to drown out the shrill screams and moans.. Mila nodded." Of course.. Just the two of us or.." "I don't care..." Lola gulped down the remainder of the tea and got out of bed. She wore an old oversized shirt. She walked to the window, opened it wide and held her head to the slight breeze coming through. Her eyes wide open. She feared if she closed them, the sights and smells would return. She took a deep breath trying to steady herself. Mila looked on, feeling helpless. Four years now since the dreams started. Four years of watching her friend lose herself. She bent and took the mugg where Lola had left it. Silently she left the room. Fever: The pink neon sign Fever glowed above the bar. The club was loud and the mix of colours and smells was just what she needed. Lola pushed through the crowd toward the bar. She couldn't wait to numb herself up.. She reached the bar and looked up at the selection... Too bad she didn't care about taste or flavor. She just needed something to dull her mind, leaving the images blurred and the memory of her dream and the fear faded and numb. "Can I get you something?" the bartender asked. Frowning and brushing a tendril of blond hair out of his face. His blue eyes looked way to serious in stark contrast with his bulky, fit and muscled body. Lola looked at him wistfully. If only her life wasn't s**t. Then maybe she could flirt and laugh and enjoy the Nordic, Godlike beautiful man in front of her. She was sure half the girls in the club came for him. He looked at her expectantly, touching his stubble in a tired almost irritated subconscious move. Lola smiled. "Yes, can I have 3 shots of tequila and a whiskey... No ice.. Double." He lifted his eyebrows non-comittally, and started pouring. Before he could have the lemon and salt ready Lola had already downed two of the three shots and was busy with her third. She finished it and waited as he poured the whiskey with what she sensed was a very judgy attitude. Well.... She admitted to herself... She probably would have judged herself too.... If she hadn't lived the hell she had lived the last few years. "That all?" the bartender asked drolly. "For now," She nodded and turned around. All of a sudden the eeriest feeling passed through her body like a shiver. She froze. Please no... Please let this not be one of my dreams... She thought. She turned around feeling almost light headed. The beautiful viking behind the bar narrowed his eyes at her before looking behind her. Lola touched her head and tried to calm her breathing. She felt an overwhelming presence next to her. So familiar.... Fear and dread built in her stomach. "Don't mind the girl.. She's trying to end her evening early by getting drunk," the beautiful viking said to the presence next to her. She heard a grunt and even though her body was screaming for her to turn around and run, she turned her head to see the figure next to her. Even though she had never seen his face before everything about him seemed familiar. His hair was thick and black, strands of it falling carelessly in his face his eyes were pulled in a scowl and a deep scar ran across the side of his face. "You need something?" He asked in a gravelly voice. The voice seemed to vibrate through her body and she felt heat rush to her face. She turned back to the bar only to be met by beautiful viking's amused smirk. "Seems drunk girl here likes you," he said chuckling and and pouring two glasses of double whiskey, no ice. Another grunt from the man next to her. She refused to look. Instead she looked down at the whiskey that was pushed over to her. She looked up at the bartender. He gave her a brief glance and turned to the grunting stranger beside her. "Tough week?" he asked. The stranger must have given a non-verbal reply, because she heard nothing from beside her. She took a quick gulp of whiskey and enjoyed the slow burn down her throat. Then she turned, trying to find Mila in the crowd. She smiled, seeing Mila dancing with a stranger. Verris turned to watch the strange girl walk away before he turned back to his old time friend Eirik. Eirik looked over the crowd and back to Verris. "How many?" he asked Verris tersely. His steely blue eyes looking sharper. "Too many... We may need to call for some kind of support from the others...I don't want to. You know I prefer to work alone. But there are so many. There is something dark... Some kind of.... I don't know ," Verris took his hand through his hair. Eirik nodded."I'll put out a call. " He leaned his elbows on the bar and looked at Verris. "We will find the cause." "I hope so. Some of them lately have been quite strong... It reminded me of years ago..." Eirik looked over into the crowd. He sighed. The girl from earlier was grinding against some stranger. Even though she was acting the way she was he had a suspicion there was more to it than met the eye. He turned to signal one of his barmen to take over. "You staying? I'm going up to send some emails. Maybe I can get some info from the others. They might also be experiencing something similar."