by Nixon, Diana
“Eileen Clark.”
Grinning at my attempt to avoid the already created intimacy, the guy replied:
“Evan Murray. Always at your service,” he added winking, small sparkles of bright light dancing in his crystal-blue eyes. “So, you are a freshman here? Otherwise I would never have missed such a beautiful young lady,” he said with a cat-like smile on his face.
I felt my cheeks blushing for the second time in the last half an hour.
“I know that I wouldn’t have missed such a gentleman,” trying to laugh it off, I said. “Yes, you are right, it’s my first day here.”
Suddenly I was stabbed by some strange feelings. Not my feelings - anxiety and confusion as to “Where she... No, I could go?”
Christian!
I didn’t need any magic, to know exactly the source of that anxiety. Christian and Amanda had noticed my absence and were now looking for me.
“Sorry, I need to go. It was nice meeting you, Evan,” I said on the run.
“I'll see you soon, Eileen!” he shouted after me. I didn’t see face but I was sure he was still smiling brightly, following my sudden escape with his mesmerizing gaze.
The Sixth Sense, as I called it, told me that Christian and Amanda were standing in front of our dormitory - the place was already familiar to me. The very same Sixth Sense told me the way I could find them. Guessing correctly all the twists and trails, I was in the right place soon enough.
“Eileen! Where the hell have you been? We thought we’d have to go back, and look for you!” Amanda said indignantly.
“Sorry, I was deep in thoughts... and lost you,” I mumbled, catching Christian’s curious eyes on me. “But now I’m here, so there’s nothing to panic about,” I added, turning to Amanda.
“Well, I think you should get a good rest before the studies, so good night then,” said Christian, trying really hard not to stare at me again. Yet, I knew he was still as confused and shocked as I was.
“Good night, dear brother. I hope, I will like the studies as much as your stories about the parties,” having fun, said Amanda and pulled me into the building.
The room where Alexis put us was quite spacious. It was divided into two parts with a transparent screen, so that each of us had our own personal space. The bathroom was the same - two dressing tables, two baths. It looked like someone had worked very hard on the interior design.
The design of Dever in general was very modern. From the outside it looked like a huge perfectly shaped crystal stone. If anyone had ever told me that such an architectural concept was even possible, I would never believe. But I saw it with my own eyes and it looked so incredible, as if someone had lost a very beautiful diamond among the mountains. All the buildings of the campus had king-size windows and glass roofs, reflecting all the surroundings. It felt so weird and so magical at the same time. I liked it all at once.
“What subjects do you think we will have on our first day?” Amanda asked, coming out of the bathroom and wiping her wet after shower hair on the run.
“I don’t know. The list of my subjects has not even been approved yet. Alexis said that no one else has ever received an invitation before their eighteenth birthday, so most likely I'll have to wait a whole month before starting my own studies.”
“Count yourself fortunate! You can still have fun and not worry about the tests and the stuff.”
“Yes, but it's quite strange that I was invited ahead of time. I wish I'd spent this month in Sheffield, and then moved here.”
“I don’t know, Eileen, I think it's great that you will have so much free time. You will have a month to get used to this new reality of our life. I know it’s hard to believe that we are here, but I also know that everything’s gonna be okay. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. Besides, my father is here too, he will never let anything happen to us. So try to relax and don’t think about bad things. Anyway, one of us still has her first day tomorrow, so I’m going to bed,” suppressing a yawn, sleepy said Amanda, settling herself comfortably in her bed. “Good night, Eileen.”
“Good night,” quietly I said.
I still didn’t want to sleep, so I put on my favorite turquoise cashmere sweater and went to the balcony. To my surprise the night was warm and windless. I could see the lights in the windows of several other rooms. Each of them had a balcony, so I noticed some other students, not asleep yet, just like me. Sitting in a comfortable rocking chair, I began to think about the events of the day. If a few days ago I felt that my life couldn’t be changed even more, I was definitely wrong. My not very long stay in Dever literally turned everything upside down. My thoughts were in a mess, my feelings were in a mess and, guess what? My whole life looked like a blasted mess too! I didn’t know whether I would see the nightmares again when I went to bed, but apart from that, there was one more problem.
Christian…
What kind of nonsense was going on when we were together? Was my excitement in front the Alexis’ office caused by his presence there? Why do I feel everything that he feels? Or do I feel only what he feels about me?
More questions... Even fewer answers...
Having decided to leave it all until tomorrow, I returned to the room and went to bed.
Chapter 6. Dreams (Christian)
An endless stream of thoughts was rushing through my head. So I feel her, now I see her, so I touch her hand… Again and again I was thinking about what happened today. Again and again I was trying to find the answers to the million of questions that worried me so much.
Never in my life have I felt such a confusion and such a strange attraction. Yes, I was drawn to her like a magnet; I couldn't take my eyes away. Even when I looked at the remote objects I watched her with the corner of my eye, wanting to see the light blush cover her cheeks when our gazes meet, to see how excitedly she throws back her rebellious locks of long hair, to see how her eyes sparkle when light falls on them...
All of her was a mystery for me. I couldn’t understand my own feelings. But most of all I was surprised, no, rather overtaken by what I had seen when we shook hands.
And I saw the pictures... Pictures from my dreams - they were wrapped around our arms, as if invisible stems of outlandish plants. I couldn’t get that image out of my head. God only knows what she would think of me when I behaved like a freak. But something in her eyes haunts me... A look of surprise, eyes full of understanding. Could she feel and see the same things?
Eileen...
How many emotions were brought by her image into my world. Those different feelings, those new feelings...
Here and now I can’t sleep. I'm standing on the balcony, breathing in the aromas of the night and thinking about her. Stop… these are already not my thoughts.
Eileen is on the lake. How strange, I know this lake; it’s located on the west of the campus. I see how she puts her hands into the water; I see how she goes into the water, going farther and farther away, as if someone calls her there. I’m filled with fear. I'm trying to call her name, but I can’t find my voice. I’m trying to follow her, but my body is still. I can see how she disappears under the sheet of water. But I’m powerless. I'm surrounded the darkness. I feel pain, fear, and emptiness... No!
I open my eyes and see myself again standing on my balcony, trembling. Dream. It was only a dream. Her dream!
“Oh, God!” I whisper with my lips. I ran into the room, grabbing the cell phone, and call Amanda.
“Hey, Christian, we...”
“What's wrong with Eileen? Is she okay?” not letting my sister to finish the sentence, I ask still trembling from head to toe.
“How did you know? However, it doesn’t matter. Yes, she’s all right. But she had a nightmare. Again.”
“Pass her the phone, please,” I say. Amanda calls her and Eileen picks up the phone.
“Christian,” she says with exhausted and seems to be tear-stained voice.
“Eileen, can you tell me what your dream was about? It’s very important,”
as calmly as possible I'm trying to ask not to scare her even more than she already is.
“You know the answer,” she says. “Otherwise you wouldn’t call me in the middle of the night.”
“Do you mind if I come over now?”
“Sure, come.”
Having no explanation to all that just happened, I dress hurriedly, grabbing the first thing I see and run out of the room. I don’t wait until the elevator comes, and run down the stairs two floors below. Room № 408. At my knock the door is opened by sleepy Amanda.
“I don’t know what's going on with you guys, but I don’t like it at all, Christian,” she sends me a worried look.
“I know, neither do I. Where is she?”
“On the balcony. Just be careful. She’s already frightened to death by all these nightmares.”
I nodded and went to the balcony silently leaning back against the wall. Eileen, not even turning around, knew that I was there.
“I can’t stand it anymore,” in a barely audible voice she said. “I don’t know what’s happening to me and I don’t know what to do. I'm afraid to close my eyes, I'm afraid to fall asleep, I...”
Her voice broke and without saying a word, I came closer, turned her to face me and wound her in my arms. She was crying. I didn’t even need to see her face to know what she was feeling at that moment.
“We'll think of something, Eileen. I'm sure that someone from Meridin will help to interpret our dreams.”
“So you see them too,” she whispered. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, but I still answered.
“Yes. For many nights.”
“And what do you see there?” looking at me with her eyes full of water, asked Eileen. I raised my palm and wiped one tear off her cheek with my fingers.
“I see drawings, drawings on the water, which spread in circles. And some patterns on the surface of the lake. Every time I wake up because I hear someone screaming. I seem to sink into the darkness and...”
“Into the darkness... Of course!” Eileen says as if realizing something I still don’t understand. “So it's your hand I see in my dreams. Whose is the other one?”
“The other one?” I ask confused. “Eileen, I’ve never dreamed of anyone’s hands, I saw only you.”
Eileen pulled away and looked at me puzzled.
“Just me? I can’t be possible. What did you see today?”
“As you walk into the lake, farther and farther away, and then disappear. I want to help you, but I can’t. I can’t call you, I can’t even move,” I say, still feeling wild fear freezing my veins.
“And I see Christian, as someone calls me into that lake, and I can’t resist this calling. I go into the depth, but I don’t understand why I do this, though I do know that I don’t want to go there. It’s terrible. And then, the light around me disappears and I feel the pain, not mine, your pain, Christian. I feel everything you feel.
“So today in the Alexis’ office...”
“Yes, I saw everything that you saw,” Eileen nodded helplessly. She sat in the chair, pursed her knees and wrapped her arms around them. I couldn’t stand to see her in such a miserable state. I took a deep breath and hunkered down in front of her, taking a few locks of hair away from her face.
“Let's go back to the room,” I said. “It’s cold here. And you need to get some rest.”
“I don’t want to, I don’t want to fall asleep again,” like a naughty child she said, shaking her head. I even smiled a little. I sat down next to her, put my arm around her waist, pulling her closer to my chest and touched her forehead with my lips, taking her breath away. However, she wasn’t the one caught off guard there. My heart stopped and I froze feeling again that weird sensation I felt watching Eileen’s picture, send by Amanda just a few days ago. My thoughts blurred when every inch of my body leaned to that girl sitting next to me. Some unknown excitement wrapped us in its embrace and I knew Eileen could feel it too. She looked at me and our gazes locked, sending millions of silent messages to each other.
“I will stay with you, I won’t go away,” I said quietly.
Eileen sneered breaking the contact.
“You're talking just like my grandmother.”
I laughed in response trying to ease the tension between us.
“Well, I‘ve never been compared to someone’s grandmother before!”
“But you behave just like her and you both don’t tell me how awful I look, when crying,” Eileen added, covering her face with her hands.
I just shook my head and followed her into the room. At that moment, she was so beautiful that even her tears couldn’t spoil what I saw in her.
When we entered, Amanda was sitting on Eileen’s bed, holding a cup of hot chocolate.
“I grabbed this at home and I knew that it would be useful,” she said smiling, holding out a cup for Eileen.
“Maybe you can find some more chocolate for me as well?” I asked.
“You will owe me, Christian. Many more sleepless nights and all my stocks will run out fast!” she warned.
“Don’t worry, sis, I’ll buy you some more chocolate for Christmas,” I assured her, smiling genuinely.
“Only if this present is one of many others,” said Amanda strictly.
I turned to Eileen and sat on the edge of her bed.
“Feel better?”
“Much better,” she admitted. “Don’t know what I would have done without you, Faireys,” she grinned, looking at Amanda and me.
Something occurred to me just then.
“Eileen, can I ask you something? Amanda said that Nora had called you Fairey...”
“Yeah, it was weird, but I can’t explain it.”
“I see,” I nodded disappointedly.
“I hope that someday we’ll find the answers at least to some of our questions. And, Christian, you don’t have to stay here overnight. I'll be all right. Really,” Eileen said, squeezing my hand.
“Are you sure? If you still change your mind, or...”
“I'll call you,” she smiled. “And thanks for everything. Sorry I didn’t let you sleep well.”
“It’s not your fault. Sweet, chocolate dreams,” hinting at the cup in her hands, I said. “If this thing works for you, as well as for me, you will spend the rest of the night in a dream. In a good dream.”
I leaned over and left a light kiss on her cheek. Already turning to the door, I noticed a familiar glow.
We both felt some invisible electricity flowing between us. And I liked it. A lot.
Once in the hallway, I almost knocked over Amanda, who spilled some of my chocolate on the floor.
“No gratitude, Christian!” she flared up.
“Thank you, dear,” I said, taking my cup and left.
Chapter 7. New sensations (Eileen)
If Christian hoped that after such a good buy I would be able to fall asleep, then he was wrong. And not because his kiss, getting so deep under my skin, no. Now, my cheek, where he left that very kiss tingled with already familiar warmth. And that warmth wasn’t only on the cheek; it spilled all over my body. Just like hot chocolate. God, I had to play it cool, but I couldn’t. And yet, I felt… calm? Once again, I tried to listen to my feelings, just my own feelings. I felt really calm, and there was no more fear.
“Eileen?” judging by the voice, it wasn’t the first time that Amanda called my name. “Could you explain, please, what has happened between you and Christian? He almost knocked me down, and you sit here with that stupid smile on your face, and... Wait a minute, I know this little smile,” Amanda grinned.
“I don’t understand what you are talking about,” I said, as calmly as possible, putting the empty cup on the table, and going to sleep.
This time I didn’t dream, but pleasant warmth and serenity never left me till the morning.
The next day I woke up from the heels clip-clop. Opening my eyes, I saw Amanda, with incredible speed running around the room like a small hurricane.
“Morning, swee
tie. Sorry, I overslept and now I’m terribly late for my first day of studying,” she said apologizing. “But I’ll be gone soon, and you'll be able to enjoy the remnants of your sweet dreams.”
Something in her voice told me that my friend was trying to allude to something.
“What do you mean?” I asked, getting up.
“Just what I said. I couldn’t fall asleep last night and saw you smiling sweetly in your dream. That's it. Okay, I have to go now,” Amanda said already over the threshold. “By the way, Christian promised to drop in.”
“Christian, what?!” I asked in surprise.
Unfortunately, I had to address this question to the closed door. Fine! He saw me yesterday in tears, but now my face didn’t look any better. Damn, couldn’t she wake me up earlier?!
“What a friend she is!” I thought on the way to the bathroom. But luck wasn’t on my side today, because, not having gone even a few steps, I heard a knock at the door. Glancing at myself in the mirror and trying to do something with my messy hair, I went to open it.
“Good morning, Eileen!”
“Oh, no!” I groaned mentally. There wasn’t Christian in the doorway, there was Evan! So now everyone will know how good I look after an almost sleepless night. Couldn’t be better!
“Good morning. Sorry, I just woke up and had no time to do myself up,” I said frustrated, inviting him in.
“I think you look great. Did you sleep well?”
He must be kidding me! I stared at him in disbelief. Oh, right, he doesn’t know anything...
“Almost,” I snapped. “Frankly speaking, it was quite unusual to fall asleep at the new place.”
“I was actually sent here by Alexis,” started Evan. “She couldn’t come herself, but I have good news.”
“Really?” I asked doubtfully. Was there anything I still could call as good news?
“Yes. As it was expected, the beginning of your studies has been suspended for a month. But instead you have to go through special training.”
“Oh, and who will do this training with me? Alexis?” I wondered.