The Nightmare Affair

by Mindee Arnett

  “Oh, yes. You know how Nightmares are,” said Katarina. “Think they’re succubi, don’t they? She came to their last dream-session wearing lingerie. As if Eli would ever look at her when he has me.”

  Selene punched me in the shoulder, and whispered, “Don’t listen to them. Kat’s just jealous and insecure.”

  “You think so?” I whispered back in my most sarcastic tone.

  “Yes, I do. You share a connection with Eli that she can never have.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “The only thing we share is an hour’s worth of boring, pointless dreams.” This wasn’t precisely true, but I’d decided it was up to Lady Elaine and the senate to judge the significance of Eli’s dreams. I was just the observer. “Eli doesn’t even talk to me or anything.”

  “That’s just because you’re avoiding him.” Selene made a face. “Oh, don’t pretend it’s not true. Eli’s attracted to you. I can tell. He stares at you when he doesn’t think you’re looking. I’ve caught him doing it a bunch, and I’m sure Katarina has, too.”

  My stomach did a little flip at the idea, but I ignored it. It couldn’t possibly be true. Selene was just trying to make me feel better.

  “And it doesn’t matter anyway,” Selene said, shaking her head. “She would hate you regardless.”

  I huffed. “What did I ever do to deserve that? I mean, besides the stupid snake incident.”

  “That’s just it.” Selene poked me in the shoulder with her index finger. “You did the worst thing possible to a siren. You made her unattractive in the eyes of others. I mean, she ate worms.”

  I couldn’t resist a smile. It had been pretty gross.

  “And you might find this hard to believe, but Katarina really is insecure. She can’t help it. A lot of us—sirens, that is—are insecure. It’s kind of our Achilles’ heel.” Selene tucked a piece of black hair that had come loose from her braid behind her ear. “We can’t help being attractive, but it’s not really us but our magic. You know? Makes it hard to be certain that the people around us like us for who we are and not because of what we look like or how we make them feel.”

  I blinked, completely surprised by her speech. It was so unlike her to be so open. And even though she was talking about Katarina, I knew she was talking about herself, too.

  “Besides,” Selene went on, a slight flush in her cheeks. “You’re really pretty and smart and funny and it’s all you. Not magic. Katarina can’t help but be jealous about that. And she knows sooner or later that Eli will figure out the difference, too. It’s inevitable.”

  I rolled my eyes, embarrassed by the compliment.

  Katarina was looking directly at me now and speaking even louder than before. “I mean how many times does Eli have to say no before she gets it?”

  “I think you should seriously consider the snake thing again,” said Selene, equally as loud.

  “Would if I could, but—” I broke off, remembering the truth about my magic.

  “Beats me,” said Carla. “Then again, Nightmares aren’t known for being smart, right?”

  Selene flashed them the double finger.

  Katarina grinned so maliciously, I contemplated casting a jinx at her, maybe the silencer so nobody could hear her talk or the jab aimed at her nose, see if I could break it. I’d had enough of being docile. Ever since what I’d done to her in Eli’s dream I’d been trying to be nice, but enough was enough.

  I flipped her the finger instead.

  “Put it down.” Selene grabbed my hand and forced me to lower it. Too late, I realized Mr. Ankil had seen me.

  He came over, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. He looked oddly pale and tired. His long hair appeared as if he hadn’t washed it in days. I wondered if he were sick or something. “I think that’s quite enough of that, Dusty.”

  “Okay,” I said, somewhat stunned by the reprimand. Ankil rarely played the part of disciplinarian. I thought he of all people would understand, given what he’d shared with me about his own picked-on childhood.

  He nodded absently in my direction, his mind and attention already elsewhere. He looked around, unconsciously wringing his hands over and over again.

  “Is something wrong, Mr. Ankil?” I asked.

  “What?” He looked sharply back at me as if he’d forgotten about me already. His voice trembled as he answered, “Oh. Not at all. Just behave yourself, Dusty.” He walked away.

  “That was weird,” I said, ignoring the victorious grin on Katarina’s face.

  “Yeah, I know. But he’s been acting strange lately,” said Selene.

  I thought about it for a moment and realized she was right. The last couple of days his classes had been oddly subdued, less hands-on and more time spent reading the textbook or answering essay questions. “I wonder— Oh, crap.”

  “What?” Selene said.

  “It’s him,” I whispered, ducking behind her. “Hide me.” Paul was walking down the hallway toward us. I pressed my shoulder against the wall and pushed Selene farther out for coverage. Not that her slender personage was nearly big enough to accomplish the task.

  Paul stopped when he reached us. I couldn’t help it. I stepped beside Selene to see him more clearly. I ran my fingers over my hair, trying to make it lay flat. At least the pink polka dots were finally gone.

  “Hey, Dusty,” he said.

  “I don’t think she wants to talk to you.” Selene crossed her arms in front of her, fixing him with her sternest glare. She looked more tomboy than ever.

  “I know. I don’t blame her.” Paul shifted his gaze from Selene to me. “But please let me explain.”

  “Humph,” said Selene.

  I knew I ought to tell him to take a hike, but I wanted to hear what he had to say. He looked every bit as pale and tired as Mr. Ankil. The telltale yellow color of a half-healed bruise rimmed his right cheek, and his nose appeared even more crooked than I remembered. I wondered if he’d taken up boxing or something.

  When his rich brown eyes locked on mine, I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t still attracted to him. “You have two minutes.”

  Paul glanced at Selene and shifted the backpack on his shoulder, clearly uncomfortable with talking in front of her. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. “I was sick.”

  Selene snorted. “Too sick to call?”

  Paul ignored her, keeping his gaze on me. “I got hurt the Saturday morning before we were supposed to go out and ended up at Vejovis for a while.”

  My eyes widened. Vejovis was the local magickind hospital, but students rarely went there. Most ailments and injuries could be treated by the nurses who worked in Arkwell’s infirmary. Only serious injuries ever required the level of magic the doctors at Vejovis provided. It must’ve been bad if Paul had ended up there.

  “What happened?” I asked, taking a closer look at him. Besides the old bruise on his face, I couldn’t spot anything else wrong.

  “I … went home Friday night and fell down some stairs. Broke a couple of bones.” He purposefully turned to Selene, pointing to the yellow spot beneath his eye. “Including my cheekbone. Talking hurt.” He looked back at me. “By the time I could talk, I didn’t know what to say. I knew you’d think I stood you up. I just got back to school today, and I wanted to explain what happened in person.”

  I swallowed, thinking about all the times the past two weeks I’d wished something bad would happen to him. “I’m sorry you were hurt. But you’re okay now?” It was a stupid question, but I couldn’t think of anything better.

  “Yeah, I’m fine—better now.”

  Selene frowned. “You fell down the stairs and broke your cheekbone?”

  I winced at the skepticism in her voice, even as a part of me agreed with her. It did seem an unlikely thing to happen.

  Paul shifted his backpack again. “It was a bad fall. There were lots of steps. I broke my wrist, too, and sprained an ankle.”

  “Ouch,” I said.

  Paul opened his mouth to reply, but the loud creak of the
gym doors opening stopped him. We all turned to look as the first in line finally started moving inside.

  “Let the fun begin,” Paul said, stepping in beside me. It seemed his level of enthusiasm for the assembly was on par with Selene’s. He moved in close to me, our bodies nearly touching.

  Most of the talking stopped as everybody filed in and sat down. The three of us ended up in the top row of the bleachers, which was nice. If this thing really was as boring as Selene claimed, at least I could lean my back against the wall and nod off. Well, I could if I’d wanted to, but with Paul present, I didn’t think I would be so inclined.

  It took more than twenty minutes to get everybody seated. Fortunately, Katarina and her friends were in the next section, adding enough distance that I wouldn’t have to listen to any more taunts. I wondered where Eli was, and I looked around, hoping to find him sitting elsewhere, a sure indicator that the relationship was in trouble.

  No such luck.

  Eli jogged up the stairs in between the two sections a few minutes later. His eyes met mine, his expression dark and intense like always. My heart seemed to seize in my chest. He looked away first, shifting his gaze to Paul. A disapproving frown curved his lips. Was Selene right? No, don’t be silly, I told myself as Eli turned and sat down beside Katarina.

  Dr. Hendershaw appeared on the makeshift stage set in the center of the gym floor. She gave us the usual welcome stuff, then handed the microphone over to the show choir director, Mrs. Hovick. Hovick, along with all the show choir performers, male and female, was a siren. Selene couldn’t stand her, but I found her entertaining in a ditzy, over-the-top kind of way.

  She introduced the choir, who then performed. Chickery High School had a show choir, too, but it was nothing like this. When the sirens began to dance and sing everybody in the gymnasium went quiet, completely mesmerized. A pleasant, tingly warmth swept over my body as my thoughts turned fuzzy. I was vaguely aware of Selene muttering beside me something about how wrong it was for sirens to be made into sexual objects in front of the whole school and how there was so much more to sirens than being beautiful. I didn’t pay her any mind, my eardrums too enchanted to listen.

  When they finished, I stood and cheered same as everybody. As the sirens exited the stage, the force of their magic slowly faded. I once again became aware of myself, where I was, and what I was doing—sitting in a darkened gym next to Paul Kirkwood. We sat so close, his leg and shoulder touched mine. I couldn’t resist tilting my head toward him. My heartbeat quickened as he did the same.

  Before us, a movie started, displayed in the area over the stage. Well, it was more of a hologram than an actual movie, the 3-D images created by magic rather than any type of electronic equipment. The voice-over began to narrate the history and significance of Samhain while images flashed, documentary style. The narrator explained that Samhain was a time when the wild magic that dwelled between the realm of the living and the dead was allowed to run free and renew all the magic reservoirs in the world, like the one that supposedly resided beneath the grounds of Arkwell itself.

  I did my best to focus on the presentation, but I didn’t catch more than a sentence or two. I was too preoccupied with the sound of Paul’s breathing, the way he shifted in his seat, and especially how good he smelled, the scent somehow intensified in the darkness.

  “So, speaking of Samhain,” Paul said, leaning close. His breath tickled my ear, sending shivers over my skin. “Any chance you’d go to the dance with me tomorrow?”

  I held my breath, unsure of what to say. I wanted to so badly. But I was afraid of getting hurt again.

  “That is, if you don’t already have a date.”

  I almost laughed. Me? The Nightmare? I shook my head. “How do I know you’ll come through this time?” I turned toward him so that our eyes met.

  A stricken expression crossed his face, and I almost regretted doubting him. His story about the fall down the stairs might not be true, but there was no denying he’d gotten hurt somehow. Paul reached over and took my hand in his. A pleasant thrill slid up my arm into my chest.

  “I will,” he said. And then he held my hand through the entire assembly. His touch was all the promise I needed.

  * * *

  That night, I decided to go to my dream-session with Eli on time for once, confident and unafraid of facing him for the first time in days. Only that confidence vanished completely when I stepped into the dorm room and saw a shirtless Eli emerge from the bedroom. His bare chest was even more stunning than I remembered, that black scorpion tattoo and rock-hard abs.

  Realizing too late I was gaping at him, I forced my mouth shut. Eli smirked as he slid a T-shirt over his head.

  “Long time no see,” he said, pulling the shirt down around his hips.

  I shrugged, trying to play it cool even though my face felt like it was on fire. Just remember Paul, I thought. Just remember Paul. To my relief, it helped.

  Eli turned and sat down on the sofa in the place I normally occupied while I waited for him to fall asleep. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. I haven’t been avoiding you.”

  Eli arched an eyebrow at me. “Uh-huh. Right. That’s why I haven’t talked to you since the night you ditched gym.”

  Since the night I terrified you with my evil, Nightmare powers, I silently added for him. “It’s not like we hang with the same crowd.”

  He didn’t answer, but stared at me for a couple of moments, his face expressionless. I contemplated sitting in the chair he normally occupied, but I didn’t feel like walking past him just now. I hadn’t managed to get the sight of him half-naked out of my head, and it was making me jumpy. With my luck, I’d probably trip and break something.

  “So who was that guy you were sitting with during the assembly?”

  I blinked, surprised by Eli’s tone. He didn’t sound annoyed exactly, but I could tell it wasn’t just a casual question, either. “Nobody to you.”

  Eli grunted. “Is he your boyfriend or something?”

  “Nah, I just like to randomly hold hands with strangers.”

  “Is that so?” He turned sideways and stretched out, laying his head on one arm of the sofa with his feet dangling over the side of the other. “I guess that’s why you’ve never held—” He broke off, yawning hugely. Then he fell asleep.

  I stared at him for a long time, wondering what he’d been about to say. Then I walked over and climbed on top of him, grateful he’d chosen the sofa this time. It made my job a lot easier.

  I entered his dream, wanting to get this over quickly. When the dream world solidified around me, I saw the familiar setting of Chickery High School’s gymnasium as it normally looked for the homecoming dance. Red and white streamers hung from the walls and across the ceiling. More streamers rimmed the tables set around the edges of the dance floor. Loud pop music blared from the speakers, providing some sense of beat to the chaos of writhing bodies.

  I saw Eli nearby, dancing with Katarina. I considered switching into my old-lady disguise to hide from him again, but I never got the chance as a strange, horrible sight drew my attention. In the center of the dance floor, towering over the heads of the students, was a Minotaur. It was dancing along with the music, having a good time, just one of the crowd. A huge iron ring hung from its snout. Blood dripped from it, splattering the creature’s bare chest with crimson.

  I took a step toward it, trying to make sense of its presence in Eli’s dream. A loud shriek rang out above the music, and I froze in place. I looked up, my head pounding with a sudden surge of adrenaline as I saw the black phoenix swoop down at the dancing crowd, claws outstretched, beak opened. Before I could react, it grabbed the Minotaur by the neck and ripped its head from its body with a sickening crack. The students began to scream as the creature’s huge body fell to the floor, blood spurting from its neck.

  The next thing I knew, Eli was standing beside me, his face slack with shock as people swarmed past u
s in a frenzied panic. Seeing his fear only increased my own. I didn’t want to deal with this. Not now. Not ever. I’d seen enough and didn’t want to see anymore. I pulled back from the dream and fled before Eli woke up. I went to bed as soon as I finished typing my dream journal. But I didn’t sleep. Not for a long, long time.

  13

  Samhain

  Paul picked me up at my dorm room before the dance. Selene and her date, a siren by the name of Justin Damico, had already left. I spent a whole ten minutes by myself, utterly convinced I would be stood up again. But Paul’s knock sounded promptly at seven-thirty, and I hurried to answer, almost breathless with relief.

  “Hello,” he said, taking in the sight of my dress, an off-the-shoulder ball gown made of gold silk overlaid with cream-colored lace. “Wow. You look great.”

  A flutter rose in my chest at the way he looked at me, his mouth half-opened, his eyes wide. I didn’t consider myself very pretty, but his expression made me feel like I was. I’d borrowed the gown from Selene. It was beautiful, though there was no helping my unfortunate red hair, which even now was starting to frizz despite the liberal amounts of hair products I applied.

  Paul, of course, was a knockout in his black suit and black tie offset by a red waistcoat. “So do you,” I said.

  “Where’s your mask?” He glanced behind me at all the mess in the dorm room.

  “One sec.” I retrieved the matching gold-colored mask from beside my computer. The Samhain dance was a masquerade ball, the first I’d ever attended. I felt a little silly as I slid the mask on, but it was sort of fun, too. The mask was a Columbina, according to Selene, which meant it only covered the top half of my face. Bedecked in feathers and sequins, I looked a bit like a golden peacock.

  I came back to the door. “What about yours?”

  Paul reached up and pulled his mask down from the top of his head, where he’d been wearing it like a pair of sunglasses. It was a Columbina, too, but just a simple unadorned black. Combined with his blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, he looked like he could grace the cover of a romance novel.