The elevator doors sprung open with a ding. Aelia narrowed her eyes at the welcome but overwhelming rays of the sun. Her heels tapped along the highly polished black stone floors. The building’s security guard, Teobaldo, jumped from his seat as she approached. His belly jiggled, hanging over the too tight pants. His shirt stretched wide and pulled at the seams as two yellowed stains spread underneath each arm. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Dejournett. Your husband called. He said he would pick you up by the fountains.” Everything about the man screamed nervousness, from the shifty eyes and continued wringing of his hands.
“Thank you. Take any messages while I’m gone.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded and plopped back in his chair, which squeaked its displeasure.
She all but floated into the afternoon sun, warming her face, letting the heat and light cascade over and through her. She had spent too many hours underground with nothing but old parchment and scrolls to keep her company. But not anymore, not since she’d met Felix a little over two years ago. When her time as Librarian was over, she could stay here in Rome, with him. She couldn’t wait.
Her hurried footsteps carried her out of the hidden little alcove of the building and near the busy streets of Piazza Barberini where the Fonata del Tritone fountain, one of many Roman tourist attractions, drew the crowds daily. Felix’s dark blue Lexus sedan pulled over from the road circling the fountains, stopping to pick her up. His daughters—no, she corrected herself—her stepdaughters, waved from the backseat. This was a surprise!
She slid into the passenger seat, feeling overdressed and horny. She eyed Felix, giving him a ‘why didn’t you tell me they were coming look,’ before turning in the seat to the girls’ squeals.
“Surprise, Mommy!” Little Jadon stretched her arms through the opening and hugged her as best as she could in the small space. Their biological mother had died from breast cancer when Emma was less than a year old. Aelia would never try and replace her, but when the girls began calling her Mommy she and Felix had been overjoyed.
Emma smiled, her two front teeth missing, sticking her chest out. “Daddy picked us up early from school so we could have a picnic in the park!”
“He did?” Aelia settled back into the seat, wondering why he wouldn’t have warned her. Here she thought they would be doing much more grown-up things while on his lunch hour. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dressed quite so slutty. Panic flooded her at the thought of a picnic. She seriously regretted not putting on panties.
As if reading her thoughts, Felix chuckled, eyes cast downward, and heat spread through her. He reached forward, grabbing her seatbelt, letting his hand graze across her breasts with the faintest touch, before buckling her in. She shuddered, settling back into the seat, as Felix pulled into traffic.
As a dream thief, an immortal, living since before time was time, she’d never dared to hope she could be this happy. Sure, she’d had human companions through the long centuries. She’d loved them too, but nothing could compare to what she had now. First, unlike her last marriage, humans were more open to the strange and different. Her last partner had thought her a devil and had set their home ablaze while she’d slept. She shuddered at the memory of the flames devouring her body, the unbearable pain as her skin and fat, burned, melted, healed, and burned again. Her immortal body fought to keep her alive, rendering her unable to move, or to escape, before finally succumbing to the fire, body turning to ash, altogether different from one of flames, and let her regenerate at her spot on the outskirts of the Vatican.
“Cold, my darling?” Felix squeezed her leg as goosebumps rippled across her exposed flesh.
“No. Just bad memories.”
With one hand on the wheel, he slid the other to clasp hers and brought the back of her hand to his lips. “No more.”
Foolishness allowed her to smile and let his words reassure her. Deep down, she knew this could never last. It was no matter that she loved him fiercer than any human before, nothing could stop time. He would grow old and die. As always, she shoved the thoughts away.
The girls giggled in the backseat, heads pushed together, staring at Jadon’s phone and some silly video. No, she decided, she would take this happiness. Every so often she needed this to remember why the dream thieves had to steal bad dreams. Those dreams changed to ideas, a very dangerous thing indeed, and would lead to bad consequences the world couldn’t imagine. Human life was worth preserving. And she’d never gotten to experience being a mother. Sure, for her, a human lifetime was nothing. Regardless, she decided she would enjoy every second with Felix that she could, and, with Jadon and Emma, she could experience their childhoods.
Dream thieves appeared centuries ago at their regeneration spots, fully grown, and knowing every language. They’d never been children, and she, for one, had never really interacted with any children. Felix changed everything. That day she’d met him in the coffee shop had been her own lucky twist of fate. She’d impressed him with her knowledge and taste for exotic coffees and teas. It wasn’t long before she considered letting him in and trusting him with her secret. She wasn’t human and lived forever. She couldn’t eat, only drink coffee, tea, alcohol, and water. But before she could tell him, something amazing happened. She died. Or rather, the bus she’d been traveling lost control, damaging her immortal body bad enough that she’d regenerated. Only when she’d appeared this time, she wasn’t just human in shape. She’d developed every human part.
Aelia could eat and drink anything she wanted, and, with Felix, could finally experience love the way it was meant to be experienced. After centuries of never having an orgasm, she was hell-bent on making up for lost time, hence the slutty outfit and their frequent lunchtime meetings. But she’d happily give that up for the girls, at least for today. Tomorrow her beast of a husband was all hers.
Eventually, Aelia planned to tell Felix the whole truth and the miracle he’d brought her. Despite looking and acting like a regular human, missing the super strength and healing, she still held her power as Librarian. She remained bound in the role to rule the other dream thieves until another could take over, but for the last two years, everything was perfect.
Felix pulled into the parking lot of Castel Sant’Angelo—a beautiful new park and playground area just behind a castle, every new age girl’s fantasy backyard.
The girls jumped out before the car had settled. They ran, trampling over a mulch covered garden, heading for the new playground area fit with a jungle gym, twisting slides, and swing sets. Aelia watched the girls running, the sounds of excited laughter trailing behind them as they experienced such joy in something so simple.
“Come on, Mom!” Emma waved from the top of the gym.
Felix handed Aelia a bag. Raising one eyebrow, she peeked inside. Socks, tennis shoes, a pair of cotton shorts, and a t-shirt. “I thought you might find those a bit more comfortable.”
Smiling, she hurried away to the restroom to change. Minutes later, she jogged toward the girls, unable to hide her own wide smile. Jadon, a tiny thing for a five-year-old, dashed into her wide arms. Her sweet young face, with long black eyelashes, olive skin, just like her father’s, nestled against her shoulder. She rubbed a hand over her little girl’s long, curly hair.
“Come on!” Jadon led her toward the playground. Jadon let her hand slip away and hurried up the steps, as if the slide wouldn’t be there in just a few moments. Aelia held herself back, enjoying every moment. At the top, Jadon pointed at the slide. “I’m going on your lap!”
“Is that right?” Aelia lowered herself to the open area in front of the slide, pulling the girl in her lap, and pushed off. They slid down much slower than Aelia would have thought, but then again, these slides weren’t designed for a grown-up’s size or weight.
At the bottom, Jadon jumped off, running to do the whole thing again as her pink and purple t-shirt slipped sideways, revealing her tanned shoulder.
Emma ran to join them, and this time it was her turn to ride down on Aelia’s lap.
They went slower with the bigger nine-year-old Emma. Tiny hairs pulling out of Emma’s ponytail tickled Aelia’s nose. “My goodness Emma, do you own any other shirts?”
Emma glanced down at the faded gray and white t-shirt Aelia had bought her when she’d taken her to an all-girl rock band’s concert called Pretty in Punk last year. “What? I love it!”
“I know, but it’s getting holes in it.”
“Who cares?” Emma rolled her eyes, heading over to the swings.
Felix called from the nearby picnic table where he’d set wrapped up turkey panini sandwiches for himself and the girls. “Then I guess you’ll have to get a new one at the concert tomorrow!”
Emma stopped dead in her tracks, spinning to face her dad. “What?”
Felix crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest, stretching the light blue polo shirt. His dark hair curled around his forehead and brushed over the tips of his ears. His handsome face brightened in a mischievous smile. He reached one hand behind him, extracting several slender papers, and waved them in the air. “Tickets for their concert tomorrow. One for each of us.”
Emma screamed, bouncing with an ecstatic smile, racing toward her father. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Little Jadon snuck up behind Aelia, pouting, “I want to go, too.”
Felix backed away from his embrace with Emma. “I said for all of us. That means you too, my little princess.”
“Really!” Jadon grabbed Aelia’s leg for the briefest of hugs before racing toward her father and sister.
Doubt wormed its way into the happy moment. “My love,” Aelia didn’t want to meet his gaze. “Where is the concert?”
“Naples.”
The joy at seeing their happiness faded faster than if she’d doused herself with ice water. “You know I can’t go that far.” As a semi-human Librarian, she could only go so far away from Cos before the pull hurt too much for her to continue.
“But, Mom.” Emma put a hand to her hips.
“Please.” Jadon stretched the word. “Just this one time.”
They had no idea just how strong the connection the Librarian had with the Cos. And for the billionth time, she cursed whatever damn god or gods had made her into this.
“Please.” Emma pouted.
“Pretty please!” Jadon put her hands together like a prayer.
“Please Mommy!” Emma squeezed her eyes shut.
In all this time, she hadn’t tried to push past the Librarian’s barrier. Perhaps with this new half-human side, she could travel wherever she wished. Besides, who could say no to those sweet, pouting faces? “Alright.”
The girls squealed in delight, but dread ran through her, worse than any real threat. This is a very bad idea, she thought.
35
The packed car loomed in front of Aelia like a tiger ready to strike. She’d changed her mind and told Felix and the girls she couldn’t possibly go. Felix pleaded with her, along with the girls, for hours and hours last night. The concert was a hundred miles away from Rome, so much farther than the Librarian had ever been meant to go. Felix didn’t know the exact details of what she did, or what she was, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t quite explain to him the connection she had as Librarian to the Cos.
“But my Bella, you have computers now. You don’t need to be so near in today’s world. Please, it would mean so much to me and the girls.”
She didn’t disagree. The tie to the Cos had become outdated. For what did she really do except sit underground all day, entering in the old text into the new system, and check in on the other dream thieves? At least in today’s world, she could see and experience some of the outside world through the internet. Still, whomever or whatever controlled them all hadn’t received the memo that today was a brand-new world.
In the end, she’d given in. Long after the girls fell asleep, Felix’s expert hands and mouth and manhood had brought her pleasure again and again. The release was so intense, she’d have agreed to anything. Now, facing the dew-laden ground, with the first hues of the sun peeking over the ancient buildings, she realized she should’ve stood her ground. Felix placed a well-stocked cooler in the trunk piled with snacks for the girls and brought a thermos of his famous coffee just for her along with her favorite blueberry scone. Jadon and Emma chatted with broad smiles on their faces, eyes aglow with excitement for the day’s travel and the concert later that afternoon. Felix planned to spend the day touring the town before the concert.
His eyes cast upward, meeting the doubt and resistance in hers. He shook his head, jogging around the car. “Oh no, no, no. You’re not changing your mind on me now.” His arm gripped her elbow, firm but gentle, guided her to the car, and opened the door for her.
“Felix. I can’t.”
He scoffed, edging her further. “Let’s go, my darling.”
Her heart ached. How she wanted to go with them. Cursing herself for the idiocy and worse insults for the creators, she slid inside the car, palms sweaty, her heart vibrating like a time bomb underneath her chest. Why shouldn’t she be able to go just a few hours away?
Sweat tickled along her brow as Felix took his place in the driver’s side and a wide smile spread across his face. After he slipped on his seatbelt, they set off.
The radio blared music as his calloused fingers tapped on the steering wheel in time with the beat, and he sang along. The car glided through the streets of Rome with none of the anxiety clawing at Aelia. Once past the city, he picked up speed as one song changed into another then another. The streets narrowed, convoluting into serpentine pathways, with farmland stretching as far as the eye could see.
Aelia glanced in the rearview mirror. Her enlarged pupils widened at the greenish hue on her pale cheeks. She wiped sweaty palms on her cotton pants and tried to take slow, steady breaths as her internal alarm hummed inside her. With each passing mile, the hum intensified, and a new sensation accompanied it. A tug, like a rope was strapped around her waist, pulled at her middle. At first the tug came as a quick tap, tap, the power giving her a gentle reminder. She ignored it, turned on the air, and concentrated on the road. Later, the tug yanked at her middle. She gasped, clutched her stomach, and swallowed the nausea.
Felix rubbed her knee. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She lied. It wasn’t fair! She should be able to go to the concert! She should be able to be with her family! To have a life!
The yanks came again and again. Still, she ignored them. Her stomach twisted, a growing pain ripping inside her. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around her stomach, and then something warm trickled from her nose. The hardest jolt of all pushed her over the edge. She cried out, coughing up trickles of blood.
“Bella! What’s wrong?” Felix cried, sounding far, far away.
The internal alarm zinged through her head like an ax splitting her skull. She knew only a half of a second before it was going to happen. Lightening hot pain flashed, and her body disintegrated, turning to dust. Then there was nothing.
No light. No sound. No time.
As soon as it began, the nothingness ended.
The sensation of falling overwhelmed all other senses, except the voices, those that guided and directed her. Memories of those voices whispered to her, sweet murmurings of love and kindness. This time they bit at her, angry, stinging and slashing at her. Light burst all around, blinding her, as tears sprung to her eyes. She fell down, and down, and down. The ground rushed up to meet her.
The ground exploded around her. Rocks ripped into her skin, and her skull split. Pain, pain, and more pain rolled over her again and again as her body righted itself. Something wet and squishy rested against her cheek, but she couldn’t tell what it was. Half of the world had gone dark. She raised a shaking, dirt and blood-stained hand, and pushed her eye back in the socket. Never had she regenerated like this. Every other time she’d fallen, but it was always as if she was landing on a hundred feet of freshly fallen snow. The voices, whoever or whatever they were, were
punishing her.
“Uhh,” she muttered, but the words “I’m sorry” wouldn’t form from the misshapen jaw. Her leg cracked, snapping into place. The bones knitted themselves back together. Her insides wiggled. Her injuries inched closed, nothing like the rapidness she’d grown accustomed to before being changed to semi-human. Another punishment.
What felt like hours later, she’d healed enough to stand. Her legs wobbled, thin and weak, no longer the thick, muscular legs she’d had since the dawn of time. She choked out a sob as she beheld the missing slit of woman-ness. The creators had given her a gift and now taken it away. No longer could she lose herself with Felix as they made love. No more could she share foods and drinks with him. She bit on her still-healing hand to stifle the scream not from pain, but from her heart breaking. Had trying to go just a few hours really been so bad? A hate began to swell up inside her. She didn’t deserve this. It wasn’t fair. She rolled back down on the ground, letting silent tears rack through her body until she’d cried her already fragile soul to the point of passing out.
She forced herself to rise and limp to the hidden compartment she’d kept belongings stashed for centuries deep in the Vatican Gardens. Her hands shook on the lock, opening the suitcase. The tank top hung shapelessly over her chest. The sweatpants sagged over the accentuated sharp hip bones. At least the socks and shoes still fit. Her blond hair hung in a tangled vine to her waist, the short bob gone after the regeneration. An overlarge jacket hung to her shins, and she crammed her hair into a hat. Using a few wet wipes, she cleaned off her face and hands the best she could. Each of the ten wipes came away less and less covered with dirt and blood.
The Dream Awakened Page 19