"Dreams: Chapter Two" by Christina Stratton

"Angelica! You'll never guess what happened!" Aubrey was panting by the time she caught up to her pal. The school day was about to start and Aubrey wanted badly to tell of the night before. She and Bryant had been at her house when suddenly they were kissing. Aubrey could still feel the tingling sensation on her lips.

"What do you want? You ignored me yesterday and then spent the night with Bryant. Now you want to talk to me? What could be that important?" Angelica was clearly pissed at her for blowing her off to spend the night studying.

"Well Bryant wasn't studying; he was just sitting there on the couch, staring at me like I had done something wrong. So, I asked him what was wrong and he basically told me I was beautiful, and then we kissed-"

"-What the hell is wrong with you? You let that asshole kiss you?" Angelica cut her off.

"Angelica, calm down! It was just a kiss, nothing more I promise." Although I wish it was more, Aubrey thought.

"Calm down? Calm down? How can I calm down when you throw yourself at a guy you hardly know? You have known him for a total of what, three weeks? You are doing everything in your power to get this guy. Why?" Angelica looked exasperated and just looked down at her feet. Before Aubrey could answer, the bell rang for first period. She would answer Angelica at lunch, maybe.

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Aubrey walked home by herself after school. No rides from anyone, not even Bryant. The talk with Angelica about why she liked Bryant so much had not gone well at all. All she could come up with was that he was sweet and mysterious. They both lured her to him like fresh blooms do bees. I still don't understand what Angelica's problem with him is, Aubrey thought.

When she arrived home, Aubrey found a little surprise on her doormat. A long-stemmed white rose with a small letter attached. Curious, Aubrey dropped all he stuff and read the note without even going inside:

You will always belong beside me, at my throne, where together we will rule. You are the one the prophecy mentions, I know it in my heart. Soon we will part and soon I will tell all. Please be my lady? Bryant...

She dropped the rose in awe. He said the sweetest things in the weirdest ways. Aubrey swallowed hard and gathered her things, even the gift, and when inside. She set her stuff down and decided that a shower was in order, then she would call Bryant and answer his question.
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"What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to show up for her for another couple years, right? Isn't that not what the Interpreter said? Bryant, she is totally head-over-heels for you, why don't you just disappear until it is the right time for her to know?" Angelica was determined to convince him to go back and hopefully to never return.

"Neph-I mean Angelica, you can't expect me to wait while my people are destroyed, while my home is ruined, while my bloodline runs thin. She is the one who can save us. The only one. And I do have to go back. When the school year ends, I will have to disappear for awhile, but no worry I will return." Bryant tried to make Angelica understand what needed to happen. He also had to be discreet with her because he had reasons not to trust her.

"Just don't take her away yet, please? She isn't ready, not at all. She would claim insanity and check herself into a mental facility the minute she would find out about her true self, just give her some time to grow first, please?"

"Alright, but I will be back..."

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Aubrey started hanging out with Bryant more after school. She couldn’t wait until school got out to spend more time with him. Most of the time, they walked around the park in the city, both of the admiring the blooming flowers and clear blue skies. Sometimes they spent their afternoons at the café, talking about books, future plans, people at school. Aubrey learned more about Bryant and his past, his family. She told him about how she came to live with her grandmother, that when she was young, her parents were killed by a drunk driver. Bryant slowly earned Aubrey’s trust and respect as the days turned into weeks, and slowly, Aubrey found herself falling in love with this stranger from school…

One night, after Bryant kissed Aubrey goodbye, she had the strangest dream:

 She stood on a cliff overlooking black water. She was wearing a tattered gown that might have been a pretty deep purple at one time. The sky was red. Behind her were several dead bodies, but only one stood out, a body floating above the others. Angelica. Or what looked like her. A slender brown skinned woman with long blonde hair decorated with blue streaks, was bloodied and badly wounded. She wondered what the hideous gash in her side had come from. It looked like a shotgun blast of some sort. This wouldn't have been so strange if Angelica wasn't glaring at her like she was the cause of her pain. Aubrey looked beyond her though, because she knew that Angelica would not hurt her. She walked towards a man dressed as a prince. His dark red tunic had a black rose insignia that must have been the coat of arms. Aubrey recognized him immediately. Bryant! And she opened her arms to him, to hug and hold close.  

Aubrey woke up. Her first thought was to call Bryant and talk about it, but something told her that that was a bad idea, so she called Angelica instead.

"Angelica? It’s me Aubrey."

"Why are you calling at two in the morning? Is something wrong?" Angelica sounded groggy.

"I just had the weirdest dream and I needed to talk about it," and she explained the dream as vividly as possible.

"Do you remember what you were feeling? Actually, I have a big test tomorrow, so do me a favor and write everything down, including your feelings during the dream and your activities of the day, okay? I’ll look at it at school. For now, good night or morning or whatever..."Angelica hung up the phone.

Aubrey immediately got out a sheet of paper and thought for a moment. She remembered having the distinct feeling of guilt mixed with realization, as if something surprising had happened to her before the dream ended.

At school, Angelica caught up with Aubrey and as they sat down outside in the commons area, she read the dream journal. After a few minutes Angelica looked at Aubrey and noticed that she was looking for someone, probably Bryant.

"You won't find him here today. He called me last night asking for a ride to school today, but when I went over there this morning there was a note left on his front door. Said something about an emergency and he would be gone for a couple of days, sends you his love, blah, blah, blah."

"I wonder what happened to him. Anyway, what do you think about the dream?" Aubrey, for the moment, seemed to forget about Bryant and wanted to know more about the dream. Ever since Aubrey had first met Angelica, she had known about Angelica's gift for interpreting dreams. She was really good and usually right.

"It seems like this dream of yours is trying to tell you something that only your subconscious can uncover. In order to fully understand your dream you have to want to dream about more of this until something clicks, but until that click, all I can say is that I am not a villain in an evil plot..."

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Bryant reappeared after about three days only to leave another note on Aubrey's door:

Aubrey, I am sorry I have not been able to see you lately but something rather important has come up that concerns my people. You must forgive me for disappearing again. I wish nothing more than to see your beautiful face and to kiss your soft lips. Good-bye for now, my love...

Aubrey smiled and blushed at the thought of yet another passionate kiss. She missed Bryant dearly and could not wait for his return.