As soon as Robert told Elaina that he’d
let her turn him, an emotional dam broke within me. She was one step closer to killing him and I
still hadn’t found a way to save him.
“What’s wrong?” I suddenly heard his voice say.
I didn’t expect him to be here, so I
tried to clean myself up as much as possible.
“Nothing,” I lied.
But, I couldn’t help it…I turned and
pulled him close to me. In this moment,
he was safe. I wished that I could hold
him like that and protect him forever.
“It has to be something,” he whispered, holding me tight.
I decided it was now or never. I had to tell him the truth. Maybe it would change his mind about being
turned. “Elaina is going to kill you!” I blurted out faster than I intended.
Robert took a step back. “What?”
He said. I could tell that it
wasn’t what he expected me to say.
There was so much to say, but I didn’t
have time to tell him the whole story.
“Elaina is just pretending that she’s going to turn you. Once you sign the agreement and she has permission
to turn you…she’s going to drain your blood and pretend it was an
accident. They’re all in on it…Dante and
even Janet Pok.”
While I was hysterical, Robert
didn’t seem very concerned. Instead of
reacting, he gently placed his hand on my cheek. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.
His touch was so soothing that for the
time being, I believed him. I believed
that it would all really be okay.
“Okay?”
I said softly, but I wasn’t sure what I was saying okay to. It wasn’t necessarily my answer to his
reassurances. Somehow it meant more than
that.
“Yes,” he said.
Then it was like a force within me took
over. I rushed forward and placed my
lips on his. I think it surprised him at
first…
But when he pulled me in and began to
kiss me back, we couldn’t stop.
If he wasn’t holding me so tight, I think
I would have passed out there at his feet.
The warmth, his touch, his kisses, his
moans…
…It was
all too much. I wanted to be
closer…closer than was even physically possible.
It seemed to go on and on…a roller-coaster
of emotions and I didn’t want to see it end.
I had to remind myself that this was only
a dream for him…that at any moment he could wake up and instantly disappear
from my arms.
But at the same time…it couldn’t possibly
be a dream. Was this what the joining of
two separate worlds felt like…a paradox?
A reality for me, but only a series of thoughts, feelings and emotions
occurring during sleep for him.
“I wish this was real,” I whispered
quietly.
“Who says it’s not real?” He whispered back.
“It can’t be. I’m dead…just a spirit…a soul.”
“Well maybe this is the true definition
of a soul mate,” he said looking into my eyes; convincing me.
I smiled at the thought as he kissed me,
but my mind betrayed me with many doubts.
Afterward, he continued to hold me. “Maybe I should let her,” he said
suddenly. I didn’t immediately know what
he meant.
“Let her what?” I asked.
He pulled his arm away from me and
relaxed on his back. His eyes were
dreamy and he had a smile of peace on his face as he spoke, “Maybe I should just let her kill me.”
I jumped up at the thought. I hadn’t thought of it before. If he was dead, we could be together…
But the thought didn’t even get an
opportunity to solidify in my mind before I realized that it didn’t even belong
in the realm of possibilities. “No,” I
said.
“If she insists on killing me…why fight
it?”
“This can’t be it for you,” I said.
“But…if it’s meant to be. Everything happens for a reason, right?”
Robert said.
My grandmother’s old words coming out of
Robert’s mouth jolted me into reality like a slap in the face.
I stood up. I was sent here to save
him…no matter what. “It’s not right,” I
said as if in a daze.
“What’s not right about it? We could be together,” he said as if that was
enough.
“You have the right to have a life…to
marry…to have children,” I said, although the thought of him having those
things without me caused my heart to sink.
“I don’t want that…I want you!” He said, not even giving the loss of those
things a second thought.
Then I remembered what Helen had told me
about the conclusion of my mission. The
idea rose from the deep places in my memory like a flash flood.
“There’s something that you have to know
about me…”I started.
Robert’s face became hard. I knew that he wasn’t prepared to hear any
more secrets. I could see him brace
himself in preparation.
I couldn’t let Robert die for me. He had too much to live for, so I said
exactly what I needed to erase the thought out of his head completely.
“Robert, after I finish what I’m supposed
to do here…I’ll have to leave.”
“What are you talking about?”
I lowered my head to avoid looking him in
the eyes. “There’s a good chance that
I’ll cross over…leave the living world and
the realm forever.
“Well couldn’t I just come with
you?”
“It doesn’t work like that! There’s no guarantee that you’d cross over
with me!” I said; my desperate tone
coming out like anger.
He was quiet, his eyes deep in
thought. “I couldn’t see you again?” He
said, his voice childlike. He didn’t
wait for an answer. “So what am I
supposed to do?”
“Robert, you need to go back to
Annie…reconcile with her,” I said, suddenly realizing that Doreen was giving
Annie a true reading when she saw Robert as Annie’s true groom.
“Annie!
What? What do you know about
Annie? Why are you saying this?”
I didn’t answer. I again lowered my head.
“Robert, she didn’t break up with you on
her own accord. She was under the
influence of the vampires. I heard Janet
say so.”
“But I love you,” he said sounding
defeated; his angered face softening completely.
“You love her,” I said; knowing that this
whole situation started with her.
Looking at his face, I knew that I was right.
Still, he denied it. “I love you and
I know you love me, too,” he said as if he had disregarded Annie as even being
a possibility. He turned and left the
realm.
He was right and I hated myself for
it. I loved him and I knew that it was
stupid of me to allow that to get in the way of my mission.
My job was to save him and all I had done
was to hurt him…hurt him and myself in the process.
Labels: Moonlight Visions