Chapter 3
'Jeff…' her voice called to him so softly it sounded like a song. 'Jeff…'
He opened his eyes and there she stood, as beautiful and breath-taking as ever. Her shoulder-length hair hung around her face and cascaded from her shoulders. Her green eyes connected with his and he felt as if they could start a small fire with the intensity between the two pairs of eyes. She smiled at him as he gazed at her, inaudibly. 'I love you…'
'I love you, Hazel… I need you…' he muttered back to her.
'I need you too…' she muttered as she stroked his cheek softly.
He pulled her into a hug. He could feel her warmth. He could smell her sweet scent which always managed to drive him wild. This was the part of the dream he always dreaded. This was when someone would come and take her away from him. His body tensed. He could feel it. Her eyes darted to him. 'Relax'
'You always disappear…'
She shook her head. 'You need to find me to save me. Only you can…'
He stared at her with a million potential questions in his head. 'I can't save you… you're…' he couldn't even mouth the words. She smiled softly. 'You can save me… save me from this place…' she whispered as she brought her lips to meet his. He felt the softness of her lips on his. He began to stroke her hair as she kissed him. He didn't want to let her go. He couldn't. Her body tensed as she suddenly broke the kiss and turned from him. His arm shot up to connect with hers unsuccessfully. 'Hazel…'
She turned to face him with a look of terror in her eyes. Jeff looked in the direction of where she'd been looking and found a darkness coming towards them. His arms instinctively grabbed her and held her close to him. 'You have to hurry…' she said weakly.
The dark cloud seemed to be moving closer and faster than Jeff could imagine. Before he could react, the cloud engulfed them. His personal space quickly turned cold and uncomfortable. He heard Hazel scream and felt her body stiffen within his arms. Jeff saw the cloud passing as he looked out into the darkness. 'It's almost over…' he announced to her. Once the cloud passed, light filled the sky again. He looked down to his arms, and found an eerie discovery. Hazel's beautiful face was gone, and had been replaced with a skeleton. The discovery made his body stiffen and anguish filled his body as he realized he was holding her body. 'Hazel!' he screamed. 'Hazel!'
"Jeff! Jeff, Wake up!" a voice called. He felt his body being shaken as his eyes quickly opened. There he found RVD standing over him with a look of concern on his face. It was just a dream. A nightmare actually but it took a minute for his breathing to slow down. He cupped his hands over his mouth as he attempted to calm himself down.
"Another nightmare?" Rob asked as he handed Jeff a bottled water.
"They are getting worse. I don't know what to do." He sighed as he allowed his head to rest in his hands. His hair hung down, covering his face. Jeff looked around after a few minutes and realized that he wasn't at home or even close to it. Rather, he was in the TNA locker room when he'd dozed off. His body, mind, and spirit were worn out and felt broken. He couldn't take the guilt anymore.
"You going to be ok for the match tonight?" Rob asked.
"Yeah, of course. I just need some air."
"You sure? I'm sure we could work without you." Rob asked with concern still filling his voice.
Jeff nodded his head "Just give me a few minutes ok?"
As he walked towards the exit doors, he felt his heart throb once more. He couldn't handle this. Every time he slept, he had these nightmares, even though this dream had been completely different from the others. He reached the door and felt the cool air blast him in the face as he opened the door. It was unseasonably cold, but the air helped to cool his face down. He walked towards the railing and peered out into the dark murky water as he released a huge sigh.
"It's not your fault you know…" a voice behind him spoke suddenly almost causing him to jump from his own skin. He didn't recognize the voice and the darkness didn't help identify the newcomer either. "There's still time. Ways to make these nightmares end. You have been having nightmares haven't you, Jeffrey…" the voice seemed to taunt him. He recognized it after a moment, just couldn't pin point from where or why. "It's ok, nightmares are normal. With my help, they will go away…"
"Who are you?" he demanded as his eyes shifted from right to left looking for the voice.
"I'm right here…" the voice said with a small laugh behind it. Jeff turned his head towards the light and saw a figure sitting on the bench under the light. He stared and felt a sense of confusion over take him. "Oh my God." He muttered as the figure came into the light.
