Chapter 2
It was difficult to say when I first had the dream because I had been having it for as long as I could remember, the only difference being that as I got older the dream got more vivid and much more scary. It had never made much sense and I had been to dream and sleep specialists when I was younger but the only conclusion drawn was that I had an overactive imagination and that I would grow out of it but at 26 I was still waiting.
It always started the same and in the same place – woodland of some sort quite big from what I could gather. Then I would feel like I'm being watched by a thousand eyes but I couldn't see anybody or anything and then I would run, run as fast as I possibly could. I was being chased I knew that much but up until recently I never saw anybody or anything, a few months ago though I started to see more – I saw the eyes.
I saw crimson red eyes staring at me, they were so red that from a distance they would look black but as close as they were to me I could see the red fire in those awful eyes. I couldn't see a face, just the eyes and as awful as they were I was mesmerised by them and I couldn't look away.
It always ended with a feeling of dread and excitement and then I would wake damp from sweating. Ben was used to it now but it had freaked him out the first time I had the dream while he stopped over, apparently I yell out a lot and my arms thrash about but I don't have the dream too often so he is able to cope with it. He always holds me tight till my heart slows down and lets me lay on his chest and strokes my hair till I go back to sleep.
Ben loved to take care of people, it was a gift. I remember so clearly the day I met him, I had slipped on ice which wasn't unusual for me at all but I had landed quite badly and a passer by phoned for an ambulance. I had managed to hit my head on the concrete sidewalk knocked myself out, which was bad even by my standards!
I finally came to an hour or so later in bright white hospital room and stiff itchy hospital sheets and the first person I saw was Ben, he was like my angel looking over me although he wasn't of course he was a student doctor doing my obs.
I can't say that it was love at first sight or that he was even my type as he stood with his dark hair flopping awkwardly over his rounded glasses but I had to laugh out despite the headache from my earlier bump when he struggled putting my notes back onto the end of the bed. No matter how much he tried he just couldn't hook them on until he gave up and laid them at the bottom of the bed instead. He hadn't been aware that I was awake and watching him but my laugh had alerted him and he blushed a wonderful red in his cheeks and he moved his hair from his face and behind the glasses I saw the most caring eyes I had ever seen in my life and he had smiled at me in such a away my heart missed at beat. He had then attempted a graceful exit from my room but pulled the door open too fast and ended up giving himself a nose bleed.
Our first date had come soon after and he had blushed and stuttered his way through asking me, I'd said yes without even thinking we were just so alike with our awkward clumsiness and I felt comfortable with him, like he understood who I was – and he did. It was hard to believe that was five years ago now but nothing much had changed between us apart from the fact that he had now lovingly restored his MGB to its original colour of white so I could no longer laugh and I drove a much newer pickup truck, a new hybrid kind that worked mainly off electric and solar power but had gas as a backup. Only the material things had changed but us as a couple were very much the same he was my safety net and kept me sane especially through the nights I had the dream.
My Mom and Dad also loved him very much, he was like the son they never had so had fit in right away although I think deep down they wished I had found someone who was at least slightly more co ordinate than myself but it was only a minor floor, hey nobody is perfect after all.
I was sat under my favourite tree in the park, this is where I would sit when I wasn't working and I wasn't with Ben. I loved to watch the day go by, everybody rushing around, the joggers the dog walkers and the mums with pushchairs and toddlers in tow. It wasn't sunny today but the air was warm and it wasn't raining so I relaxed against the trunk of the tree and held my latest novel of choice in my spare hand and carefully rested my potted arm on top of my bent knee.
I didn't care much for the traditional old classics as they were called such as the Austen's or Dickens or such like. I always found their characters weak and too forgiving the women were always helpless fools who needed a man too much. I preferred to read anything more real to life whether it was a humorous chick lit book or a thriller anything would do I just read whatever my mood dictated but after last night's dream a light hearted romance was called for.
I could sit for hours reading and getting lost in my own little fantasy land, it was my escape from the real world just for those few hours I was the main character playing a part in a story and nothing else mattered.
I was still reading in my special place under the tree when all the little hairs on my arms stood on end and I shuddered almost like a cool breeze had swept over me – but it hadn't. The air was warm and still and I glance up from the page I was reading and saw him.
He was stood far away from where I sat but he was stood stone still staring at me – was he staring? It was hard to tell due to the dark glasses he was wearing. I quickly glanced around to see if anybody was nearby and there were a few people but no one was taking any notice of this man or was he a boy? It was hard to tell from this distance.
He made a movement as if he was going to walk over and I reacted by pulling my knees in closer to my chest, he stopped and turned away and quickly walked in the opposite direction.
How very odd indeed!
I looked back down to the page I had been reading but could not keep my concentration for long enough to finish reading a sentence. I looked up again and scanned the park looking for the mysterious stranger with the bronze hair and dark glasses but I couldn't see him at all, he must have walked extremely fast!
I shrugged and soon forgot about him and carried on reading until it was time to go and meet Ben at the hospital.
I stood outside the main entrance and saw Ben walking towards me he smiled and embraced me softly.
"So Cara what shall we do tonight?" he asked.
"I thought maybe I could cook for you at my place so you can relax after your hard day"
"But your arm!" he exclaimed pointing at my pot.
"I am a woman and can achieve anything! I thought you would know that by now!" I said playfully while rolling my eyes.
We laughed as we walked to his car.
"So how was your day?" he asked me as he drove through the rush hour traffic.
"It was okay I just went to the park." I shrugged "I had the dream again last night" I added.
"Did you see the..." he broke off
"The eyes? Yeah I did but nothing new just the same as always"
"You know..." Ben trailed off his sentence again.
"What?"
"Uhm I don't know it's probably nothing" I glared at him prompting him to continue "It's just that they seem to be getting more frequent now"
"Do they? I thought they were about the same"
"Well you have had the dream at least 3 times in the last month alone when it would be only 3 times a year when we first met"
"I suppose. I guess I hadn't thought about it much. Do you think it means anything?"
"Oh, I doubt it maybe it's down to the stress of the new house and all the planning you have been doing"
"Yeah I guess so" I replied. Stress related? That seemed like a good explanation, who needed specialists anyway!
AN: Well I just couldn't wait to get the next chapter out and I hope you liked the little introduction of Edward into the story. I think I might do the next chapter in EPOV so we can see what he has been up to for the last 50 years.
If you read it please review so I know if it's worth continuing.
Thanks Rachael A.K.A RosettaPressta
