Chapter 3: Dream Girl
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
"What?" I asked.
"You keep staring at me...why?"
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?"
"Um...who are you?"
"Excuse me..." A little girl said as she pulled on my work shirt shyly.
I snapped back into reality and looked down at the little girl.
"Can I have some quarters?" She asked as she held a dollar in my direction.
I smiled and took the girls dollar then handed over four quarters.
"Thanks!" She mumbled and walked off towards the candy machine.
"Daydreaming again, Itule?" My boss asked as he leaned on the counter next to me. Technically he was the boss' son, but he was in charge when nobody else was around. He couldn't be much older than me, a year or two at the most.
"Yeah... Party last night..." I replied yawning.
"A Party? I didn't know Darkstalkers liked to party..."
"Yeah we also like to place racist lawsuits."
"You're funny! So how messed up did you get?"
"Not that kind of party, my girlfriend's parents had a reunion."
"Since when do you have a girlfriend?"
"About fifteen hours now."
He stared at me blankly.
"What do you want Ryan?" I asked.
"I need you to help train the new girl." He replied.
"Is she hot?"
"What do you care? You already have a girl."
"Just because i'm taken, don't mean that i can't look at the menu."
"Yeah, well there's only one item on the menu for you and she just walked in through the door." He tapped me on the arm and signaled to Helena who walked into the restaurant.
"Zeke!" Helena said as she walked up to me.
I kissed her quickly as Ryan walked towards the back and pretended to have forgotten about the "no visitors" rule.
"I brought you lunch." She continued as she placed a small brown paper bag on the counter.
"Thanks," I said and took the bag.
"Do you get a break soon?" She asked as her brother walked in smiling and laughing as he held the door open for my cousin.
"I actually don't...I already took it." I replied weakly.
Ryan walked closer and shoved me out of the way, "The lady was nice enough to bring you food, the least you could do is go and have lunch with her." He smiled at Helena.
"Thank you, sir." Helena said cheerfully.
"You're welcomed, Miss."
"Hi Ryan!" My cousin said as she walked passed.
"Looking good, Luna!" Ryan replied.
"Stop flirting with my cousin... SIR." I said and took a few cups then walked to join Helena.
"He seems nice." Helena said as we moved to a table in the back.
"Yeah, he's a cool guy." I replied.
We all talked and ate and drank for almost half an hour.
Helena and Luna walked to the bathroom as Michael and I went for refills.
"Helena really likes you." Michael said as he poured himself a mixture of three sodas.
"I can see that?" I replied.
We sat back on our table when a girl walked in. She wore a similar uniform as mine, which meant that she worked here. I've never seen her before but she somehow looked familiar.
Michael caught me staring then looked back at the girl.
Michael said something but I wasn't listening. "Hey, Zeke!"
"What?" I replied as I looked back at him.
"Do you know her?"
"I don't know..."
"Hey my sister's coming. She'd scratch your eyes out if she caught you staring at another girl."
I chuckled, "Funny."
"Yeah, funny."
"Sorry about that." Luna said as she sat back down.
"It's cool," Michael said and kicked me slightly when he caught me staring at the girl again.
"What? Yeah, you look nice." I said and Luna stared at me.
"We'd better let you get back to work, Zeke. See you later." Helena said and kissed me again then took off with my cousin and her brother.
"Yeah, bye." I said as I couldn't stop staring at the girl.
She was a short girl, probably around 5'3". Her short blond hair dangled slightly as she looked over the counter. She was skinny with nothing too interesting about her, other than her almond shaped eyes and the nagging feeling that I've seen her.
"Excuse me!" She said as she bounced and waved at Ryan, who was busy doing something in the back. "I'm Denise, the new employee. I'm supposed to talk to Mr. Advent."
"Oh, hey." Ryan started and walked up to the counter. "He is actually not here at the moment, I'm his son, Ryan." He shook her hand politely.
"Oh okay, so I can speak to you Mr.-" Denise started but Ryan cut her off.
"Please don't call me Mr. or sir... I'm only 22."
"Sorry..."
"Don't be, hey Itule you taking a nap there?"
"I was..." I replied smiling then stood up.
Denise looked back at me then waved politely. That's when I recognized her: she looked a lot like the girl in my dream, except that she was shorter and a little contrite.
"Denise, this is Itule, he is going to be showing you around." Ryan said as he gestured towards me with his right hand.
"Hey Itule, I'm Denise." She started and extended her hand to me.
I shook it slightly. "Cool but call me Zeke, these guys can't seem to remember my first name."
"Because Itule sounds exotic, Italian maybe... Are you Italian?" Ryan asked curiously.
I simply shrugged.
-0-
I lay on my bed as I thought about the new girl.
"Denise... Why does she look like that girl?" I whispered to myself. "Is it her? She looks kind of like her..."
"What girl?" A voice said from the door opening of my room.
I sighed when Luna appeared as she walked closer to my bed. She had her sleeping attire on, nothing fancy just some shorts and a sleeveless shirt. She looked at me curiously as she brushed her teeth.
"You'd make the perfect mistress, you know." I said in an annoyed tone.
"Anyway, what girl are you talking about? Helena?" She continued brushing her teeth.
"I've been having these weird dreams" I started.
"Are they recurring?"
"Not the dreams but the things in the dreams keep popping up: faceless people, there's always 26 of them...and this book...a purple book with my name written and circled in dried blood. Oh and the number 36, the book has my name in the 36th page. I've no idea what that means."
"Ezekiel 36:26: Something...something, new heart. Something...something...spirit." She replied as she crawled over me and spat toothpaste out of the second story window.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.
"Can you at least pretend that you have read the bible I gave you, instead of using it to cover your porn?" She said as she lay on the bed next to me and reached under the covers then pulled out my bible, along with two adult anime magazine that I've never told anyone about.
"You're lucky I don't tell aunt and uncle about these, here look...Ezekiel 36:26." She said as she looked through the book and placed it in my lap then opened one of my magazines.
I stared at the page that had Ezekiel 36:26 on it. It read: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
"Dude why are you with Helena if you like catgirls this much? Why don't you try getting with one of her cousins, that Iris girl is a cat... You could have her dress up like this." Luna said as she held the magazine sideways and stared at the poster that folded out.
"Shut up! I thought girls hated porn." I said and took the magazine from her.
"We do...but some of it makes me...you know..." She said shyly.
"Ew! Ew! Too much info, get out!" I said as I shoved her out of my bed.
"Ow, my ass!"
-0-
I sat up in the dark room then looked around at the
darkness. My vision tried adjusting but I couldn't even make out my hands that I held in front of me. "Hello?" I yelled but all I heard was the sound of my voice echoing.
I heard someone in heels approach me slowly, I listened for any indication that might tell me where the footsteps were coming from but the echoes made it difficult. The footsteps stopped and the lights flashed on in a second. I instinctively lifted my arm to shield my eyes from the bright light as I slowly counted the 26 light bulbs that hung from the ceiling.
I looked around and noticed hundreds of purple hanging scrolls on the walls; each had a random name on it. I didn't have to count them to know that the name Ezekiel was on the 36th scroll from the left.
"You're still not awake..." A voice said.
I turned and saw the woman, which I kept dreaming of, standing in front of me. I jumped slightly as I didn't expect to see her there.
"You need to wake up." She continued.
"I know, I'm dreaming..." I said as she lifted herself onto the air and sat down on an imaginary chair. She had a white and purple flower in her hair, an elegant thing that was was highlighted by her long black hair.
"Yes you are, but not in the way you think."
"What?"
"You either need to wake up or stop coming here."
"How did I get here?"
She raised her eyebrow. "You really don't know, maybe you are awoken."
"What are you talking about?"
"Or maybe not."
"I want some answers: who are you?"
"I am-" she started but lightning fell nearby so I couldn't hear.
"What?"
"Why do I try? You're probably not even the right person."
Ai's face burned red as large black leathery wings extended from her back. Claws appeared on the end of the wings.
"Whoa chill, let's talk about this!" I said as I tried to sound reasonable as the claws on her left wings sharpened and flew towards me.
I moved aside as she slashed at me over and over again.
"You've never lied to us, why are you doing it now? You said you'd come back!" She yelled and slashed once more and I felt a tearing sensation on my arm.
I awoke as I felt something scratching my right arm, I shook my hand violently and Mr. Patches retracted his claws and hissed at me then ran out of the door when I threw my pillow at him.
"Stupid cat!" I said as I looked at the clock, it was 4:11am. "Hmm... What was her name again?"
-0-
"Here you are, sir." I said as I handed the tray with three burritos over to the large man.
The man grunted and took the burritos but let the tray drop then walked away.
"Dick..." I mumbled and put the tray back.
"Zeke, HELP!" Yelled Denise as horchata poured out of the machine that overflowed from the cup under the nozzle.
I moved over and turned the knob on the nozzle and forced it close. "Yeah it does that sometimes." I handed her some napkins which she took and wiped the drink from her shirt and pants.
"Thanks. Awe, I just bought these shoes..." She complained as she stepped sideways but slipped into my arms.
I noticed Mr. Advent staring at me so quickly helped Denise to her feet as Mr. Advent handed me a mop so I could clean the mess.
"Don't let Sarah see you doing that," Mr. Advent whispered in my ear. "She likes to start rumors."
I looked at the back and Sarah, the 19 year old gossip machine, stopped staring and continued wrapping some food. I nodded my thanks to Mr. Advent and mopped the mess.
"I'm sorry." Denise said and bent down to use a rag to clean up what I couldn't reach.
"It's cool, it wasn't your fault." I replied as I reached over and cleaned off some of the drunk that had somehow gotten on her hair.
The lady in the drive through stared at the mess as I handed her the food she ordered, as well as six napkins and three packets of hot sauce. Just the way she liked it.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Just an accident, take it easy Mrs. Ross." I replied.
"Be careful, Ezekiel, say hi to your parents for me."
"I will."
"You know everyone..." Denise said as I waved goodbye to the lady that just passed by the drive through.
"Not everyone." I admitted.
-0-
I locked the restaurant's doors as Denise and I walked out.
Four months had passed and I stopped having dreams about that girl, which I didn't mind too much but I still would like to know why I was having them.
"You don't have to drive me home, Zeke. I can walk, its fine." Denise said as she forced her sweater closed.
"Its fine, plus my cousin would kick my butt if I let a girl walk home."
I jumped in my car and opened the passenger door for Denise. She jumped in as I turned the engine over.
"Thanks, Zeke." She said as she buckled.
"You got it." I replied.
I started driving but stopped quickly when someone cut me off. Denise accidentally kneed the dashboard and the glove compartment fell open, a picture of Helena and me fell on her lap.
She picked it up then smiled and looked at me. "Is this your sister?" Denise asked me.
"No, that's my girlfriend, I don't have a sister." I replied then took the picture and looked at it. There wasn't anything special about it other than it was one of the few photographs I had of her without her wolf attire.
"Oh, how long have you been together?"
"Four months, I think."
"You guys look cute."
I smiled and placed the picture in a slid on the dashboard.
"How long does it take you to get home?" I asked when I noticed that I had been driving for 45 minutes.
"Not long, you could drop me off here..."
"Are you sure, there's nothing- holy crap!" I let out as I noticed the large house on top of a hill. It had a large gate in the front that needed a password to open. "You live here?"
"Yeah." She replied as the fence opened. Denise had a confused look in her face.
"Was that not supposed to happen?" I asked.
"No...either way, thanks for the ride." She said and started unbuckling herself.
I noticed a woman standing on a window then moved away.
"It's okay, I'll drive you closer." I said and put the car in gear.
I drove up to the driveway and stopped.
"Thank you so much Zeke!" Denise said as she kissed my cheek and walked out of the car.
"You're welcomed." I replied as I noticed a woman standing on the doorway.
I couldn't see her face; it was dark enough for it to be hidden.
Denise walked up to the woman and talked for a few seconds then walked back to the car. I rolled down the window and Denise bent down.
"My sister wants to know if you would like to come in for some tea or something." Denise said as rain started to fall.
"It's okay; I really should be going home." I said politely.
"Okay, goodnight." Denise replied and started walking back.
A lightning bold struck and illuminated the driveway. I was able to see the woman's face for a second: it was the girl from my dreams, except that she seemed a few years older.
"Denise, on second thought I think I'll join you guys." I said as I turned the car off.
I walked out of the car and Denise waited for me as her sister stepped inside.
We walked in and Denise took her work shirt off and adjusted her regular tank-top underneath. I looked around as I entered the massive foyer. A lonely pink and white flower sat on a green base.
"Isn't it pretty?" Denise asked as she smelled it.
"It is... What is it?" I asked then felt slightly ignorant.
"It's a Lilium, part of the Lilly family." Denise replied.
"They normally only grow on the northern hemisphere, but they seem to like it here." A second voice said and I couldn't help but jump slightly. The other woman walked into the room with a tray that had three cups of tea.
"You..." I started
"...am Denise's sister. Call me Ai." She replied as she handed me a cup. "Thank you for driving my sister home, Zeke."
"You're welcomed, but how do you-" I started.
"Know your name? Dear, you're wearing your name tag."
I looked down and noticed my name tag that said "I'm Zeke, how can I help you?"
"Oh yeah..." I said feeling stupid.
Ai smiled humbly and sipped her tea.
"Ai did you-" Denise started.
"Drink your tea, Zeke, it will warm you up." Ai interrupted.
I had so many questions for Ai. Questions like; why am i dreaming of you and what do you want from me but I simply sipped my honey and lemon tea.
"Is it good?" Ai asked as Denise stared at her sister.
"Yeah" I replied yawning loudly. "Sorry about that."
Ai simply smiled and sipped her tea. I felt drowsy; I wanted to sleep really badly.
"No, why did you do that? He's not an elder!" Denise asked as I forced myself to stay awake.
"Wha- what's going on?" I mumbled as I fought to stay awake.
Ai simply sipped her tea as I fell to the ground.
I awoke in shock. The clock in the wall read 4:13 in the morning. I tried moving my arms and legs but some fluffy pink handcuffs held me on the large bed. I felt disoriented as I lay there, I've never been drugged before.
"You're up..." A voice said and I turned to see Ai, sitting on the bed. She was dressed in her night gown.
"What's going on?" I asked as I saw Denise standing with her back against the wall of the hallway.
"Did you know that all Darkstalkers are part animal? Even the elders have some part of their power given to them by an animal." Ai said as she stood up and walked towards the dresser.
"What are you talking about?" I asked as I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket.
"It's simple really; some elder Darkstalkers are still alive and live in some individuals. I believe that the elder Eio resides within you." Ai continued as she turned around and had a purple flower in her hand.
I looked at the hand cuff that held my right hand, I tried forcing it open with my psychic abilities but it didn't move, nothing happened.
"Don't try to use your power, dear. It won't work." Ai said as she stood by the side of the bed. "Liliums are interesting flowers. Like I said, all Darkstalkers are part animal and if a lilium is to be genetically altered then certain families of this flower can effect most Darkstalkers. You've been breathing in a specific kind of lilium." She signaled at the six white flowers on the side of my bed. "Those flowers will temporarily disable a Darkstalker's power. While this one..." She lifted the purple flower in her hand, "This one will awaken repressed memories."
"You're crazy! Fucking nuts!" I yelled as I struggled to get loose. I looked at Denise who still stood on the hallway.
Denise looked away slowly as she wore a saddened expression.
I didn't notice when Ai forced my head to the side then held the flower by my face.
"Smell it!" Ai said.
I struggled and moved away from Ai's grasp. A pair of leathery wings, with claws at the end, extended from her back and held me down.
I held my breath as long as I could but eventually was forced to smell the flower. I sniffed loudly but nothing happened.
"See!" Denise yelled, "I told you! He's just a regular Darkstalker, leave him alone!"
"No!" Ai yelled stubbornly and turned to look at Denise, "I know he is! I'm not wrong!"
I felt sick as I blacked out for a quick second. I drifted in and out of consciousness several times before I felt something throw my mental self back then aside as I noticed my arm become enflamed. Ai and Denise were still arguing as a handcuff melted away. My arm lifted without me controlling it. All the flowers in the room burst into flames simultaneously.
"Shut up!" I said in a voice that I didn't recognize.
Ai and Denise stopped arguing then looked at me. My hand was extended to Ai and she was engulfed in flames. Both of the sisters yelled as Ai tried putting the fire out then fell out of the nearest window.
My hand then extended towards Denise who cowered at the doorway.
"Girl!" The strange voice started, "What year is it?"
Denise said something that I couldn't hear. I realized that I couldn't hear anything anymore aside from the strange voice.
"Good..." The strange voice said as if my body was now controlled by someone else."I think it's time to remind these human's what fear is..."
"Who are you?" I asked as I was forces into darkness.
A pair of eyes opened in front of me, followed by a mouth that shifted slightly and formed a smile.
"You ask my name?" The face didn't change as it spoke to me.
"Who the fuck are you?" I yelled.
"Mammon!" The face said as it laughed horrifyingly in front of me. A pair of hands extended from out of nowhere and trusted deep inside of my head.
I yelled as darkness engulfed me and the last thing I saw was Denise mouthing the words "I'm sorry, Zeke." She held her hand towards me and an orange light shot out of her palm and threw me aside.
The thing that controlled me stopped itself before my body hit the wall and flew towards Denise
"You might be of some use, so I won't kill you yet." The voice said and a third hand came out of chest and dug into her forehead. Denise's head shot back immediately and her body went numb as she stared back with an empty glare.
~Six months later~
"Zeke! Zeke, wake the fuck up, Zeke!"
"What?" I asked in the kind of confusion that never turned out to be good.
I opened my eyes and saw Michael and Leon standing over me. Michael was in his wolf form: his tanned fur was covered in blood. He smiled and looked around before focusing at me again.
Leon's shirt was torn and covered in blood. His exposed chest showed several scratches and cuts. They both looked terrible.
I looked around, as we were on the inside of a building; a small stack of wood was on fire a few feet away. I noticed Helena, Senna and a female dee that looked like a jaguar. They all were unconscious as they lay on the floor with a leash attached to a collar around their neck.
The leashes and collars shift suddenly then snapped open then fell to the floor and move closer. The leashes and collars merged together until a girl stood where they lay. She stretched then smiled as a man moved closer.
I saw Iris walk into the room and stand next to Michael. She was in her cat form but you could still see that she was had been crying. Her face was red and her claws filled with, what looked like, blood.
"Don't you say anything, Michael!." Iris said then noticed me. Her calico cat ears perked up. She pointed at me with rage in her eyes. "This is your fault!" She yelled as she pointed at me with an orange and black claw.
Michel stood up quickly and held her back. "Iris! Calm down. It wasn't his fault, he was being controlled remember? It was that think I killed, plus why are you mad at Helena for? She was only doing what her instincts told her to after you sprayed her."
Iris stopped and shoved Michael who fell over then stood back up.
"Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? And you guys just stared and laughed." Iris started crying as some glass shattered in the distance.
"I know... I'm sorry. That won't happen again." Michael said and hugged his cousin who hugged him back.
"What did I do? What happened?" I muttered as my entire body ached.
"Dude, you fucked up big time..." Leon said as he motioned behind me.
I turned and I saw several Darkstalkers, in several different forms, standing up against the wall. A girl kicked an officer and extended some large bird wings and began flying in the air as she was trying to escape. A female husky Darkstalker jumped in the air and grabbed the girl by her leg and pulled her down. The husky girl head-butted the bird girl and held her down until an older officer came and used his taser on the girl. The bird girl shook for a second then lay still.
"Merci, ma cherrie." The man said.
"De rien, papa." The girl replied and got off the bird girl.
"Wow." Michael said and walked up to the girl who kissed him shyly.
"Yeah, she's really hard headed." A male husky Darkstalker with brown fur said when he came closer.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It's a long story..." Leon said as helped me up. "It all started six months ago when you disappeared for a night..."