by Jessica French (Midnite363@aol.com)
Scotland 1745
The room on the third landing of the Drake estate was dark, and cold. Shannon leaned against the broad window frame and looked down at the people filling into the dinner hall. Her father greeted... one of her brothers went inside... John Gabel, the estate's best fisherman walked in with his wife and young son. An old teacher of Shannon's, bent over his cane, shuffled in a moment later. The moon rose higher in the sky, shadows shifted and the doors to the hall closed. Her gaze shifted to the ground below her. A fall that would kill her. In a moment, she thought. Just one more moment....
Her fingers ran over the gold circle around her finger, found the small blue jewel and traced the pattern. Damon, she thought, and closed her eyes. Damon, will you ever forgive me? Will we ever find each other? Years from now, when the Earth has grown, changed. Millions dying, being born again. She would always be the same, never aging, never changing.
She brushed a hand over her damp cheeks. This was harder than she thought. She stepped into the window, the wind seemed to rise around her, picking up her hair and ruffling her dress. It was cold, but despite the chill she was sweating, her hands damp, her throat sour with fear. Such a long way down, looking didn't help.
She was crying openly now, the tears running hot trails down her cheeks, rolling under her chin and down her neck. So many things to cry about, many things that would be gone forever.... her feet inched to the edge of the window, now her toes hung off the edge, looking into oblivion.
Wasn't suicide, wasn't dying. She'd wake up, she was making a sacrifice for her family. Her hands pressed flat against the cold stone of the outside wall. One step, one leap. Lean forward, just slightly and it would all be..... don't look down, her mind whispered. She looked up. Sky was cloudy, but the moon was full. The wind was brisk. Now over never, Shannon, now or never... her mind chanted. Now or never....
The ground rushed to meet her fall, and the rest was all darkness.
America - Summer 1963
She sat up in bed, her hair matted to her body with sweat, her bare skin damp, eyes wide, still in the dream. Slowly, her breathing slowed, her eyes adjusted and she was awake. The air coming in the open bedroom window was warm, fragrant and dry. Far off a dog barked. The arm the had been around her waist, and had fallen into her lap stirred.
"Babe?" Josh's voice reached her ears. He sounded sleepy, not yet fully awake. She reached over and touched his bare back lightly and he jumped. "My god, you're freezing!" He said in a clear voice. He sat up, taking her icy hand in his. "Another dream? A bad one?"
She nodded slowly, then climbed out of bed, going to the window and looking out at the sky, obscured by the big city buildings. The wind blew in, curling around her bare legs. She raised a hand to straighten her light tank top, that she usually wore to bed now that the temperatures had risen to uncomfortable temperatures.
Josh came behind her, wrapping his strong arms around her waist, his chin came to rest on her shoulder. "Same dream? Or should I call it a flashback?"
"Flashback."
"Was it the same?"
She nodded.
"Talk to me, Shannon."
"I was remembering him. Damon. It was everything. It was longer this time, just not my fall. It was...." she shook her head slowly, "It started when he first came to my father's home. I even dreamed about.... about the dreams."
Josh sighed, tightening his arms for support. "What do you think it means?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe it means nothing." She shrugs, pulled away from him and lowered in the recliner in the corner of their small apartment. Pulling the damp hair from off her neck, she let her mind start to roam again. How many years? How long? Where is he? Had he found her? Questions continued to bubble out of her, questions but never a single answer yet.
Josh laid back down in the bed, curling his arms beneath his head and looking at her patiently as she worked out the inner dilemma. Her eyes flickered to him. Josh. Josh, a human boy who knew about her. Tall, handsome with his wavy brown hair and deep green eyes, much like her own. Strong, finely toned, well muscled. Sweet, friendly, kind, loving. A good lover, a good friend. Someone she trusted. A listener.
Her eyes were beginning to blur and her mind was jumbling thoughts together. Slowly she returned to the bed and let Josh close his arms around her body again. Just dreams. The past... was dead. Before her eyes closed, she focused on the gold circle on her finger. She still wore it.
She'd always wear it.