Haven and Valdemar belong to Mercedes Lackey, I was reading one of her books in the Bardic Voices series, In it she had a detective and a serial killer and it gave me the idea for this story This one though, is set in Haven.

Ch. 1 Nightmares

The knife blade gleamed softly in the pale light of the moon. It moved slowly, slowly toward the pale face lying asleep, clutched tightly in the dark gloved hand. Movement, a moan and the fall of dark hair covered the face of the sleeper as the knife froze a moment that seemed to last forever before the other.

The hidden hand flashed forward to grab the hair and bare the throat for the knife.

Eyes flashed open, as the sleeper awoke still not fully aware for a fatal moment as the attacker gained control. Eyes widened further in horror as the sleeper realized that this wasn't a dream. They stared in helpless fascination as the knife drew closer. A low moan was suddenly stopped as the hand shifted from hair to mouth.

"Quiet" the voice whispered. "You know you wanted this, you've been waiting for me". The dark head shook and a muffled whimper came from behind the gloved hand. "Oh yes you have, I've been watching". A wave of sharp pleasure, of power as dark as the blood that flowed. Muffled screams.

Dorian jerked awake, his heart pounding. Another dream he lay back torn between being grateful it was only a dream and dread that he would see it again if he closed his eyes. Knowing it was no use to try to sleep he got up and made his way to the chest that held his clothing. While dressing he realized that he was lucky that he had woken up when he did. This was the third dream he had endured since his family had come to court and he knew what he would have seen if he had continued to dream.

It was never the exactly the same dream, the girls involved were always different. He was certain the shadowman as he thought of him was the same in each dream and so far he seemed to be doing the same things. Once dressed Dorian made his way to the bathing rooms. He ran water as cold as he could over his head hoping the shock would drive the dream from his mind. It hadn't worked in the past but he could always hope.

He looked in the mirror, His black hair spiked in all directions. Haunted green eyes looked back at him. He knew he would have looked worse but luckily the dreams only came once a month. He frowned as he realized they came the same time each month, starting about two weeks after his family had come to court.

He couldn't blame the dreams on not wanting to be here. While he missed some of the freedoms of his family's estates, he loved his classes at the collegium. Though the first born son, at 13 he was too young to go to court so he was spared that torture. His older sister Lorilyn could have the court.

With the family looks and money she already had a following at court. Luckily she had a lot of common sense or she would have let it go to her head. Not that their father would have let her go that route.

Not wanting to wake the servants or his family he made his way to the gardens. Though his family could easily have gotten quarters in the castle his parents were too practical to do so. They didn't need to trade prestige for comfort. He only wished that they would let him take a room there it would be closer to his classes.

Dorian sat in the shadows of the garden. The tension from the dream fell from his shoulders as he reveled in the silence. The walls were thick enough to block the sound of the city.

It was almost like being back in the country. Only the rustle of the wind in the trees and bushes surrounded him. At this hour even the birds were silent. He leaned back against the tree and relaxed. His eyelids drooped and he slumped over asleep his head pillowed in the leaves.