The house at the Crossroads (BxB)

The Woman From Nowhere

'Dreams are not always accurate,' a friend once told him, 'Sometimes, they hide something from you because your brain may not be able to handle the truth.'

The idea haunted Karlos ever since Gabriel rejected their past, and he started to dream of something else, of someone else.

He sucked on the cigarette and exhaled the smoke. He relaxed his wrist on the window sill, flicking the cigarette butt to get rid of the burnt cherry outside. He was leaning on the chair, head dropped to his back. He kept the window open, as wide as they could to let the scent out, though he knew some of them would linger in the morning. His eyes were drooping, limbs tired, but he refuses to fall on his bed and get the slumber his body desperately begs for him to have.

Because if he did, he would dream of her again, a woman who had somehow replaced Franco in his dreams. He despised it. Especially after Gabriel made him question his own feelings and the reality of Lucas and Franco inside them. After Gabriel rejected to dive deep on the fact that they were lovers in the past, Karlos dreamt of the woman. And like the previous dreams he had before discovering the existence of Franco, he forgets the woman's face in the morning. All he could remember was the feeling, and it was the same as he felt for Franco.

He took another drag, letting the mint flavor settle in his throat before releasing them.

He could recall her hair being tied to her back, and that she was a wearing a checkered house dress. The dream was always the same. They were on a couch, and the woman was laying on her lap, reading a book. After a while, she would sit up and faces Karlos. Sunlight was casting behind her, and so he could only make out her silhouette. She would say something, to which Karlos couldn't remember either in the morning. He was growing curious who the woman was, but just as his friend told him, a part of him was scared of the truth.

What he did not expect, was on that the same night, he was forced to take the truth, whether he liked it or not.

An old song was playing somewhere, he couldn't name what it was, but he was certain he had heard it before. Light was coming everywhere, but it was fuzzy at the same time. A woman was laying on his lap, humming along the music. He reached for her hair, combing the ones that had poked out its knot. When he did, she smiled. She took his hand and kissed his palm. She sat up, and the light coming behind her silhouetted her form.

"On the fifteenth next month, I'm going to meet my sister."

The tone of her voice hinted that she was smiling, and Karlos smiled along with her happiness. But then he frowned back.

"Would it be safe? Where are you going to meet her?"

She chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll make sure no one recognizes me. I'll meet her in a book shop in the downtown city. It's in a secluded area, and it isn't famous. It's a place we used to visit and buy unpopular books from."

He sighed. "Fine. But be back here before dark. And give me a call when you're home."

"Yes, sir." She crawled to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. She leaned over and give him a peck. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he grinned, "Emma."

He woke up to sunlight hitting his face. He shielded his eyes using his hand, and attempted to fix his position. But an ache coming from his neck down to his back made him halt. When he adjusted his vision, he realized he had fallen asleep on the chair. He groaned as he forced himself up, massaging his neck to get rid of the stiffness.