The End of Eden

IV

He is waiting for you...

Wake up...

You have found him....

Wake up...

My eyes flick open, sweat beading down my back as my heart races. My eyes rove all over the dark bedroom, and I panic for a few moments as I remember where I am, my surroundings becoming familiar again. I lay back onto the bed, and press my hand against my chest to feel my racing heart. I lean over and check the time on my phone and sigh.

It's just before 3am, and I feel wide awake.

I shuffle the blankets off of me, and once I slip from the bed, I put on a pair of sweatpants. I lay on the couch in the small living room, and grow fidgety and anxious instead of falling back asleep. I didn't understand why I kept having these stupid dreams, and what was worse, they seemed to be real, since they led me to Eden.

I scrub my hand down my face, and sigh, feeling like my skin is crawling. I stand up again after I slide on my shoes, and pull on a jacket as I open the door and step outside.

The night air against my clammy skin makes goosebumps rise up on my skin. The cool air kisses my hair and face, and I zip up my jacket as I walk towards the courtyard area. There are low torches casting orange glows along the ground, making everything look eerie. The other side of the courtyard opens up to a slope, angling down a grassy hill and beyond into the dark.

I gasp in wonder. The stars in the sky are bright, so many more than I had ever seen at home, like a cup of diamonds were spilled against a swath of black silk. I'm enthralled by the sky, the quiet wind rustling through the grasses, the soft murmur of bugs singing, that I don't hear him come up beside me.

"It's quite spectacular, isn't it?" I jump aside, and I'm shocked a shriek doesn't erupt from me.

"Jesus-!" I gasp, and whip around.

"No," he says, a chuckle resonating from his mask, "just Vessel."

I feel awkward. Do I bow? Shake his hand? Fall on my knees and kiss his feet? But his hot honey sweet voice assuages all my rushing thoughts.

"It is one of my favorite things about the nighttime," he says stepping forward by my side. "You can see so many stars here, and the moon seems that much more larger than in the cities."

I can feel the brush of his long hooded cloak against my thigh; the light from the moon glints off the few long necklaces he had hanging on his chest that is still painted with black, though smudged and rubbed away in some places, but beneath the paint, I can see close up just how well defined his chest is. Actually, his whole body that I can see is incredibly muscled. I turn my head away quickly, realizing I'm ogling the man right in front of him.

"I've always liked dusk," I whisper. I'm unsure why I say it; I should hold this man in reverence, even if he is part of a religion I don't know a thing about. But he has an easy air around him, and I feel comfortable beside him.  I look up to the sky again. "I like when the pains of the day ease away into the quiet night time, when the world sleeps and it's just you with your thoughts."

I can see him nod his head out of the corner of my eyes. "Indeed. The night does not belong to God," Vessel says. We fall into an easy silence after that, and after a few moments of only the night talking to us, he speaks up.

"I had plans on meeting you tomorrow. I am most interested in your dreams," he says, and then turns to look at me, my face already turned towards his.

"I don't like speaking about them," I reply. I fidget with the hem of my sleeve.

"I understand prophetic dreams can be strange, and sometimes scary if you are unprepared for them."

"They aren't prophetic," I said, interrupting him.

"They brought you here, to the safety of Eden, didn't they?" Shit, he got me there. "I received them six years ago, which is how I founded Eden. They frightened me then, too, but I let myself commune with Sleep, and he has allowed me to be his voice."

I'm quiet for a few beats. "Why the name Sleep?"

Vessel chuckles. "His name is no match for our mortal tongues," he sighs, looking to the sky again. "One cannot repeat it in any language known to man. So he allows us to call him Sleep."

I nod, barely understanding. I shouldn't do it, but I can't stop myself. "And why the masks? Why call yourself Vessel?"

He turns away, and I feel a sudden pang of anxiety, fearing I might have said something wrong. But he beckons to me and I follow him back to the courtyard, and through it, and find a bench to sit on.

"I have given my life to Sleep, as have the other vessels. We are no one, nothing, without him and his guidance. So we have forgotten who we were, and only focus on teaching his words, and guiding his followers."

"So the other vessels," I say, looking at my hands fidgeting in my lap. I squeeze them together to stop them. "They go by Vessel too?"

He shakes his head. "No, only I go by Vessel. Though they are vessels as well, I am the voice, so I am the Vessel." He puts emphasis on the word the, to point out his high position. "The others go by Two, Three, and Four."

How confusing.

I change the subject back to the dreams. "Did everyone else here have dreams that brought them here?"

Vessel means back and crosses his arms behind his back. "No. Only chosen ones have dreams. The other vessels and I have had them, and Serra. And now..," he turns his masked face to me, "you."

I don't like being scrutinized by him, because I can't see his face, or even his eyes really. I turn my head away and stand up abruptly. "I'm tired," I lie. And Vessel stands up as well, unfolding himself from the bench to tower over me.

He offers me his arm. "Allow me to walk you back to your room, then."

His voice, though behind the mask, is silken smooth, and it tugs on something low in my belly. It's a voice I couldn't refuse.

I slide my hand into the crook of his arm, and we walk towards my room.

"I'm happy you are here, Ellaria," he says, the shuffle of our feet quiet. "I hope you will find a permanent home in Eden."

"I can stay forever?" I ask, shocked. "I haven't even been here that long."

"You are a chosen of Sleep," Vessel says. "There will always be a place here for you."

We reach my door, and he takes my hand from his arm, and I immediately miss the muscles below my hand, a steadiness that I didn't know I needed.

He raises my hand to his mask, and presses it where his mouth would be. "Rest well, Ellaria."

He lets my hand fall to my side, and turns away to walk back the way we came. I let myself back into the room, and shake off all my clothes, but for my panties. I'm sliding back into bed when I notice the black smudges of body paint on my hands, from when I touched Vessel's arm.

I rub my hands together, and watch as it's rubbed away, leaving only the barest grey film.

I don't dream about Sleep.