Once

Chapter 1

A beautiful sky looked down on them as they danced in the green and white meadow. She had never felt this type of happiness, and he had never seen such exquisite beauty. They danced and laughed as the day wore into dusk, the sky turning various shades of orange and pink. Little stars twinkled their appearance above and still the couple danced and talked. Suddenly, a thunderous boom sounded overhead making the couple disoriented. They lost their grasp on each other, being pulled apart by an unseen force. The man tumbled into the trees, while the woman was dragged into the brush. She lost sight of him then, the man she loves but does not know. Another boom came from the sky, this time with a crack of lightning. She gasped and darkness overtook her.

Briar opened her eyes to the morning light. That dream always felt so real to her. She'd had it once a week for three years. It started on her 25th birthday, without reason. Briar did not know the man or where the meadow was or why it had been every Tuesday night. She did know one thing though—she loved this mystery man. Loved him with a soul-crushing love. The first time she had the dream, she woke in a panic. The darkness felt vile, heavy and evil that it frightened her. After the fifth week, it became less and less terrifying. The annoying thing about this dream, and what frustrated Briar the most, was that she could never remember the conversations between her and the man. She knew him, but yet didn't know him at the same time. She felt as though if she saw him in real life, she would know it was him.

For three years she had been racking her brain to remember at least his name, but to no avail. She knew he had green eyes like an emerald and dark brown hair. That his skin was sun-kissed and his lips the perfect shade of pink. He was tall and built, but not so tall that he overpowered her. She knew that he always wore a white tunic with brown pants and black riding boots, a sword at his side with a ruby on the hilt. She knew that when he held her in his arms, she never wanted the dream to end. But dammit she couldn't remember a simple name! She had thought after the first year that she was going crazy, so painfully single that her subconscious felt the need to create a fairytale for her. But even when she had dated and had a steady relationship for a year, the dream continued. That relationship had ended because her heart wasn't in it. That was her problem, she loved this dream man so much that she could not have a normal, human relationship with men she actually knew in real life. That's why today, her 28th birthday, she was going to get answers.

"Briar, what are you wearing tonight?" Her roommate, Melody asked while walking into her room carrying a mountain of clothing in her arms. They shared a two bedroom apartment in Briar's favorite city: Boston. Although Melody had lived in Boston her entire life, Briar had moved here seven years ago, after completing college. She wanted something new and exciting. Her small college town had gone dry after four years there and she was indifferent to returning to her home town in California. So, Boston it was. She met Melody almost immediately, bumping into her in the grocery story one sunny afternoon. Melody then took it upon herself to show Briar around the city. Once their friendship grew, they eventually moved in together in a shabby apartment in North End.

"Well, since it's hotter than a volcano outside, I was thinking of a sundress for tonight." Briar held up a bright pink dress that suited her figure well. She could get through dinner tonight with friends and then sneak off to find this mystery dream man. She had a whole plan and it needed to go down tonight. "That is so cute, definitely wear it tonight." Melody cooed and then dropped the pile of clothing onto Briar's bed. "Now, help me decide what I should wear".

"Happy Birthday, Briar!" People cried around her as Melody tugged her inside the small oyster restaurant. Briar felt on edge, anxious as she sat through dinner with her friends. She loved her friends, but she had never told anyone about the dream. She didn't want people to think she was crazy, but then she got validation from an unlikely source. While chatting on the phone with her grandmother one evening, Briar accidentally let it slip about the dream. Her grandmother didn't seem to bat an eye. When Briar pressed her for information, her grandmother told her about a legend that surrounded their family, a legend that had been carried down for generations.

Every few hundred years, a woman in Briar's family was plagued with always the same dream about a man. Whether the man was friendly or frightening, it always changed depending on the woman. According to her grandmother, the last case this happened to was her great great great grandmother, Tilly. Tilly had the dream about the man, but the man was more of the villain in her dream than the love interest. "So you see Briar, the man is never the same," her grandmother had said. "But, gran, this doesn't make any sense", Briar insisted to her grandmother. "Why does this happen? Who is this man and why can I never remember what we talk about or where I am? What is the darkness that takes over and rips us apart?" Briar had so many questions for her grandmother, but all she said was, "No one in the family knows. It's been this long held secret among the women. But I've heard of rumors that someone can help".

"Who? Gran you must tell me everything you know because I feel like I'm losing my mind sometimes." Briar had been at her breaking point at that time. The frustration finally mounted after three years. "There is a shop in Rhode Island with an owner who has some sort of elixir that can take away all curses. It helped your ancestors. Now dear, I'm not saying this is a curse. But it could be a good place to start." So that's where Briar was going after her birthday dinner. To find this shop in Rhode Island and meet the owner who could potentially help her.

"So, Briar," her friend Luca said next to her. "What are your big birthday weekend plans?" He popped an oyster into his mouth. Luca had been a good friend to Briar, but she always knew he wanted more than a friendship with her. Briar just could never get there with him. "Oh, I got big birthday plans," she said sarcastically. "I will be driving down to Rhode Island to spend the weekend at the beach, writing." Briar had always been a prolific writer, and for three years all her writing had been centered around the dream. "I just want to be alone and focus on myself, maybe do some self-care." She said through a sip of her cocktail. Of course, the real reason she was going to Rhode Island was not something she was going to reveal. So the lie had rolled off her tongue easy enough.

"I like that, some birthday self-care. Well if you get bored, feel free to call and I'll come down to hang out. I haven't been to Rhode Island in a while," Luca said with a small smile. Briar did like Luca, but not in that way. He had been her first friend in Boston after meeting Melody. The three of them hit it off quickly and spent most of their time together. Luca was in the tech industry and helped her with computer problems, while Melody was in real estate and was able to snag the best apartments for half the price. Briar had worked at the same book shop for seven years and she wasn't even a manager. She thought her degree in English had been a good idea at the time, but she wasn't having any luck finding what she truly wanted to do, other than write. The worst part was– she hadn't even finished writing a book yet. So the bookshop allowed her to be around stories, all while she imagined her own story living on the shelves in the future. When the dream started, it had caught her off guard, but then when she started writing it down and recognized the similarities each time, she knew this story had to have an ending besides being ripped apart.