TOXIC BLOODLINES: PARADISE - BOOK 2/4

GHOSTS

ARIK

"Describe it to me," Kim asked, her head resting on my chest.

"But I just told you."

"I want to hear it again," she insisted.

"Fine." With my eyes closed, I tried to recall the dream through the sounds of heavy rain hitting our roof. "It's bright."

"And?" She asked. I could feel her eyes on me.

She manifested beside me through the dark. "Gentle breeze, birds. Flowers," the scene bloomed around us in swirls of color and light. "I don't see what the point of this is," I opened my eyes.

"Arik," she frowned. "I can't see anything if you don't show it to me. Try again," Kim put her warm hand on my chest. "Deep breaths," she calmed me.

I put my hand over hers. "Okay." Resting back into the dream state, I tried harder to remember more details. But like most dreams, the memory faded as my mind tried to fill the blanks. "... I'm sitting on the lakeside." Grass tickled my palms as the world manifested around me with a breeze. "I'm on the water's edge looking at the lake." Kim appeared beside me in a cloud of dust. "What else do you see?" her voice echoed.

"The world is different," I saw the moon, it was split in half, everything was overgrown. An Eden. I got up and walked toward the water where I saw my reflection. "I'm older," I looked down at my hands. "It's hard to tell. Maybe late thirties, forties, or eighties," I had grey hairs but I was still young in a way that made no sense. "I feel ancient," the more I spoke, the clearer the image became. "What else do you see?" Kim pressed. She couldn't see but she could feel it. Looking around, I saw Kim smiling at me from the porch swing at our house. "We're away from all this. We're happy. No more monsters."

"Sounds like heaven," Kim sighed. "Keep going."

Walking up the path from the lake, I realized our house was dilapidated, taken back by nature. "Our house."

"What about our house," Kim asked.

"It's gone. Like destroyed?" I hurried up the path. That was when I saw the thick rose stems that coiled around the aged wooden beams that kept some of it standing. Kim stood from the porch swing with a warm smile, like me, she was older. Her hair had a strange fiery tint that matched the deep red of her jewel-encrusted gown or sari that swept the floor. "What's wrong?" she asked staring into my eyes with so much intensity I thought she was real.

"Nothing," I answered taking her hands. I felt her power, it was different. Kim's arms were marked with intricate symbols that glowed from within.

"Arik, what do you see?" Kim's voice echoed.

"You," I answered.

Then the front door slowly creaked open, and a small voice echoed out.

"... There's a little voice coming from inside the house. I reached for the door." I opened my eyes.

"Who's the little voice?" Kim asked, lifting her head from my chest.

"I don't know," I replied.

Kim sat up with a concerned look.

"Who was he?" She asked again, staring into my eyes as if trying to see it herself.

"I don't know."

"Try and remember any more details, the flowers, the colors, smells," she wouldn't let it go.

"That's where it always ends. There's nothing after," I replied, sitting up.

With a sigh, Kim got out of bed, threw her robe on, and exited our room. I put on my pants and followed her into the hallway.