Lamia's Dream

Chapter 12

Branches cracked beneath footsteps.  I found myself surrounded by a familiar darkness.  The tall wooden sentinels with the carved faces were familiar also.  I knew who I would find once I stepped into the moonlit clearing.  Valerie needed me again and this time I would not let her down.

I dashed on the scene, expecting Valerie to be backed into a tree.  Instead, she and the bulky masked man stood side by side. 

"Hello, Miles," Valerie said, smiling wickedly, her fangs visible.  I glanced down and noted her claws.

"We were waiting for you," the tall, massive man said.

I narrowed my eyes.  For what? 

Valerie reached up and stroked his cheek.  They brought their heads together and merged them into one.

I saw my heart shatter.  For a brief moment in my line of vision, it wasn't the girl I cared for most and my hated enemy, it was my ruby colored heart cracking crookedly down the middle and shards flying everywhere, revealing that it had been made of the most fragile glass.

Then, the beast with two back-heads returned in view.  Valerie stroked his broad shoulders and moved rythmically, as if mirroring the dancing of her tongue.  It made watching all the more sickening.  I pleaded with my eyes to look away but they wouldn’t.

I opened my mouth to utter curses, but Valerie rose a single finger while still tongue-deep in his mouth.

She finally broke away from him to look back at me.  "It gets even better," she said with a toothy grin.

She reached for the man's mask and together they took it off.  I knew his complexion would grow several shades paler and his wild hair would shorten until he was in his true form:  Tyler Walker.

"Told you to thank me," Tyler jeered.

"Never!" I screamed.

My chest rose and fell violently and the nails of my clenched fists dug into my palms.

Get them.  Make them suffer.

It took on a lucid-dream like quality similar to the dream a few nights ago.  I stared at Valerie, looking for some explanation for the shift.

Her fangs and claws receded.  "Valerie," she said, a familiar mixture of shock and confusion.

"It's not true, Miles," came a voice from behind me.

I turned and there she was.  The lovely girl with the wavy brown hair and hazel eyes.  The one that kept pummeling  my heart.

"Yes it is," I said, finally finding words.  "You keep making me believe you and then you punish me for it."

"Shhh..." she whispered.  She stroked my cheek the same way she- or the other Valerie?—had done to Tyler's.

"It's just a dream, Miles.  Wake up."

She leaned forward to kiss me.

I snapped awake.  I squinted my eyes in response to the bright lights.  I noticed I was breathing rapidly.  The pain from the lights eventually subsided and I opened my eyes wider.  Jack and Phil stared at me with their jaws agape. 

I suddenly remembered that I was in Phil’s basement. 

“Told you we shouldn’t have put his hand in that cup of water,” Phil said.

I only wished that dream had been their punishment for my falling asleep first. 

My breathing became slower and more efficient.  I wiped the sweat beads off my forehead with my t-shirt.

“I think he’ll live,” Jack murmured.

I nodded.

“Just what were you dreaming about?” Phil asked.

“A girl with fangs and claws.”

***

My Aunt's church had a fair mix of blacks and whites, which was uncharacteristic for this part of Gaston County.

One of the church elders gave today’s sermon, instead of the pastor.  I rarely ever paid attention.  Today I had a particularly good reason not to.  I had to figure out what Valerie was.

When I first awoke from the dream I was vehement that Valerie was something other than human.  I could vividly recall her claws and fangs.  Hours later in the world of the living, I had my doubts again.  But Valerie not being human did explain her odd behavior.  Well, just one behavior for which she hadn't given me an adequate explanation:

Why had she gone back to Tyler after wanting me?

She had been very weird that day. She was agitated, which was odd because Valerie was always friendly and jovial.  What was it again she had said she needed?  Something about being "so th-?". Maybe she wanted to get something from me but because she couldn't, she got it from Tyler.  Although, mono didn’t start with “th.”

"And the Bible says, when the demon was driven out, the man who was mute spoke!" the preacher declared.

I snapped out of my thoughts.

"What did he say?" I asked my aunt.

She shot me an irritated look.  "He read the verse.  The one projected on the walls..."

The verse came from Matthew 9:33.  It was exactly how the elder had said.  I didn't care about how it related to his sermon.  He provided me with an important memory.

I recalled that night in the woods, when the tall muscular man stared down Valerie and me.  I remembered her clutching my hand tightly.  I remembered fearing for both our lives, but was willing to do anything to protect her. 

"We'll finish this next time demon."

And then he was gone.

At first, I ignored it as the guy being a kook.  But, what if he was right?  And what if I had unintentionally saved the life of a demon?

I chuckled out loud, which warranted a glare from my aunt. 

Valerie.  My lovely, sweet Valerie, who wasn't so much mine anymore.  But still…  Could the girl I had wanted so long be a demon?

That could explain why I was so attracted to her.  Maybe she had cast a spell on me.  If demons can cast spells…

There were certain things about these past two weeks with Valerie that made more sense if she wasn't normal.  The fangs and claws.  A man attacking her and calling her a demon.  Showing up in my dreams.  And Tyler.

I wanted so badly to believe that she "needed" to be with Tyler.  She was more energetic after hooking up with him. 

I looked at the verse projected on the walls again, searching for clues.  My eyes went left to right repeatedly as I read it multiple times.

"Driven out..."

What if Valerie wasn't a demon?  But what if she had one inside of her?  Would I need holy water to get it out?

I exhaled a little too loudly.  Ignoring my aunt, I placed my forehead in my palm.

This was becoming too complicated, too fast.  And I dare not say anything to Jack or Phil.  They'd just laugh at me.

"Tell 'em, I command you in the name of Jesus, speak!" then at the top of his lungs he added, "Speak!"

"Maybe I should just speak to the girl," I mumbled.

Hard to deny it when the messenger of God is literally shouting it at you.

And I could always just laugh it off and say that I was only kidding.  Valerie was a good sport.  She'd probably laugh, too.

 ***

Let me know in the comments if you understood the reference about putting “his hand in a cup of water" :-)