The Leviathan

Chapter 1 ~ BILL ~ Angel Dreams

Chapter 1 ~ BILL ~ Angel Dreams

In my dream there were angels. Beautiful, lithe and ethereal. They don't speak any words. Instead they sang a soft melody that sounds nothing like any instrument on earth. They wore blinding robes of gold. Pure white wings tipped with golden feathers. Their hairs were silver and their eyes made of bluest skies. The angels were dazzling, frolicking creatures in the heavens.

I reached up to them, longing for their divine attention, a touch or a smile. But these angels ignore me. To them I don't exist. To them I am nothing more than a speck of dust. I feel anger coursing through me. I can hear the distant thunder. A storm is brewing somewhere, coming closer and closer.

The angels stopped singing. The sudden silence was deafening. They all looked at me. I started to speak, wanting to hear their voices. But when they open their mouths, all I can hear were screams of anguish. The angels cried. Tears, tears streaming down their faces. Tears that slowly turn to blood. I was horrified as the blood flows, staining their golden robes, their pure white wings and silvery hair. My angels are dying. When I looked down, my hands were stained with their blood. And then the darkness came. It swallowed everything. Everything but their agonizing cries. I wish for silence. And then I hear their screams no more.

I woke up to the sound of piano playing. My throat was hoarse. It seems I am screaming in my sleep again. That explains the piano...

I found my twin brother Tom in the next adjoining room. Eyes close, head raised to the sky, and his nimble fingers sweeping through the piano keys. We are identical twins. But I was born with a black hair and pale skin. Tom was blonde and golden skinned. I was the sickly, brooding, intelligent younger brother. Tom was the older, mischievous, muscle-bound fool. Well, at least that's how the court view us. But they don't know us. They don't know anything about us.

"You know, when you are screaming in your sleep, I was hoping you are dreaming about a sexy dominatrix spanking you." Tom said over the soft music.

"You have to stop drowning my screams with the piano. Now, move." I sat right next to him.

I close my eyes and played. When we were younger, a traveling group of musician went to our palace. A beautiful woman in a red dress and white mask had played the piano during a masquerade ball. Tom and I were mesmerized by the melody she played. I remember running up to her, tugging on her gown, asking what was that music she was playing. She smiled, touched my dark hair and whispered in my ear. "This piece is called Angel Dreams, my young prince."

The next day, Tom and I requested piano lessons. The court was delighted to hear that their young trouble-making princes are learning the art of music. But when we asked the piano teachers about Angel Dreams, they shook their heads. They haven't heard that piece before. We tried to find the woman with the traveling musicians. But they are already gone. The woman and the beautiful music that night became just a memory.

"Can you still remember Angel Dreams, Tom?" I said.

"Yes, but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to play it. Maybe because we only heard it once."

I nodded, "Yes, that may be true."

He stopped playing and stared at me, "I have long suspected it but do you actually like older women?"

I sighed. This conversation is going south into perverted territory. "No."

"That woman in a sexy corseted dress could have been your first crush. Do you still have wet dreams about her?" Tom asked raising one eyebrow. "Is that why you are screaming?"

"When was the last time you haven't managed to turn an innocent conversation into a lustful one?"

"Like never!" Tom chuckled and punched me playfully on the shoulder.

I retaliated by holding the tip of his dread-locked hair and sent a mild electric shock.

Tom jumped away, shaking his head. "You know I hated that. That does it." He cracked his knuckles. A habit he does when he gets serious in a fight. "Ready for a morning workout, Bill?"

I flexed my fingers, readying for a battle. "You better be good at dodging, you know I woke up cranky."

Thirty minutes later, our butler came in with our breakfast. He ran out of the room screaming. Just another normal day.