Dreaming of Alten

Chapter 3. Alten

There's a full moon above our heads, and we're driving in Alten's silver Porsche convertible, down a long straight dark road that seems to go on forever. I can smell the spicy fresh apple shampoo Alten uses; it perfectly complements the vanilla caramel scent I'm wearing. He's got an arm around my shoulders, the other hand resting lightly on the steering wheel. One of my favorite songs is playing on the radio. I'm wearing a sleek purple evening gown, and Alten's in a suit, which makes a nice difference from his usual jeans and leather jacket combo.

I lean over to kiss him, and he grins. "Easy, girl," he says. "I'm driving."

"So pull over," I say, kissing the side of his mouth.

I feel his lips smile against mine. He does pull over, to the edge of the road, overlooking the night lights of the city below. He hits a button to put down the top of the convertible, and as it rolls back he takes my face in his hands.

His fingers are tangled in my hair when the rain starts. I don't feel it at first because I'm too busy kissing him back. The first I know of it is when Alten lets go of me and puts the top of the convertible back up. I notice that my boyfriend's looking worried, and it scares me because I've never seen Alten look worried before in my perfect dream world.

"Alten?" I say, as thunder crashes overhead and rain starts pelting down on the windshield of the car, the raindrops casting eerie shadows in the car as they slide down the glass outside. "Alten, what's happening?"

This isn't the way things are supposed to be. I would never dream a thunderstorm in the middle of a date. Thunderstorms scare me. I was the kind of kid who went running to my parents' room whenever there was a storm. I grew out of doing that when I was ten or eleven, but I've never grown out of being afraid.

My palms are sweating and the AC feels like ice against my skin. The rain is coming down so fast now that the windshield is one big blur. The wind is so strong that I swear I can feel it shaking the car from side to side.

"It's okay," says Alten soothingly. "It's okay, baby." He switches on the light and turns the temperature of the AC up. He reaches for my hand and I let him take it because I need something to hold on to.

Bright light flares on the right side of the car, followed immediately by an earsplitting bang of thunder. My hand tightens on Alten's, and he puts his other hand around my shoulders and pulls me over so I can lean against him.

Another flash of lightning hits just outside of my window, and I flinch into Alten's chest, closing my eyes as another clap of thunder sounds. "Did it hit us?" I'm shaking and my voice sounds very small.

"No," says Alten. He sounds calm and reassuring. "No. We're okay."

"Why is this happening?" I ask. "This shouldn't be happening." Am I somehow causing this, dreaming this? I need to wake up. If I can just wake up, everything will be all right.

"This isn't you," says Alten quietly. "Reality's been messed up for a while now."

I lift my head from his chest and stare at him. "What are you talking about?" I've never heard him say anything like this, or look so serious. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to take care of it, all right?" he says, stroking my hair. That sounds more like something Alten would say, but I'm still scared because I don't know what he's talking about. "Don't worry."

I hold onto him and we sit in silence for a few minutes just listening to the storm raging around us. The rhythm of his breathing calms me until another bolt of lightning flashes outside the window.

Alten's hands tense on my back as I jump in fright. "It's okay," he says again. I wonder what he thinks of this side of me, the terrified girl pressed to his chest whimpering at lightning. He kisses me on the top of my head, and I feel comforted, but then he says, "I'm going to send you back. You don't need to be scared like this."

"What?" I gasp. "Alten, don't—"

"It's all right, Ash," he says. "I'll see you soon." His lips touch mine in the lightest of kisses, and I can feel his lips move against mine as he whispers that he loves me.

The car shakes as a flash of light cracks into the windshield. I scream out Alten's name as I feel his arms sliding loose from my shoulders, and I'm grabbing fistfuls of his jacket, desperate to hold on to him.

And then he's gone, and I'm lying on my pillow staring up at the ceiling of my bedroom, breathing in deep gasps like a rescued drowner, tears welling up in my eyes, my heart beating so fast that I think I might throw up.

My blanket has slipped onto the floor. The window above my bed is open and my curtain is billowing in the wind. Outside, the night sky is clear, with no trace of rain or lightning, just a full moon that seems to mock me with its yellowish glow.