Anything For Rachel

Chapter Twenty Six.

The sweet smell of burning vampire flesh wakes me. I sit up fast, afraid for Calvin. Where is he? Why isn't he in bed with me? I climb out of the bed and walk swiftly to the living room but there isn't anyone there. The smell of the pyres is stronger now, and I see flickers of the blue flames from beneath the door. Shaking, I walk over and put my hand on the door. It burns me it is so warm, but I turn the knob and open it anyway. I have to find Calvin. The door swing open, but I'm not in the hallway outside of our suite, I'm standing at the top of the grand stairs in the ballroom, the smoke rising to meet me. My stomach twist at the sight in front of me. Bodies. Hundreds of thousands of bodies. Vampires line the floor, ripped apart, all covered in blue flames, but also awful pestering marks all over their skin. The eyes that I can see are all blood red, and the veins in their necks, faces, and arms are all black as coals. I'm scanning the room when I see faces I know amongst the dead. Octavia...Lexton...Cromley...Patrick...I scream as I see them, their red eyes staring blankly at nothing. The door to the back of the room opens and a man walks out with his hands behind his back. It's the man with the roses. He smiles at me, making me feel faint, then with a twisted grin, he brings his hands out from behind him and holds them out in front of him for me to see. A red rose in his left hand turns black, while Calvin's severed head hangs from his right, his smoky blue eyes red as hellfire.

"Calvin!" I screamed. "Calvin!" Louder still, tangling myself in the blankets as I tried to lurch myself from the bed, my heart in my throat and shaking violently. "Calvin where are you!"

The bedroom door swung open and to my relief Calvin rushed in, his eyes wide, but blue, not red like in the dream.

It was just a dream. It was just a dream.

"Rachel," Calvin said urgently. "What's the matter? Are you alright?" There was fear in his voice that matched the fear I was still feeling. I grabbed ahold of him, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He held me and brushed my hair away from my face where it was sticking to my sweaty forehead. "It's ok." He whispered to me gently. "I'm here."

I leaned back and checked his eyes again, then a ran my hands down his neck and checked under the collar of his shirt to make sure there were no scares from where his head had been taken, and I sighed in relief when I didn't find anything. "I was so scared." I whispered in the dark. "I dreamt you were dead." I told him. "All of you."

Calvin held my face between his hands and kissed me gently. "I'm right here." He told me. "I'm ok."

I nodded my head. "I know." I whispered, my heart beat becoming less frantic. "It just felt so real." I admitted, trying not to picture it. "The smell of the burning...It was so real."

"Burning?" He asked.

I looked down at the bed. "Someone had killed all of you." I told him. "You were all dead and stacked in the ballroom with so many other dead vampires, all burning and the red eyes..."

Calvin pulled his brows together and wrinkled his nose. "Red eyes?" He asked. "I've never seen any vampire be killed and have red eyes." He told me. "It was just a strange dream." He assured me. "You're under a lot of stress."

"I know." I snapped, then sighed. "I'm sorry." I whispered and he kissed my forehead sweetly. "I know it's stupid, but my dreams just freak me out. I never have dreams like this when I'm at home." I told him. "In fact, I hardly dream at all, but when I'm here I get these awful nightmares."

"I'm sure that's because when you're at home you aren't under a mass of pressure and you don't have a metaphorical dagger hanging over your head at all times just threatening to drop at any moment." He rationalized. "The stress and danger here are more than enough to give you night terrors. Especially since you seem to be handling everything so well on the outside, I'm sure it is just the true stress manifesting itself into your dreams."