Death Sleep ~ Book Three

one.

Lance Aberdeen yawned and stretched and opened his eyes as he rolled over. To his delight, his first view of the day was his wife, Leslie. The sun was streaming in their bedroom window and her hair shone radiantly. Propping up on one elbow, he reached a hand over and plucked a lock of hair out of her face. The movement caused her to waken. Smiling, she breathed in deeply and opened her eyes.

"Good morning sleepy head," he said softly.

"Mmmm good morning to you," she replied, dreamily.

Just then, the door burst open and their three year old daughter bounded in, landing roughly on the bed. Laughter and horseplay ensued, as it generally did in the morning with such a boisterous little girl.

Leslie and Lance spent their waking hours doting on their daughter. To others, it seemed like they never had time for themselves. But what outsiders didn't know, was that they had all night to each other, uninterrupted. Lance was a dreamwalker, and every night, he and his wife spent the dark hours together, dreaming together, to wake up the next morning completely refreshed. It was an advantage that they knew most couples wished they had. They knew they were fortunate to be able to do things this way, and they enjoyed every moment.

Finally, they made it out of bed and to the kitchen. Lance was fond of turning on some music as he and his wife made breakfast together. Being a writer, Lance was able to stay at home and work on his books in his office upstairs. But, before writing, came his family.

With Elvis blaring, eggs frying, and toast jumping in the toaster, Lance danced with his two girls and sang horribly. His Elvis impersonation brought the two ladies to tears as they laughed. Finally, Leslie swatted him with the spatula and turned back to the eggs that were beginning to be a little too done. Lance took his daughter, Liza, and they set the table together.

Sitting around the table with their egg, cheese, and tomato sandwiches, Liza munched happily while her parents talked.

"So, do you have a solution for your plot?"

"Not yet. I still don't know how our heroine gets out of the jam she's in."

"Tell me a little more about it," Leslie said as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"You have this girl," he started.

"Like me!" Liza interjected. Lance smiled.

"Like you, but bigger. She's dead, but nobody will believe her. She walks around, her flesh beginning to decay, but nobody will talk about the issue and they keep assuring her everything is fine."

Leslie wrinkled her nose, and Liza copied her mother.

"So she meets this boy, and he tells her that she's dead. And she's so happy that somebody finally noticed. But now she's sad, because she's dead and she really likes this boy. But all he wants to do is help her cross over, and now she doesn't want to be dead anymore. She wants to be alive and with this boy. She likes him so much, that over a short period of time, she starts leeching life from the boy. The more she likes him the stronger she feels because she leaches that much more life from him. Eventually, he begins to show the wear and tear of being leached off of. But she becomes more and more powerful and can't see that she's killing the one she loves." Lance stopped.

"And?" asked Leslie.

"That's all I have."

"You need to do some work today."

"Yeah, Daddy work," Liza echoed solemnly.

Lance chuckled.

"But I want them together and I don't see how it could be done. For one to live, the other has to die."

"Sometimes, two people who love each other can't be together," Leslie said softly as she reached out a hand and touched her husband on the arm.

Lance looked at his wife.

"I'm glad we're not like that. I couldn't bear to be away from you."

Leslie smiled at him and squeezed his arm.

"Don't worry, you won't be able to get rid of me."

Lance rose and skirted the table to stand in front of his wife.

"I hope not."

He bent over and kissed his wife on the lips. To Liza, even at this young age, she could tell what love was supposed to look like. She could feel it radiate off her parents and it made her laugh with glee at their show of affection. Even this young, she hoped she could find one that would treat her just that way, and love her that deeply. She would never forget.