Rachel Stanton and The Darkest Night

CHAPTER 6: "LOVE IS IN THE AIR"

6. “LOVE IS IN THE AIR”

I pictured Augustus for the last time before I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling in wonder. He was like my father, a cleaner version of my father. He had everything my father had. All of his features were on him.

And I kept thinking that Augustus was really him.

I looked out of the window seeing the evening had not passed yet. It was cold, colder. The breeze had struck my feet and it made me shiver and froze.

It took me a moment before I lay my head on pillows again. Pictures of another dream started to show up behind my lids. And I’d hoped it would not be as potent as the previous.

It was raining leaves. The ground was already covered with it and I could no longer see the path. It was autumn. But it wasn’t the usual autumn occurring every year. It was something bizarre. The cloudless blue sky was already covered with thick, dark clouds. It was about to rain.

A museum was built on the far end side of the place. A lake was at the center of this sort of park. Swans and ducks swam around the surface of the water. Children played nearby, and their laughter made me smile. Suddenly, I already found a muscle to walk around.

My eyes looked around the wonderful place. And as I wandered, Jared stood beside a nearing leafless tree. I called his name, but he didn’t respond. His eyes were on me though, and the only thing I wanted to do was to run to him. “Jared,” I said, my voice ice cold.

He sighed first. “Come,”—he gestured me by a hand to follow him—“I want to talk to you.” Then he started to walk past the tree.

“Where’re we going?” I asked in wonder.

But he didn’t answer me. I had no time to question now. I followed him until we reached a Peach tree. Its leaves had not fallen yet. Below the tree were flowers, not yet bloomed. And as I walked past them, they slowly opened and showed their wonderful colors. I absorbed the scent as it grew.

I looked for Jared, but he wasn’t here anymore. For a moment, I thought he had left me already. I took a minute to go around the tree to find him. He wasn’t still there. But when I looked up, he was standing on a large branch. You could see he had changed, because he was already wearing a handsome coat and tie. I stared at him. Then he jumped off the branch and landed right in front of me.

“I thought you left,” I said.

He shook his head and chortled. “No, I don’t. I can’t and I won’t.”

I managed to smile. Then he bent down, picking a flower on the ground before he finally straightened up.

“For you.” He handed me the flower. I took it slowly into my hand, but after a second or two, it turned into a bouquet with all the flowers combined. I smiled at him, stared at his wonderful, glinting green eyes.

He stepped closer to me. Closer. His face was already in front of me, moving forward to kiss.

Someone knocked at my door. I sat up and touched my head . . . then my lips. It took me a moment or two before I remembered the last scene in my dream. Did Jared kiss me? No. He did not, because I was already awoke before he would start.

“Breakfast’s ready, Rachel,” Charles barked from the door, opening it ajar, peering one eye at me. “Dad doesn’t want me to get down without you. Come on.”

I wasn’t about to get up yet. But something in his eyes made me do. I could see he was pleading already and I went to him with a finger on my lips. While taking the last step, I saw my mom staring at me with pursed lips. Then I saw Christian reading the front page of the newspaper.