Pirate By Blood

Chapter 12: Vision

CHAPTER 12

Vision

Maleen knew she was dreaming.

She had no idea how she knew, but she did. She was certain it was a dream.

Although...

The setting did seem real to her; in a way. Everything around her looked like it really could be happening – like she actually was there.

And, even though she knew it was a dream, it felt real – really real. Like reality instead of just a delusion.

Everything – absolutely everything – that was around her felt like it could actually be there.

So, was it a dream?

Maleen wondered about it for a moment or two  - putting together what few facts she knew about the place she was in – but soon realised that she had been right to begin with; she had to be.

Maleen had no memory of how she had gotten to where she was – and she would have remembered if it had been real. She would have remembered what had happened to Simon – and when she had seen him again.

All of a sudden she let her subconscious take over and Maleen seemed to be a part of the scene – as if it were happening right at that moment rather than just something she was witnessing.

She felt the fear and the pain and the weakness, all in one rush. It all came flooding into her so fast that Maleen nearly woke up.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she stirred in her sleep; as she was in that dream; her eyes flickering about under her eyelids. Her muscles twitched very slightly, trying to find something she could hold onto for comfort.

For some reason – that Maleen knew from the very beginning – the scene around her had captured her attention. She didn’t want to wake up – even if there was pain pulsing through her and she felt unbearably weak – she had to find out how she had gotten here; in this dream.

Finally everything around her was real – moving, rather than just a picture – like it should be, and Maleen was aware of the whole thing.

She now understood that she was on a ship – quite a large ship, at that – and there was a fight going on. Maybe even a war...Men were fighting all around her. Fighting...things. Things that Maleen could hardly imagine – things she found hard to describe at the shock of seeing them.

A slight fog seemed to cast itself all around the vessel – obscuring anything in the distance. Rain was pattering down onto the wooden deck beneath her.

But Maleen wasn’t concentrating on any of that, though. She was concentrating on the face of one man in particular. A man she had seen so many times before in her life – someone she treasured.

Her father.

And that was how she knew it was a dream. Maleen knew she would have remembered how she had seen her father – she knew she would – and the thing was; she didn’t.

‘So, I’m dreaming,’ She concluded; but she still couldn’t help but wonder why her father looked the way he did.

He looked...different – maybe even scared – which wasn’t right for a man like him. He had never once been scared when Maleen remembered him – why was he frightened in this vision of hers?

Leroy seemed to be fighting and looking at her at the same time – she was amazed at his talent of multitasking – but, he was concentrating more on her.