Angel's Wings

Chapter Twelve: Lucid

 "Give me envy, give me malice, give me your attention"- Panic at the Disco

I stumbled back and gasped. "What happened?" Blake shook his head and shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, I have my theories, but this isn't like anything I've seen before. They all bled out at the neck, they look like they've been manhandled, and it keeps happening."

I looked at him, unable to bear the sight of those poor chickens, and was surprised to see that he looked even more sickened than me. So he's an animal lover. That's oddly endearing. "Why me?" I asked quietly. "Why show this to me?"

Blake smiled a little and stared at me almost as deliberately as I was staring at him. It wasn't a bad alternative to the corpses littered before us. "You were my friend when no one else was," he said simply. "I trust you." I blushed and tucked my hair behind my ear shyly. No one had ever spoken to me like this; like there wasn't some alternative plan behind their words, like I was worth more than all of this teen drama we were surrounded by.

"Well," I said softly. "Thank you." I glanced at the pile of carcasses. "And I definitely want to help you get down to the bottom of this." Blake nodded.

"Great. But..let's discuss the rest outside. The smell of rotting poultry is getting to me."

Once we were outside, I smiled back at Blake again, even though this time there was nothing I was avoiding looking at. I just liked seeing him. "You know, I actually saw one of the chickens a while ago," I said. "But I got...distracted before I could read too much into it." I wrinkled my nose as the thought of Joesephe soured the moment. Blake noticed. He frowned.

"Yeah, I've noticed that Joesephe's started working around here."

"Really? He didn't act like he knew you at the party."

"I doubt he recognized me. Anyway, I'm sorry that he's been so awful to you. Do you want to talk about it?"

I crossed my arms and bit my lip sadly. How come all guys can't be this nice? He's even easier to talk to than Delylah. Maybe even Tyrone. "I made the absolutely terrible mistake of kissing him last night," I admitted, blanching a little. Even if he's actually incredible at it, that's no excuse for how much I despise Joesephe. Blake's eyes widened a little and he nodded, slowly. "In my defense, he started it," I said hurriedly. Blake held up a hand, the friendly grin returning just as quickly as it had come.

"You don't have to make any excuses. He seems very, uh, persuasive. Have your feelings changed?"

"I've always hated him, always will hate him," I assured. "It's just that-" Suddenly a familiar but still awful sensation came flooding over me. I swayed as Alfredo's voice started to drift in the background of my hazy consciousness. I gripped my head as my vision blurred and my knees began to buckle.

"Vael!" Blake cried, catching me as I fell, once again, into my dream.

***

The music was stronger this time. I softly touched my gown, the golden silk cascading down from my hips. Little tendrils of hair brushed against my collarbone as a strong pair of arms snatched me up again, gripping my waist firmly.

"Hello again," said the deep, enthralling voice. The corners of my mouth turned up, almost against my will. The man twirled me and I flew out.

"Hello," I greeted. I spun back in. "Are you ever going to tell me who you are?"

"We've been through this. All you have to do is look at my face."

"But-"

"LOOK AT MY FACE, VAELYUMME!" The man yelled and I stumbled back, terror striking my heart like lightning. And, like always, I watched in total horror as wings began to sprout from my faceless stranger's back. I squeezed my eyes shut, and-

"Vael? Vael, are you waking up? Please tell me you're waking up." I woke blearily to see Blake's face hovering over mine, worry creasing his brow. I blinked a couple more times to realize that his arms were cradling my head, his knee supporting my back. "Vael," He breathed, relieved.

"Sorry," I muttered, sitting up delicately. "I hate it when I do that in public."

Blake frowned. "Do you faint a lot?"

"I'm not sure if you'd call it fainting." We stood and I brushed the dirt off me. "More like I just get really intense dreams. Or a really intense dream." I shook my head. "Sorry."

"No, don't apologize." Blake took my elbow and gently lead my over to a bale of hay, sitting us both down. He turned his entire body towards me as he asked, "What do you mean, dream?"

"It's stupid." Blake raised an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile. "Okay, well, I'm always at this ball/party thing, and I always end up dancing with this one guy while, get this, Alfredo Despacito Jones, is singing in the background. And I can never see his face, even though he tells me to. Then he goes and sprouts wings, a-and that's where the dream ends." I finished and was surprised to see that Blake wasn't laughing at me, or even appearing skeptical. He merely looked thoughtful.

"Why don't you think that you can see his face?" He asked gently.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I've just never been lucid enough to look, I guess."

Blake seemed to contemplate something before he cleared his throat. "Well, have you ever tried to go into one of these dreams, instead of just falling into one?"

Huh. Hadn't thought of that. "...No, I guess not."

"Well, why don't you? Maybe then you could see his face, and you'd get some control over these episodes."

I laughed and shook my head. "It's just a dream, Blake."

"In midday, with no warning?" I shut my mouth. He has a point. "Nothing is this repetitive without meaning. Maybe something is going on. Maybe if you went in deliberately..."

Gosh darn it he's right. "Okay, how do you propose I do that?" Blake shifted to the very end of the hay bale and patted the space next to him.

"Lay down," he suggested. I did as he said, shifting as straws poked at my back. There was a small thud as Blake laid down beside me, turning to smile when I raised my eyebrows at him. "I'll be right here if you need me," he said. His shoulder bumped against mine and I looked down to see that he had put his hand next to mine, palm facing up and pinky brushing against mine. All of a sudden I felt much more relaxed. "Just squeeze my hand if you want help," Blake said gently.

"Thank you." And we continued to look at each other as I slowly closed my eyes and began to play that song, that beautiful song over and over again in my mind.

It turns out that once you give into something that's been pressing you for attention, it's fairly easy to gain access to that thing.

In the next moment that I opened my eyes I was back in the ballroom. As blurred figured danced around me in slow motion, I searched for my mystery man. Several moments later the tempo of the music picked up and a finger lightly tapped my shoulder. "You came back," said the deep voice.

"Yeah." I gulped. "And I'm ready to see your face." Bracing myself and turning around, I began to look up, and for the first time I saw him, the true him.

Wait, no. That's impossible, no.

It can't be him...can it?

But then I blinked and he was still there. A knowing smile crept over his face. "Hi, Vael," said none other than Alfredo Despacito Jones himself.  

Hi, everyone!  Blake is so adorable we can't.  Anyway, let us know your thoughts and feelings on this and thanks for reading!