Celestials

I shot straight up in bed, my body and bed sheets soaked with sweat. My skin was still abnormally warm and my neck felt bruised.

With deep breaths, I calmed myself. It was just a dream. A weird one, a little scary – but just a dream. I looked at the clock. 4 a.m. Well, I wasn’t going to get back to sleep tonight.

With a sigh, I went downstairs to make coffee and start my all natural beauty tips article. The morning promised to be ultra thrilling. Although, after that dream, a little mundane was going to be welcome.

By twelve-thirty, I was dragging but I had promised Margot that we would have lunch.

From the door of Cape Cheerful Café, I could see Margot’s blond ponytail bouncing as she talked to the waitress.

When I slid into the booth across from her, her blue eyes lit up and she smiled.

“How’s your Da, hon?” she asked, straight away.

“He’s doing okay. Grumpy, as ever,” I smiled lightly.

Margot slid her porcelain white hands over mine. Her skin was flawless except for a few freckles sprinkled across her patrician nose. I don’t know how she did it. With a husband working on a boat and four active boys, she was outside all of the time. But she still looked the same as when we left high school.

“Good. If you need anything, honey, let me know.” Then her eyes twinkled. “Now, did you meet Mr. Tall, Dark, and Hottie?”

I smiled at her and flipped my hair over my shoulder. She was boy crazy all through high school too. “Yes, but I don’t know if you should-“

“Oh my, you met someone!” she gasped.

“What?” I had just told her I met Jude, but that didn’t warrant this response.

“Was it Jude? Please, tell me that it was!” She was shrieking like a teenager. Perhaps that’s what happens when you live with all men. Of course, that never happened to me.

“Was what Jude?” Living with men or not, I still had no idea what she was talking about.

Margot’s eyes sparkled with mischief and she leaned in closer. “The hopefully hottie of man who gave you that little love bite.”

“What love bite?” There was certainly no man here I was getting love bites from. In fact, there was no man anywhere I was getting love bites from.

“Oh, honey, you can’t lie to me,” Margot told me giggling and handing me her compact. “The evidence is right there on your neck. And from the looks of it,” her eyebrows wiggled, “you two got a little wild.”

I opened the compact and looked in her little mirror. Sure enough, there was a deep purple semi-circle where my neck and shoulders met. When I lifted the compact higher I saw there was another semi-circle farther back. As if someone had kissed me hard. Or bit me.

The dark purple of the bruise was more consistent with someone biting me hard. Like they were trying to wake me from a bad dream.

But that’s impossible. It was just a dream. How could I have marks?

“Hon, what’s wrong? You look a little pale.” Margot’s concerned voice brought me back to the present. She slid my water glass closer and encouraged me to drink with a nod of her head.

Sipping slowly, I reasoned out what to tell her. Obviously not the truth. Even I wasn’t sure what that was. Except for the me being totally insane part.

Margot’s face scrunched in sympathy. “Was it bad?”

Bad? That didn’t even begin to describe the torturous nightmare. “Bad?” I echoed.

She nodded with understanding. “You don’t have to feel ashamed. You’re an adult woman with needs and you’re lonely being back in town. It’s understandable.”

I shook my head slightly. What was she talking about?

Margot leaned in and her voice took on a conspirator’s tone. “Listen, before Chuck and I got married, I had a few one night stands too. Sometimes you need something, even if it’s just for a night.”

Oh. My. God. Is that what she thought? Who could I possibly sleep with in this town that everyone wouldn’t know about the next day?

“I just hope it was one of the guys who passes through. You know how the town talks,” she warned me.

I nodded. “Yeah. One of the new guys.”

Okay, so it wasn’t a lie. I mean, in theory, Jude had done this to me and he was new. Even if it inexplicably happened in a dream. I just wasn’t giving her all the details. Not that she would believe them. Hell, it wasn’t like I believed them.

Margot nodded sagely. “Good.” Then her eyes twinkled mischievously. “Now how was it?”

With an ironic smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes, I mumbled, “It was hot.” Like a thousand burning fires.

“Oh honey, I knew that’s what you needed. Now if we could find you someone a little more permanent…”

I groaned. “Please, Da is already trying. He had two nice young men over last night for dinner.” My voice dripped sarcasm.

“Oooh! Who?” Why was everyone so interested in seeing me married off lately?

“Benji and Jude.” I leaned back in my chair like a petulant child.

“Benji, really? You used to change his diapers. Your Da’s getting desperate,” she told me as her nose wrinkled.

I nodded my agreement.

“Jude?” she asked curiously.

I sighed. The shrieking was going to come out again. “Mr. Tall, Dark, and Hottie.”

“Rory!” she did, in fact, shriek. When Margot realized people were looking at her, she lowered her voice to a normal decibel. “You told me I would get details!”

I shrugged. “There was nothing to tell. He came to dinner. We all talked. He went home.” Oh, and there was that weird electric current thing and a winged man in my backyard, but otherwise nothing to tell.

“There had to be more than that. Is he really as hot up close? Was there attraction there? Ugh, does it even matter?” Margot leaned closer, her blue eyes wide with excitement. “Jude is someone I wouldn’t mind sharing my bed with.”

“Margot!” She was married. And Jude was…Jude. Good looking, but cryptic and a little surly.

“Hey, I love Chuck, but that is one hot male. Please make him another notch on your belt, so I can live it vicariously through you,” she begged.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. “I’ll consider it, Margot,” I lied. “Now can we please talk about something else?”

We chatted amiably for the rest of lunch, but I couldn’t get my mind off the bruise on my neck. I found my hand unconsciously lifting to touch it. The slight heat that radiated from it kept reaffirming that I hadn’t made the whole thing up.

When I got back home, the first person I ran into was Jude. Though my head fought it, the woman in me couldn’t help but appreciate the way his muscles rippled as he lifted buoys out of the back of Boreas’s truck. However, my temples also noticed him, and chose this particular time to prickle. I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm sending heat and tingles up it. The prickles shot all the way back to my neck.

His eyes searched my face. “How are you, Rory?”

I shrugged, but I was sure the panic and confusion I felt was clear on my face. “Fine.”

Jude touched the faint bruises under my eyes and murmured, “You didn’t sleep well.”

I pulled away from his tingling grasp. The scarf I had thrown around my neck fell down to my back. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no I didn’t.”

His dark eyes widened and he stared at the bruise on my neck. Quickly, his face composed into a stoic mask again, but not before I saw the surprise in his eyes. “What happened?”

“You know damn well what happened,” I snapped. But I didn’t know if he knew. The whole thing was crazy.

He cleared his throat. “I couldn’t possibly know how you bruised yourself. It looks bad. Does it hurt?” Suddenly, his voice was soft and filled with concern.

I could handle his sullenness. I could even handle his weird cryptic way – it just pissed me off. But the concern? The genuine heartfelt concern that was radiating off of him right now, that would be my undoing. It made me want to spill all my secrets and craziness to him. That was the last thing I needed.

I stiffened my shoulders and tried to brush past him. “It’s fine.”

He stopped me again, just placing a cool, gentle finger on the hot bruise. “I don’t understand how this happened.”

My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

His stoic mask replaced the concern and wonder in his eyes. “Nothing.”

I stared up into his eyes. He knew I didn’t believe him. “Yeah, I bet.”

Turning, I stalked into the house and up to my room. Re-examining the bruise, I notice something. The bruise had healed in a spot the shape of an oval. Exactly where Jude had laid his finger.

My eyes welled up with tears of frustration. Normally, I wasn’t a big crier and never in front of anyone, but this was starting to get ridiculous. I needed to see a doctor or get some answers. There was a good possibility I was insane. Maybe I made the bruise on my neck somehow in my sleep. Or I have another personality who did it. Ugh! But that didn’t explain the finger mark where Jude touched it.

I turned around and stormed out of my room, ready to confront the bastard. He was hiding something.

I made it all the way to the kitchen when I saw him out back. He was talking in his serious fashion, with Da, looking normal as can be.

Maybe he didn’t know anything. Maybe it was my psychosis that was placing blame on him. That made sense. There were times he did seem to know things, but I met the guy yesterday. How well could I know him? Besides, I’m pretty sure crazy people see what they want to see.

I sighed. I didn’t want to go back to Dr. Bennett’s. His treatments made my life a living hell for years. I couldn’t go back there. But who could help me with this?

I walked out the door and looked toward Da.

“I’ll be back in hour. I’m just going for a walk.”

Da nodded and I studiously avoided looking at Jude.

I headed toward the shore. Sitting by the water always helped center me. Maybe the water or God, hell at this point a seagull giving me pointers would be welcome. Our house wasn’t far from the water and it was a nice walk. The sun was hidden behind clouds, but it wasn’t raining. The shadowy gloom fit my melancholy mood.

My temples prickled and I got the feeling someone was watching me. I looked around trying to be inconspicuous and not panic. No one was anywhere near me on the rocky shore. There also weren’t too many hiding spots on the stretch of beach. My imagination was just running wild.

I sat on my favorite boulder, the place I came when I was younger and needed to clear my head. Staring out into the deep blue gray of the ocean, I breathed in the salt air. Life didn’t seem so bad with the ocean air streaming through your lungs.

Of course, I’d never been insane before either. Which didn’t make sense. I mean, it makes sense that I’m going insane, I just would have thought it would have been when I was younger. After what happened to my mother, how did I manage to stay sane? Why now, all of sudden, was I going crazy? Was it because I was home for longer than a few days?

The questions swirled in my mind. The sun came out and glowed behind my closed eyelids. I must have drifted off to sleep.

The light was blinding and I thought I was still awake, staring straight into the sun. As I continued to walk, I realized the light was coming from a beacon attached to a tall pole. Once I got close enough to the pole, the light stopped blinding me. However, my temples began prickling.

The space was enormous, like a grand hall, but with no walls or ceilings. It was all open to a beautiful blue sky. Everything else was white. Graceful marble columns rose into the sky and some had gauzy white curtains stretched between them, blowing serenely in the breeze. There were large white pillows and fluffy ottomans spread throughout the cushiony floor. My red converse stood out against the stark whiteness and smears of brown marred the floor where I had tracked dirt. My jeans and t-shirt seemed grimy compared to all the cleanliness of the space.

I heard bells tinkling softly. With that, figures started appearing. They were all dressed in gauzy white and silver garments of various lengths and designs. I stood behind a column, fairly certain I shouldn’t be here.

When there were hundreds gathered around the beacon of light, a beautiful woman with dark chocolate skin and wildly, curling dark hair unfurled her pristine, white wings and rose over them. She nodded and the cool, serene beings started singing.

It was peaceful and melodic at first. But as the intensity of it increased, there was an undercurrent of wrong, sinister notes. My ears started ringing and my insides literally felt like they were turning inside out. The prickling in my temples spread and then turned into an intense throbbing. Their singing increased and the light from the beacon grew even brighter – so bright I had to squeeze my eyes tightly for fear of going blind.

I crouched down, curling myself into a ball against the column. It was the only way I knew to stop my body from trying to painfully turn itself inside out. My head seared in pain.

A cool hand touched my fevered skin.

“Rory?” The gentle voice was concerned and too familiar, rising over the singing. “Rory?”

With my hands shading my eyes, I carefully looked up. The vision I saw made my eyes tear with longing. Other than emerald green eyes that were now shining with love, it was like looking in a mirror. She died at the same age I was now.

“Mom?” I whispered, overcome with emotion. I wanted to throw myself into her arms, but my body was still churning with pain.

“Rory, listen to me. You need to get out of here. You’re in danger.” She kept looking over her shoulder and her eyes were set with determination and fear. Her voice was close to my ear so I could hear her over the singing.

“Mom, I want to stay,” I told her. I didn’t care if I was hurting. I got to see her.

She smiled and pressed a quick, cool kiss to my hot forehead. “You can’t. You need to get out of here. It’s too dangerous. They’ll hurt you. Don’t trust them.”

I searched the white space looking for an exit. It seemed to stretch forever. The pain increased in my head.

“Wake up, Rory,” my mother told me. “Just wake up.”

“Mom-“ I tried to get something out but I was already being pulled back.

“I love you, Rory. Remember what I said.”

“Wake up!” a harsh voice spoke to me.

“Mom?” Her vision was fading. I saw her mouth curve into a warm smile and say something I couldn’t quite make out.

“Wake up!”

My eyes flew open and met a terrified pair of dark ones. I couldn’t see anything besides the fear in his eyes. I almost thought it was still part of the dream but the grip he had on my arms was very real.

“Let go of me,” I demanded, even though there was a part of me that wanted to crawl into his arms.

His hands fell away, but Jude stayed alarmingly close. I sat up and scooted a few inches away from him. I needed some space to figure out what was going on. Everything felt different. Looking quickly around, I realized nothing had changed. Thankfully, no one was around to witness my nightmare – well, no one but Jude.

I looked back at Jude. His sweaty shirt clung to him, as if he had been running or working out.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, lifting my damp hair off my neck.

“Your dad,” he answered. When I raised an annoyed eyebrow at him, he continued. “You told him you would be back in an hour and when you weren’t he sent me to find you. It’s been almost two.”

I nodded, trying to get my bearings. My body felt weak and the stupid prickling was back. It was like all of my energy was sapped.

“Bad dream?” he asked. I was trying not to notice the concern in his voice.

I nodded again, massaging my temples. The prickling was worse and it was travelling back to my neck. What I wouldn’t give for a masseuse right about now.

“About your mom?”

My eyes snapped to him, irrational anger filling me. “What do you know about my mother?” I seethed.

He shook his head and raised his hands up in surrender. “Nothing. You were calling out to her.”

His simple statement took all the wind out of my sails. It wouldn’t surprise me if he knew what happened. Everyone did and they liked to gossip. Right now, though, I couldn’t handle Jude’s judgment.

I pushed my thumbs into my temples trying to relieve the prickling. “Just a bad dream.”

Jude settled himself more comfortably in front of me and tried to catch my eyes. “Tell me about it,” he demanded quietly.

Shaking my head, I eyed him. “No.”

“Maybe I can help,” he said softly.

How? Was he a magic voodoo doctor that would take the nightmares, the prickles, and the strange winged men away? No. He was a fisherman who ran around telling people that ‘they’ve found you’ without explaining anything.

“I don’t think so,” I told him, trying to stand up. Unfortunately, I was still weak from whatever I had just experienced and almost fell back down – bad idea on a boulder. Jude’s hand snapped out and steadied me before I could. The same electricity from yesterday buzzed in my system as he slowly lowered me back to the rock.

“You obviously need help.” A faint, sad smile crossed his lips.

“Just had too many glasses of wine at lunch,” I sneered at him. I couldn’t let him see how freaked out I was. My body was fine getting down here. All of sudden, I didn’t feel strong enough to stand. This was bad.

Jude had never released my hand when he brought me back down the boulder. Now he squeezed it. “Let me help you, Rory. Trust me, I can.”

“I’ve known you for about thirty seconds and most of the time you talk in riddles. There is no way I trust you.” In my head, that statement came out ferocious and strong. However, in my weakened condition, I sounded more like a petulant child. I hung my head, the exhaustion and the prickles getting the best of me.

“I know you don’t trust me,” Jude nodded his head sadly. “But I hope one day you will.”

“Not likely,” I snorted.

He sighed. “Sometimes it helps to talk with people who don’t know you. Strangers will give you an unbiased opinion.”

I glared at him. “No one in this town is unbiased about me.”

His eyes met mine in the challenge. “I am.”

And he won. I couldn’t hold his stare. It made me uncomfortable and I wanted to flee. It also warmed me and I wanted to kiss him until neither of us could see straight and then take him directly to bed. I really needed to work on controlling this whole lust thing.

But in the end he won and I believed he was stubborn enough to not let me leave the beach until I told him about my dream. So I did. Once I started the words flowed from my mouth, describing everything I saw and felt. I was strangely empty, but lighter when I got to the end.

“And it must have been your voice I heard waking me up. She smiled at me, said something and faded away.” A lone tear escaped down my face. Quickly, I brushed it away. Never let them see you cry. “And that’s it.”

He was distracted. Something I said didn’t sit well with him. Jude’s laser eyes focused back on me. “What did she say before you woke up?”

I shook my head and then glared at him. “I don’t know. Some guy was shouting and shaking me awake.”

“Just close your eyes and focus on what she said,” he told me in a soft voice.

“Jude-“ I started. The last thing I wanted to do was relive my dream.

“Please,” he implored me softly.

I don’t know why I listened to him. Maybe it was the hope that he would go away.

Obediently, I closed my eyes.

“Focus on her face and what she was doing,” he said softly. I felt his cool fingers brush gently against mine, but I didn’t move away. I needed his strength right now.

My mother’s face danced in my mind. I saw the ghost of a smile – delighted, surprised, and encouraging.

Jude’s fingers brushed against mine again and suddenly the word my mother mouthed was clear. Only, it wasn’t just a word. It was a name.

Jude.

My eyes flew open and I stared at him. What did this mean? Why had she said Jude’s name?

“What is it?” the object of my curiosity asked. He looked alarmed.

“Nothing,” I mumbled, but my eyes betrayed me. I couldn’t stop staring at him, as if his face would magically give me all the answers I sought.

“Rory.” Jude’s tone indicated that he wasn’t in the mood for my evasion.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He sighed, his exasperation evident. “But you know what she said dammit!”

I nodded. “I want to figure out what it means first.”

“I could help you, Rory.”

I laughed bitterly. “You’ve done nothing but confuse and scare me since we first met.”

Wobbling, I stood up and turned to leave. He gently tugged me back. I hadn’t realized my hand had been in his the entire time. That’s where the warmth and the tingling sensation was coming from.

Quickly, I snatched my hand away and jumped off the boulder. I needed to get away from Jude and figure out what my mom meant. Why had she said his name?

I had only made it partially down the beach when Jude grabbed my hand and pulled. The force of it spun me around so I was facing him. His eyes blazed with anger and something else. Hurt?

“Are you really afraid of me?” he demanded.

“What?” This is what he was worried about at the moment?

He gritted his teeth, clearly trying to hold his emotions in check. “Are. You. Afraid. Of. Me?”

“Yes.”

Jude released my hand, a primal growl discharging from deep in his throat. His tense body paced back and forth as I watched him. He was like a caged animal, all pent up frustration and anger. Then, all at once, his body released and his head hung. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Who was this man?

His deep eyes rose to meet mine. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “That’s never what I intended.”

I nodded. I couldn’t do anything else.

Slowly, he walked towards me like I was a frightened animal. “I won’t hurt you, Rory. I’m here to protect you.”

“From what?”

He shook his head and smiled bitterly. “You have no idea how special you are, do you?”

“What?” I wanted answers and he was hitting on me?

But he wasn’t smiling. His face was set. “Your anima is so strong.”

“Anima?” What the hell was he talking about now?

He smiled faintly. “It’s like your soul, your essence. What makes you who you are. It’s is why-“

His words were cut off by an explosion of the sand to our right. Jude looked to the sky and then grabbed my arm. “Run!”

I tried to see what had almost hit me, but all I could see was a blur of white following us. Flashes of light flew by me and occasionally something would explode.

“Lightning bolts!” Jude explained as we ran.

My heart rate accelerated. Lightning bolts? It couldn’t be. Who the hell was chasing us? Zeus?

Just then a figure descended in front of us. I would have run right into him if Jude hadn’t halted to a stop and then pulled me back with him. I felt myself shoved behind Jude’s solid mass. Keeping myself firmly plastered to Jude’s back, I peered over his shoulder.

The blond guy from my backyard.

He was tall and solidly built with white-blond hair and blue eyes. He was the vision of a strapping Nordic god, complete with his own set of pristine white wings. However, this god looked pissed.

“Micaela will not be pleased you are interfering again, Jude,” the winged man said. His voice was smooth as honey but held a note of anger.

Jude shrugged, like he was a surly teenager and a teacher was disciplining him. “She should be used to it by now.”

“She cannot make a fair choice with you here, Jude.” The winged man nodded in my direction. Choice?

Jude’s arm wrapped around his back and held onto my hand. His face betrayed nothing, but his hand was squeezing mine hard. “On the contrary, Uriel, she can make a better decision. Think of me as a mediator.”

“You are not impartial!” Uriel seethed, electricity crackling around him. “Give me the girl!”

With that, his hand raised and a lightning bolt shot out. Jude ducked to the left, pulling me along with him. The boulders behind us disintegrated. We crashed onto the stony ground and my head was thrown back against a rock as Jude launched his body in front of mine. I saw stars and the ashy remains of the boulders. I tried to keep down the bile that threatened to rise.

Uriel rose in front of us. He had a malicious grin on his face. “I’ve been waiting for a long time for this, Jude.”

His hand raised and I tried to squeeze away from Jude. He clamped his hands on my hands and pulled them around his waist.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Oh god, we were going to die. I closed my eyes and leaned my head into Jude’s warm shoulder, inhaling his scent. He smelled like the ocean and a campfire. I tried to let that calm me.

The energy building around Uriel was intense. Any minute he would gather enough energy to shoot at us again. I held my breath waiting for the lightning bolt to hit us. Would it hurt or would we just disintegrate? I hoped it wouldn’t hurt.

“Goodbye,” Uriel whispered, smugly to us.

I squeezed myself around Jude.

And my world went black.