The Marradith Ryder Series Part 10
Once darkness fell, the lights on the freeway looked like stars against the black sky.
When the rain came the lights seemed to blur, like Christmas lights blinking through a frosted window. Marradith was growing sleepy. Between the two of them, she and Justin had driven eight hours straight from the time they left the diner. Justin was quiet at the wheel, frowning into the shadows ahead.
She knew that he was worried.
Neither of them had said very much. Marradith fought hard to hold back her tears, thinking about the people that had been slaughtered back at that store. “It’s not your fault,”
Justin tried to soothe her. “This is how they operate. Now you know.”
“Whatever you need me to do,” she turned to him, her voice steady, “I’ll do it.”
“Keep that anger,” he said . “It’s useful.”
She sat back, and they were both quiet. The radio was on, and the deejay’s voice poured out.
“This is the Madman at Night. And this next song is called Wonder.”
The singer was a woman. She couldn’t figure out which singer it was, but she recognized a few lines of the song: I want to know/ where you go/ I wonder where you’ve been/ when night closes in.
And then she was asleep.
Marradith was dreaming.
She could hear the music still playing, a backdrop, though it sounded tinny and far away.
She looked at her hands. Placing the brush flat on the table, she looked up at the mirror.
The face that stared back was not her own. Long black hair and dark eyes, stared back. Her full lips parted in surprise. She wore a white dressing gown.
Are you falling in the summer sun/ dreaming dark in the driving rain/ I wonder.
Marradith touched her face. Even her skin felt different.
I wonder where you go love/ who’ve you been?
She looked up, and saw the reflection of a man standing behind her. He stroked her back gently, and leaned to whisper into her ear. “Believe me,” he said, “when I tell you that I love you.”
He leans close, his warm breath caressing her skin. Her pulse begins to race.
He takes her face in his hands and kisses her mouth.
As they part, she looks at him.
He smiles at her, but the irises of his eyes glow red.
***
Marradith jolted awake.
“Hey,” Justin raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“It was a nightmare,” she said, trying to regain her composure. “Did I say anything?”
“I was going to ask. You know another language?”
“No. What did it sound like?”
“Russian? German? Damned if I know.”
“Oh,” she put her hand on her forehead. “I guess its time for me to tell you another fun fact. Sometimes, I have other people’s dreams.”
Justin didn’t know what to say. He looked at her and then stared back into the rain.
“I know it’s strange. Usually it’s someone I know. But I don’t know who either of them were. It seemed like something from a long time ago.”
“Maybe this ability has to do with the electrical impulse thing. Spare energy floating around…” he mused. “Well, what can you remember of it?”
“I really don’t want to,” she spat. “Look, if you want to help me out, tell me something.
Anything. Just keep me awake.”
“I have plenty stories,” he chuckled. “But I don’t know if any of them are good for keeping away nightmares.”
“Come on, It’s not worse than what I’ve got in my head. Why don’t you tell me how you became a Wolf.”
“How do you know I wasn’t born one?” he said defensively.
Marradith shrugged. “You have empathy for humans. You remember what it was like.”
“Yes, I do. Well, I can tell you. But it’s going to take time.”
She looked out into the darkness. “We have the time.”
___
© 2009 Lori Titus
Lori Titus’s The Marradith Ryder Series appears each Wednesday on Flashes in the Dark. Many of her short stories have appeared on MicroHorror and Shadeworks, and she is currently writing an anthology of short stories with a tentative release date in 2010.
For more information see her at http://www.myspace.com/talesforthedark.
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April 8th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Looking forward to learning a bit of Justin’s backstory. Loved the dream sequence! Good stuff, Lori!
April 8th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Thank you!
April 30th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Catching up a bit today - another great installment!
June 16th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Yeah riding in another persons dream can be disturbing, more so if they are a snack for something else.