And the silver bullets littered the ground around her glinted mockingly in the moonlight.
Chapter Six
“Rose!”
With a startled gasp, Jason sat upright in bed. His shirt clung to his body, the sweat sticky on the bare parts of his skin. Strands of his hair gripped his forehead and cheek.
Panting, he threw back the blankets that were now bunched around his waist. The tangled heap fell to the floor. The pillows from the empty side of the bed fell to the floor.
It had all been a dream, just a horrible mixed-up dream. It wasn’t real. But before Jason could breathe a sigh of relief, his still somewhat sluggish mind finally comprehended. He was alone in the bed.
Images from the recent dream gathered into one panic filled thought. Rose was gone. The dream was becoming a reality.
Jason knew there were instances when some would dream things that later came true, and among the tumult of his thoughts and emotions, he felt this to be one of those times. The better part of his logic told him otherwise. This could not be happening.
He refused to believe it. He was out of bed the next moment and frantically scanned the small room for any clue of where she had gone. She was definitely not in the room with him.
But the room door was shut and was perhaps the only thing unlike the beginning of his dream. Everything else was the same—the panicked feeling, Rose’s lingering perfume and his determination to find her.
His hand fumbled as it went for the locks on the door. It took him longer than necessary to undo the chain. More sweat dripped down the side of his face.
“Jason?”
Her questioning voice was very soft, but it caused him to jump nonetheless. When he spun around, he was greeted by the most welcomed sight he was sure he had ever seen.
Rose stood in the doorway to the bathroom, towel in her hand. She was freshly scrubbed, and even from this distance Jason could smell the light scent of the soap on her skin. The clean shirt she wore was wet at the shoulders from her dripping hair. Her face was knotted with a look of confusion.
“Where are you going?” she asked. She lifted the towel to squeeze out water from her drenched hair.
Jason was dumbstruck for a few seconds before he was able to shake it off. Embarrassment burned his cheeks. He was foolish and had been quick to jump to the wrong conclusions. He didn’t even think to check the most obvious place. He felt like a moron.
It was definitely a mistake he wasn’t keen on repeating yet again.
He forced himself to smile for her, but his red cheeks revealed otherwise about his feelings. And Rose seemed to see right through that mask.
“What’s wrong?”
Jason didn't want to reveal the true nature of his panic and just shrugged. “I just thought you had disappeared.” Again, he flashed a fake smile.
Rose’s face scrunched up in disbelief. She wasn’t buying it.
She approached him. She draped the towel over her shoulder. Her touch was soft when she rested her hand on his shoulder.
“Love, what’s wrong? You know you can tell me.” Rose’s fingers ran along the sleeve of his shirt. Her piercing eyes stared directly at him.
Jason couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t let her know just how scared he had been at the idea of her disappearing. It was a weakness. He gave a shake of his head.
“I’m fine, Rose…really. Just…” He sighed and gave a slight smile. “I’ve been really edgy because of everything that’s happened.”
Rose nodded her head in understanding. “I know…I have been too, but…” She paused and lowered her gaze. “I heard you call out. You were having a bad dream, weren’t you?”
Her eyes lifted, and Jason suddenly felt compelled to confess everything when her bright blue gaze fixed on him. All he did was give a nod.
“Oh, sweetie.” Rose immediately wrapped her arms around him and held herself close to his body. Her head rested against his chest and she sighed deeply.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Her touch comforted him.
Jason wrapped one arm around her. When that didn’t satisfy him, he wrapped the other and embraced her tightly.
“Sorry for what?” He said. A hand smoothed over her hair.
“I’m sorry for everything. For this whole mess. For getting us into trouble…” Jason knew silent sobs were soon on the way. Her voice cracked as she spoke. “You shouldn’t have to deal with my mistakes…”
“Hey, hey…don’t talk like that.” It was his turn to do the comforting. “Don’t ever talk like that. It’s not your fault. And even if it was, you know damn well I would stay beside you until the end. No matter what.” He looked down. Rose stared up at him.
“Things will turn around. I promise you.” He tried to sound hopeful, but was afraid it came off too sentimental.
“I know, love, but…” Rose’s voice cracked. Tears glistened in her eyes. “I’m still afraid.” She buried her face in his chest.
Jason’s warm breath touched her cheek as he whispered, “I feel you, Rose. I really do.”
He pulled back just enough and lifted Rose’s head so he could look in her teary eyes. “We’ve both had enough bad times to last us several lifetimes. I think it’s time something good happened for us both.”
Rose was speechless for a moment, but despite the tears that had formed and spilled from her cheeks, a smile spread across her face.
“I am…so glad to have you,” she said. Her lower lip trembled. “You are just…too good to me.”
A tear fell onto her cheek and Jason gently brushed it away with his thumb. His face moved very close to hers.
“And I always will be, my Rose.” He planted the softest of kisses on her lips, and Rose’s teary eyes closed. She reopened them as he pulled back from the kiss. The smallest of tear droplets clung to her lashes.
Jason smiled and earnestly stared into her eyes. “I’ll make everything all right for us…”
She pulled away from his arms and shifted her eyes elsewhere. “I need to tell you something…”
A slight wave of panic from before rose once more, but he quelled it with a few deep breaths. His heart raced. What did she have to tell him?
“What is it?” he asked. Rose sat on the edge of the bed, and he sat beside her. She took a deep breath and collected herself. When she spoke, it was in a soft voice.
“I don’t know anything about this dream you had…but I’m guessing it was bad…” She looked over at him for confirmation, and he nodded a little for her to continue. “Well…I’ve been having dreams too.”
Jason’s brow furrowed. He knew about the dreams. It was the main reason why she had been visiting Tiffany, though, he didn’t know just what the dreams were about. That was a mystery.
“I know that, love…” he started to say, but Rose gave him a look.
“Please…let me finish,” she told him, and then looked away. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Jason waited as patiently as he could for her to continue. When she did, she spoke so low he could barely hear her.
“The dreams I have are…disturbing.” Her hands shook as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “It’s like two different dreams, but they always seem to turn into one. They meld together. Things become blurry, but I can always remember the important parts…”
Again she paused, as if unable to go on. He wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder.
“The dream starts out where I’m alone, somewhere I don’t know. I see trees, and I see buildings. It always looks like some sort of park to me. And I’m there, but it’s not me…”
Rose furrowed her brow, as if gathering her thoughts. She continued, “I’m in full wolf form. Everything is so clear to me. The earth smells so rich, the sky so clean. I smell the choking scent of cars on asphalt, and I smell people. The people are very close to me. I never really see who they are. The features are all blurry, but I see them coming close, and I begin to run.”
She fell silent there for a long
while and Jason felt it was his turn to say something. He wet his lips before he began.
“And this is what you’re afraid of? That it’s not just a dream, but real…?” he questioned. She wasn’t looking at him. Her head lowered, and her eyes fixed on her fidgeting hands.
“Yeah, more or less.” She shrugged, and then her eyes turned to him. Tears once more glistened brightly along the edges of her eyelids. “But there’s more.”
“The other dream…” Jason supplied. Rose nodded.
“Yes. It happens at the end of this dream, but they don’t always happen together. Sometimes I have the dreams separate.” She moved her hand to her face and wiped at one eye. “I am always running in the dream, trying to find you. That’s the dream I have the most. That’s the one that scares me.
“I can smell your scent everywhere, and I’m panicking because I can’t find you. I run into a wooded area, and I shift. I run faster and faster…” She trailed away. She turned her head to look out the window. The sky was dark outside the partially opened curtains.
“When I finally stop, I see you. But you’re…” She hesitated, closing her eyes before she finished. “Dead.”
Haunting images of his own dream flashed before his eyes, and involuntarily he felt a shudder start down his spine. To hear her say things, to have a dream so like his. It made him feel all the more worse. She shouldn’t have to go through that.
Instead of saying a word, Jason’s arms wrapped around her and drew her close to his side. Once her head rested against his chest, he spoke.
“You know that will never happen, love. I am not going to die on you.”
“I know, Jason, but…the dream seems so real, and I keep having it. I want it to stop. I don’t want to see those images any more… I don’t want to see you dead.” The words spilled from her lips. Tears formed in her eyes.
Jason tried to soothe her and cursed himself for his apparent inability to do so. He wasn’t good at comforting anyone, and right now he felt useless as he held her in his arms. Rose gasped her sobs and buried her face against his chest and shoulder. He rubbed her back. He endured it all in silence.
When she had quieted down, he spoke just loud enough for her to hear.
“It won’t happen, love…I promise you. It’s just a dream, and nothing more. I won’t die.” He gave a smile to reassure her. “Not until I’m old and grey, and my hair turns white just like my fur.”
This attempt at a joke received a slight chuckle from Rose. She wiped her eyes once more and looked up at him. She even smiled, if only slightly.
“Thanks, love,” she said softly. “I guess everything’s just getting to me. I’m stressed out a bit.”
“I think ‘a bit’ would be an understatement.” Jason embraced her once more, tightly. He kissed the top of her head. “Like I said, we’ll be fine…you’ll see.”
Rose nodded. “Yeah…” She pulled away from his embrace and moved to sit back further on the bed. “So…where do we go from here?”
Jason gave a slight shake of his head. “Glen called while you were asleep. He’s going to help us.”
“How?” She crossed her legs one over the other. Jason stood up and walked across the floor.
“The PRDI, at one of the safe houses. He mentioned he’s going to get some more people involved.”
“One of the safe houses?” Rose asked, bewildered. “Which one?”
Jason shook his head and waved dismissively. "It doesn't matter which one. We just need a place to regroup and crash for a while, until this whole thing blows over.”
Rose once again let out a sigh and stared down at her hands. She licked her lips and glanced up at Jason. She opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted her.
“We need to leave as soon as we can. I can get us there by morning, if nothing else happens along the way.”
Jason paused and turned his eyes back to her. “I’m going to take a shower now. Might be the last chance I get for a while.”
“Yeah, I thought the exact same thing,” Rose answered. Jason walked over to her, leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Rose returned it. One hand rested on the curve of his neck.
He pulled away, a smile on his lips. “Just promise me you won’t leave the room, even for a minute.”
In any other situation, Rose would’ve laughed and smiled as she called him paranoid, but not in this case. She nodded. “Promise, love.”
“All right.” Jason nodded, convinced. He turned and disappeared inside the bathroom. A few moments later, Rose could heard the water run from the shower. She collapsed back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
Just what are we going to do? What if laying low isn’t a possibility? Rose closed her eyes for a moment. She moved her arms behind her to support her head. The nagging questions would probably never be answered.
There was a feeling of hopelessness she couldn’t shake, no matter what sort of reassuring things Jason said to her. Something worse was going to happen to them. She didn’t know when it would, but it seemed too inevitable. The chances were too great.
Rose opened her eyes. They felt heavy and she blinked them. More questions plagued her already worried mind.
Will we ever be safe again? Will any of us ever be safe? Are the hunters out there, right now, searching for us? Will they find us? Will they kill us?
Rose closed her eyes again. Her breathing was slow. Even with the heavy burden and the deep thoughts that formed a cloud around her, she found herself drowsy. She began to drift off.
She couldn’t fall asleep now. They had to leave soon, but a voice in the back of her head told her, “Take it. Rest… It may be the last time you get this chance.”
And she listened to the voice and the water that ran from the shower. They lulled her into a deep and hopefully dreamless sleep.
Chapter Seven
Cigarette smoked drifted from the partially open window on the driver’s side of the car, and a flash of red sparked briefly on the highway. Even with the window down and the smoke billowing out into the night, it did little to improve the air quality within the car.
The young woman in the passenger seat shifted her weight, uncomfortable in the cramped space. She turned to regard the driver of the car, and when he glanced in her direction, she turned back to the road ahead.
Cars headed in the opposite direction sped past them. Their headlights barely dimmed to the legal brightness. The young woman rubbed her eyes, and then turned her attention back to the glaring blue light of the laptop screen in front of her. A few keystrokes later, a program had loaded. The screen flashed momentarily.
Her name was Claire Hennessy. She was a college graduate and part of this…mission. She had been willing to join at first. Now she wasn’t so sure she wanted to stay involved. Things had gotten too out of hand.
She intently watched the screen, doing anything to keep her mind occupied. Otherwise, she would think about their situation. And she did not want to go there.
A strand of her hair came loose from its ponytail and fell across her forehead and into her eyes. She smoothed the hair back away from her forehead and focused on the system.
The blip on the screen that identified Marcus had now come to life. Claire furrowed her eyebrows together and bit her lip. They had been looking for him for more than half the day and now they had a lock. But their leader had given up on finding Marcus and instead was headed away from town.
In the backseat, Davis moaned. He was stretched out on his back with his legs propped to allow him room to lie down. An ice pack in one hand rested on the crown of his head. A bottle of extra strength painkillers rested in the other hand. His fingers curled around it. Claire chose to ignore him for the moment.
Instead she directed her attention once again to the driver. The ash from his cigarette flew out the crack in the window and disappeared. The driver was of a muscular sinewy build, tall, with short dark hair that seemed to stick out in almost every direction. His brown eyes, a darker shade than
her eyes, focused on the road.
His name was Simon Conner and he was the undisputed leader of this operation. It was he who had first approached Claire and gotten her support on his mission. At the time, young ambitious Claire had been only too eager to help out another with technologically advanced ideas and designs. And it was she who was funding this endeavor, thanks to an inheritance from her wealthy and now deceased family.
This wealth had allowed her to go to the finest colleges available, and she had learned quite a lot. Her field had been Advanced Computer Programming, with a few extra tricks thrown in. Hacking had become almost second nature to her after college.
So it was no wonder Simon had contacted her. Her resume had all the necessary elements for what he needed. Smart, rich and a computer expert… It was exactly what he had been looking for. And she had been too naïve. She had only seen it as an incredible career opportunity.
But something had happened. Things weren’t like she had thought they would be. Simon started rattling on about werewolves, about hunting, and Claire became more worried as time progressed. Werewolves weren’t real.
They were searching for two vigilantes. That’s what Simon told her. These two had been involved in a murder a few weeks back. Simon wasn’t about to let them get away with it. He pulled no stops and ordered the small band to get together.
There was only problem with that. Davis and Marcus had gone missing. With their tracking system momentarily offline, they were unable to pinpoint their precise locations. Luck had shown on them briefly when they came across the wrecked mess of Davis, stranded and wounded in the middle of some less traveled back road. He had been only coherent enough to mutter something about werewolves before passing out in the backseat. Simon began their search for Marcus.
When Davis had regained consciousness, they learned their suspects were now on the move, and Simon had abandoned his search for Marcus.
Sweet Moon Dreams Page 6
