“I can give you a name, but I have to warn you that she isn’t always available.”
“Okay, what’s the name?”
“Natasha.”
“Natasha? As in the lady with the long, red, curly hair who works at the mall?”
“She was working at the mall?” Avan had a confused look on his face that told me he also found this information very entertaining.
“Yes, at the mall, in the store that sells angels cut from crystal.”
“Wow, she gets more creative all the time!” He chuckled.
“Is there something funny about this, Avan?”
“No, and yes, that would be Natasha, and the crystal angel explains how you were able to get us here. Did you tell her you knew me or something?”
“No, she said she was friends with my parents and that my mom wanted me to have the angel. Obviously she has not been informed that my parents are dead!” I could not help but yell.
“Okay, okay, calm down. Look, give this a few days to let all this settle into your mind, and Natasha will show up again when she needs to. She obviously wanted you to talk to the person who was sent for you but didn’t know who you belonged to. No, I’m not saying you’re my property. It isn’t like that, so take a deep breath. If she had known it was me you would be talking to, I could have saved her a lot of time and energy with the whole dream angel thing, though.”
Avan reached up to remove a hair that was lying across my cheek as his voice brought me closer to feeling normal again.
“So that’s why I’d slept better than usual. A dream angel protects your dreams, I’m guessing?”
“Yes, dream angels are designed to protect you from darkness that can enter your dreams and harass you. However, they can also let you create a dream if your emotions are heightened and the circumstances are right, but like I said before, it isn’t something you should become accustomed to relying on.”
“Okay, well I guess I’ll start trying to find out what I am then.” I guessed that was my only option.
“The good thing is I can help you find the answers. I just can’t tell you myself,” Avan said, trying to make me feel better. Unfortunately, I was still as lost as I had been all along.
“So I guess I’ll be seeing you shortly after I wake up then, huh?”
“It looks like it,” he added with a smile.
“Well then, I guess since I’m a wuss, I will do what I should have done for the first time in my dream, that way when it comes around again in a little while it won’t seem so awkward.”
Reaching up, I pulled his face to mine until our lips met; it felt as though fireworks were exploding!
Leaning forward, I whispered into his ear, “I am so in love with you!” His skin felt like velvet against my fingertips, smooth and so soft I never wanted to let go. I had never been able to feel anything as I felt Avan at this very moment. It was as if every nerve ending had been awakened at once as my sense of touch heightened beyond imagination.
My emotions exploded inside of me as I could have sworn he had a pair of beautiful white wings that spanned at least ten to twelve feet across stretching out from behind him when I opened my eyes. He smiled at me with his perfect smile showing his dimple and touching my cheek as he looked down into my eyes before everything went dark.
CHAPTER 7
When I woke up, everything went just as Avan said it would. From the way I looked in the mirror discovering how different I looked today to how Lorenzo had reacted. I was in the car on the way to Spirits, thinking about the dream and still not sure how I had taken us back in time to Saturday night and planted us in my dream. The drive was exactly the way it had been the first time I had driven it previously and felt like déjà vu doing it the second time around.
I made it downtown, driving around the fountain of love, and pulling into the same spot I parked in earlier. Before going inside, I unzipped my bag and pulled the note out and stuck it into my wallet. I leaned over and unlocked my glove compartment, taking out the other two notes and sticking them with the one I received last night. For a minute or two, I sat in the car staring at the door, wondering how different it would be seeing Avan after the dream I created.
I was nervous and excited all at the same time, knowing we had both been honest and told each other how we really felt. I just hoped he really did remember everything from my dream. Even more confusing was the sight of the set of beautiful white wings that words could not begin to describe. I could say so many things about how he looked so majestic and breathtaking, but any words I could come up with could never do him enough justice. Taking a deep breath, I got out of the car, locked the doors and headed for the door to Spirits.
When I walked in, the aroma of fresh espresso and coffee beans greeted me once again. I slid into the oversized, brown leather chair after taking Avan’s jacket off, laid it over the arm, grabbed the menu from the coffee table, and looked over the items when I smelled Avan’s cologne. I looked up, placing the menu back on the coffee table, to find Avan standing right beside me, looking down into my eyes. He knelt beside my chair holding a large, peppermint mocha topped with whipped cream and sprinkles in one hand and napkins in the other. Taking the cup and napkins out of his hands and placing them on the coffee table, I leaned into him as I felt the explosion of fireworks again, and an overwhelming feeling of intimacy overtook my senses. I had never felt so close to anyone before in my entire life. His lips felt hot on mine, and I could not believe this moment was actually happening to me. The blood in my veins felt heated, but this time it was from deep emotions rather than anger. I never knew I was capable of feeling this way for someone.
What was truly magical was that Avan’s feelings for me were evident through the touch of his lips on mine. I was unsure how he had been able to communicate them through touch, but it was happening. The feeling of his true love for me, purer and more innocent than any love in the world as I had ever known; it was so strong I could feel a tear drop from the corner of my eye and roll down my cheek.
I’d never known anything to be so beautiful in my entire life. As our lips parted, my eyes remained closed as he wiped the tear from my cheek. I did not want to open my eyes and be back in the world that had so many questions and concerns that I could not understand. I went against what I wanted and opened them to see Avan still knelt in the same position, looking at me as if he needed me to tell him I was okay and still alive.
“So you remembered my order,” I stated the obvious.
“Of course I did!”
“I still mean what I told you before I woke up.” I knew I was taking a chance saying it but I had to.
“I know. I could feel it the same way you could from me.”
“Really?”
“True love can always be felt. It’s a force that can never be conquered and can withstand anything. In time as it grows we will be able to tell how each other are feeling, pinpoint the location of one another, and even communicate without talking.”
“There’s something special about you, isn’t there?” I already knew there was, but I wanted to know what it was.
“The one thing that makes me special is you.” He had not given the answer I was looking for, but it was sweet anyway so let it slide.
Bradley and a few other guys who worked there came in through the back door and came to pile up in the same sitting area we were hanging around in as they piled onto the chairs and loveseat, casually sprawling out.
“Avan, dude! What’s goin’ on, man?” Bradley said as he leaned over playfully pushing Avan in hopes of knocking him over into the floor.
“Not a lot. It’s been pretty quiet in here so far. Mattie, you already know Bradley, but this is Alex, Declan, Trev, and Dorian.” He pointed to each one as he said their name.
I nodded to each one, not really knowing what else to say.
“So we finally get to meet the girl who beat up Brad? This just made my day!” Trev said jokingly as the others laughed mocking Bradley.
“Where’s every
body else?” Alex asked, looking around at the empty place of business.
“I think everybody else is hanging out upstairs,” Avan said, nodding toward the staircase.
“Lazy bums!” Declan chimed in.
“So, Mattie, what makes us special enough for a gorgeous girl like yourself to spend time with us on a Sunday morning? Not a churchgoer I take it?” Trev inquired.
“She is here to see me, and her relationship with God is not for anyone to judge,” Avan answered in my defense with a tone in his voice warning Trev he had stepped out of line.
“Take a breath, dude. We are well aware this one is yours. Sorry to put you on edge, Mattie. Trev has a horrible case of verbal diarrhea. We’re looking into treatment options, but there aren’t many promising cures out there,” Dorian retorted, adding enough comic relief to make me laugh along with everyone else as I assured him I took no offense.
I could not believe Avan had actually told the guys I was his. I liked the sound of that. I belonged to someone. I knew I had that cheesy smile on my face again just entertaining the idea. I liked it more than he knew even through feeling I conveyed when we kissed. I was love struck, and there was no way I could possibly hide it. The six guys talked among themselves about who knows what—I had stopped listening, as I was entertained in my own little world of thought until my phone alerted me that I received a text message. It was obvious that all six of the very buff guys surrounding me stopped conversing and tensed up at the sound. I opened it up, expecting to find Lena as the sender wanting me to pick her up from the airport, when I noticed the name: Ian Bentley. My stomach tightened into a knot just at seeing his name on the screen. I clicked the message to open it as four words popped up on the screen in all caps, signifying that either it was urgent or that he was not happy, and due to me avoiding him, I was inclined to go with the latter.
WE NEED TO TALK.
“Let me guess, he’s starting in again?” Avan said, looking over my shoulder from where he sat on the arm of my chair.
“Who is this freak? How did you meet him?” Bradley asked.
“To make a long story short, Lena pressured me into going on a blind date with this guy Ian Bentley. At dinner he talked me into having a drink, which I’d never done before, and I ended up getting drunk. When we got back to my house, he tried to take advantage of me, but I found a way to get out of it, and now he keeps harassing me and Lena keeps telling me I need to give him another chance,” I admitted as I blushed, mortified to be telling this stuff to several guys I hardly knew.
“How do you feel about giving him another chance and doing what Lena suggests?” Declan asked as though he was unsure how I would answer.
“I don’t want to be anywhere within a fifty-foot radius of this guy. He is a serious head case! Not to mention I don’t care what Lena says, Ian Bentley doesn’t have a chance of ever convincing me to go out with him again, regardless of who he uses to try and convince me!” It felt really good to get that out in the open! “Besides that, I have my eye on someone else!” I added with a smile as Avan took my hand, trying to make me feel safe.
“So this moron already knows where you live, and since he’s buddies with the traitor you live with it’s only a matter of time until he starts showing up at places you frequent as well,” Alex commented out loud while looking at a menu.
“That is what I’m afraid of. I don’t know if I’d be strong enough to fight him off if he caught me alone.” Thinking back on the memory of him convincing me to get drunk in an attempt to make it easy to overpower me made me sick.
“Well, the good news is that you’re around Avan and Bradley most of the day, so chances are slim to none that you will be alone long enough for him to try and overpower you while they’re around,” Trev added.
“Not to mention, if you hang around here more often, he really won’t have a chance to get near you!” Dorian stated as he popped his knuckles.
“Mattie, I need you to promise me something. If you ever feel like this guy is around or going to hurt you, I need you to scream my name. But know if you make the promise, you can never break it,” Avan asked looking me straight in the eyes.
“I promise,” I replied without hesitation assuming Avan was hinting that he would not let me be without him very much at all.
“The second we hear about this guy bothering you again, he’s gonna regret it something serious!” warned Bradley.
“I hope he comes in here and tries something stupid! I’d put three hundred dollars on Avan!” Alex boasted.
“You have been down here way too long.” Declan snorted as he rolled his eyes.
“I am moving away from you, dude! When God sends down a lightning bolt, I don’t want to be anywhere near you when you get charbroiled!” Trev laughed as he scooted farther away from Alex.
I watched in amusement as they all recessed in maturity as they wrestled around, play fighting in an effort to determine who had the most testosterone. The inside joke must have been funny considering the way their laughter and prodding at Alex never seemed to end. After a few minutes, Avan had won the battle with all five of the others, calling a truce, when my phone alerted me of another text, making them surround me once more, as if they already knew who it was from. When I opened it to see the name, they could not have been more correct.
MATTIE, I SAID WE NEED TO TALK. NOW!
Without a word, Avan took the phone from my hand and pressed call then put it on speakerphone as it began to ring. When Ian’s voice picked up, I could tell in an instant he was irate. Even sitting in the midst of six very muscular individuals who seemed as if they were ready to take on anyone at any given time who might pose a threat to someone they did not want bothered, I felt scared just hearing Ian’s voice as Avan let him say everything he wanted to before saying a word.
“Mattie, I don’t know what you think you’re doing pretending you can avoid me like you’ve been doing! You don’t seem to get it, do you? You are going to be mine, Mattie! You will belong to me, and it’s only a matter of time. Don’t go run and tell Lena that I called and yelled at you either you tattling, little, self-centered, pathetic waste of oxygen! That’s right, sit there in silence crying! I will make you regret the day you came into this world if you go run and try to tell anyone about this. Just be a good girl and do what I say! I don’t want to have to hurt you, Mattie. Do not make me do this the hard way. Just do this the easy way and let’s finish what we started a few weeks ago, okay? You don’t even have to do much, you can sleep for all I care, but I will have my way with you so be ready! If you do as I tell you to and at least pretend to like it, I can enjoy it a lot more so try to wear something sexy under your clothes every day, ’cause you never know when it’ll be time! What’s it gonna be, Mattie? My way or the hard way?”
Looking around the circle of my protectors I sat among, every one of their faces was brewing with disgust from what they had just heard. Avan was so furious I feared he might just crush my phone with his hand. I could see the vein sticking out of his arm, his muscles were flexing so hard. Their eyes were all glued to the phone as if they were planning to jump through the speaker and beat Ian Bentley within an inch of his life. I wanted to touch Avan’s arm to calm him down, but I sensed this was not the right moment and that I would have plenty of time to calm him down later once he got done giving Ian his response.
“Ian Bentley?” Avan asked in a very direct tone.
“Who is this and where is Mattie?” Ian demanded.
“Mattie is no longer your concern. My name is Avan Rork.”
“Well, Avan Rork, today is your unlucky day. Mattie’s been a bad girl, so it would be in your best interest to stay away from her so you don’t get hurt being in the wrong place at the wrong time! This is your only warning!” Ian stated in a sadistic tone.
“I’m going to tell you this one time and one time only, Ian Bentley. If you come anywhere near Matalyn Holland, I will personally make you wish that you’d never visited earth for the short tim
e you’ve been here, and I will not hesitate to send you right back to whatever circle of hell you came from is that clear?” Avan shouted into the phone with fury.
“Don’t think for one second the battle is over that fast! Prepare yourself to feel hell’s fury, angel!” Ian said in a voice that sounded inhuman and hung up the phone.
The five friends I had recently been introduced to took over for Avan while he followed me home in his car, staying right behind me the entire way home. I could not get over the sound of Ian’s voice with the last thing he said on the phone. I by no means had everything about myself figured out yet but I was almost positive the notes I had been getting were warning me about Ian. What was scarier was that the notes are written in plural form. To add to the fear and frustration was the fact that he had referred to Avan as “angel.” Avan said my dreams were protected so I should have been the only one to see the wings I had placed on him in my imagination while I slept. What would have made Ian call him an angel? Was he trying to be condescending and insult him in front of me? I was perplexed about so many things that I seemed to only confuse myself further when I tried to make sense of anything at this point.
I had to assume that Ian was not acting alone. The only common acquaintance we had was Lena, but I had known her for four years. No way would she would be in on a plan to hurt me. She might be many things, but vicious and out to have people physically hurt people were not traits I believe she harbored.
I kept going over the things Ian had said to Avan unable to delete from my ears his voice when he had called him angel. Then I thought about the details of my dream. Did Ian know something about Avan that I didn’t? Surely I was just dreaming when I’d envisioned Avan with those extravagant wings, looking as if he’d just stepped out of heaven. Of course I’d imagined it. I was dreaming. The only real part of it was everything else. I must have been thinking about the angel Natasha gave me at the store, and while I was talking to Avan the two just meshed in my mind.
The comment Ian had made was simply a coincidence. It was as simple as that. Nothing superhuman or divine was going on, just simply a meshing of dreams and short term memories trying to make their way across to the hypothalamus to convert into long term memories and they got jumbled up in the process coming out in my dream.
Enigma Page 12
