Dreams (Sarah Midnight Trilogy 1)

by Daniela Sacerdoti

Shadow purred against her legs. She loved Bryony. Once more, Sarah wondered how much Shadow really understood of the human world. She seemed to always know what was going on.

  “Yes, I’m here. Yes. Of course. Speak to you soon.”

  Sarah put the phone down.

  “Sorry, Shadow, Bryony is not coming, it was just an excuse to get Juliet out of our hair.”

  Shadow stopped purring, and walked away on silent paws, in a huff.

  “You did the right thing. We can’t risk it. If they attack us at Juliet’s we’d put them all in danger.” Harry’s voice was still feeble.

  In a moment of clarity, one of those moments where things are grasped and understood all of a sudden with unquestionable insight, Sarah saw how much Harry loved that strange arrangement, just the two of them. He was right; they couldn’t put their family and friends in danger – it was their duty to stay away from them for a while – but he didn’t seem to mind much, being alone with her so often.

  I like it too, thought Sarah suddenly, unexpectedly. She had been alone so often as a child, and this was the first time she’d lived with someone who actually spent their nights at home. It was like a suspended time, an in-between time where Harry was with her, always. Even when she was sleeping.

  She took in Harry’s pale, handsome face. My cousin. He could be my brother. He could be my best friend. He could be …

  “I know it’s dangerous for you, going to school,” Harry interrupted her thoughts. Thankfully. “But it’s a risk we have to take. If you stopped going to school we’d get into trouble.”

  “I couldn’t anyway. The audition with the RCS is in a few weeks. I must get a place.”

  “What is that?”

  “The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.”

  “Wow. Is that what you want to do? Teach music like your mum?”

  “No, I don’t want to teach music. I want to make music. I want to compose, and play all over the world. I’ll try and get into the Royal Scottish Orchestra, for a start.”

  Harry smiled. “You’ll be amazing. I know that.”

  Sarah smiled back, and looked away. “Well, it all depends … you know. This crazy life I have. I don’t know how much time I’ll have to do what I want to do. What about you? What did you do in New Zealand?”

  “I studied medicine, like my dad. And your dad.”

  “What will you do next?”

  “You mean apart from making sure you stay alive? That’s a full-time job in itself.” He laughed.

  “I mean, when we’ll be free.”

  Once a Gamekeeper, always a Gamekeeper.

  “I’m not sure. Qualify as a doctor, maybe. I don’t really need to work. My clients in Japan were very generous. I can live on it for the rest of my life.”

  “I don’t really need to work either – neither did my parents. They did it because they loved their jobs, though sometimes they were so tired in the morning, they couldn’t even speak.”

  Harry nodded.

  “So when is this audition?”

  “The thirtieth of November.”

  “You must work hard, then. I’ll help you. We’ve got to try and keep things normal.”

  “Just as well, or I’d be stuck here alone with you!” she teased him.

  He looked at her with those piercing eyes. “Would that be so bad?” he said, and it was a bit like a whisper, like something said while lying on the same pillow. Sarah felt her blood rising to her cheeks.

  “I’m going to cook dinner,” she said quickly. Too raw, too intimate. She wasn’t ready. She was scared.

  She ran into the kitchen and busied herself. She was trying to stop her heart from running away like a wild horse, but it was no use. The thought came anyway: to be alone with Harry in this house. No, it wouldn’t be bad at all. She rejected that thought, pushed it away with all her strength, because that was not the way she was supposed to feel, not right now. Not in the middle of all this. Not for her cousin!

  “Smells good.” Harry had followed her into the kitchen, in that silent way that unnerved her. She jumped. Something else he learnt in Japan?

  “Quiche with a side of peas and potatoes.”

  “Nice.”

  She desperately tried to think of something to say, some thing to break the silence. Maybe that was the right time to try and learn more about what was happening to her. And a way to change the subject.

  “Harry, who are these people?” she asked, putting the dish she had prepared into the oven and closing the door carefully. “The Valaya, I mean. Why are they doing this?”

  Harry took a deep breath. How much could he tell her, without giving away his deceit, without leading her into the hands of the Sabha? He’d have to tell her about the other Secret Families sooner or later, about the Valaya all over Europe, and the shadowy puppeteer behind them all. She’d have to know that once they’d eliminated the Scottish Valaya, there would be more of them, more enemies, more danger. That it was going to take a long, long time for the war to be over – if ever. But not now, not yet. Once they were safe from the present threat, he’d reveal his true identity, and explain what was really going on.

  Not yet.

  “They want to rule Scotland, and from here, they want to spread. They want to call more demons, and use them for their own means … They’re fools.”

  “Because the demons won’t let them, will they? People like Michael … they think that the demons are at their service, that they’ve got them under control, but they haven’t.”

  “Exactly. The Surari used them to come into this world, not the other way round. It’s not easy for the creatures to seep into our reality without dissolving. The Valaya helped them, so they played the game. But once they’re here, they won’t be doing the Valaya’s bidding. These forces are a lot older, a lot more powerful than we can imagine. They used to rule the earth. We snatched it from them, and they want it back.”

  Sarah nodded. Her parents had told her about that, and how the Midnights were the only beacon for humanity, in a wilderness of danger.

  But how can it be? Only the Midnights, for the whole world? A million questions were swirling in her head, her outlook on the world changing by the minute.

  “You said you hunted in Japan. So … we’re not the only ones? There are demons all over the world? And demon hunters like us?”

  “Sarah, don’t worry about all this now. Let’s focus on staying alive.”

  He’s hiding things from me. Just like my parents did. But he’s right. All that matters now is to survive.

  “How did the Valaya summon the demons? I had no idea you could actually call them.”

  “They learnt the dark arts. Spells written in cursed books that I never want to set my eyes on, and I hope you won’t either. Even just looking at one of those books can sicken you, infect you. It must have taken years of study, to do what they did, to summon demons like these ones. That leech thing – a little bit longer, a little bit more feeding, and it would have multiplied into dozens, hundreds of them … can you imagine?”

  Sarah shivered. “I don’t want to know about those books. I never want to learn those kinds of spells. Actually, I don’t want to know about any of this.”

  “Like I said, let’s just focus on staying alive. It’s the best way, believe me.”

  Sarah nodded. But she had one more question.

  “Today, when you said they weren’t real ravens, what did you mean?”

  Harry took a deep breath, and shook his head. “It’s hard to believe … But I think they might have been spirits of the air.”

  “Spirits of the air?”

  “Some call them Elementals, or in the ancient language, Dhatu. They’re spirits of the elements – air, earth, fire and water. They take the shape of animals somehow related to their elements. I’ve seen some spirits of the water taking the shape of seals, for example. They’re very, very rare. I have no idea why they decided to help us.”

  “Could someone be controlling them?”

 
“They’re difficult, nearly impossible to tame. I’ll see what I can find out.” Harry gestured at his phone.

  “It’s amazing. They looked like normal ravens, and then … they just did what they did. I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

  “Things are not always what they seem.”

  “That’s your favourite saying, isn’t it?” smiled Sarah. “A bit like your motto.”

  Harry smiled, an anxious smile. It applies to me too.

  The oven beeped, and shook them out of their thoughts. Sarah took out the quiche and set the table carefully, beautifully. It was lovely to be sharing dinner with someone. Her parents were always on the go, always heading somewhere. She lit two silver candles, and placed them in the middle of the table, as the final touch.

  She felt peaceful, in spite of the storm raging in her life. Harry was eating heartily, and she took it as a compliment.

  “You need to build yourself up, after you lost all that blood.”

  “Don’t mind if I do.” Harry took a second helping of the quiche. “You’ve got to eat up too; you’re so pale and thin, Sarah.”

  “I’m starving. I hadn’t eaten for ages after … you know. When you arrived, I got my appetite back.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. You love cooking, don’t you?”

  Sarah nodded. Her mouth was full. “I always cooked for my parents,” she answered as soon as she could.

  “I love cooking too.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, believe it or not. And I’m not bad at it. I’ll bake your birthday cake. It’s the twenty-second of October, isn’t it? Your birthday?” It was in Harry’s files.

  “Yes. Are you not worried about your street cred? Baking a cake, I mean?” she laughed.

  “Not at all. Cooking is cool. I’ll make you one shaped like the moon.”

  “Why the moon?”

  “Because you remind me of the moon,” he said, and looked into his bowl. Sarah blushed.

  “When is your birthday?” she asked quickly, moving the conversation on.

  “Not long to go either. It’s the sixteenth of November.”

  “You’re a Scorpio.”

  “Yes. Do you know anything about star signs?”

  “Not really. There’s a few books about these kind of things in my grandmother’s library in Islay, but I never really looked at them. Bryony knows about these things. I’m a Libra. I’m supposed to be balanced, but I’m as moody as anything.”

  “That’s true, yes.”

  “Hey, you’re supposed to say no, of course you aren’t!”

  “But you are.”

  Sarah laughed. He was looking a bit better. His skin had that very un-Scottish golden glow again, the light from the silver candles dancing on his handsome face.

  “OK, then, I’m moody!”

  “A nice moody, though,” he conceded.

  Sarah smiled, and wished that the evening would never end.

  9

  He Came in a Dream

  Suddenly it seems

  That nothing matters but you

  Sarah lay in her bed, thinking what a strange day it had been. Half of it horrific, half of it peaceful and lovely. She couldn’t believe she’d been so suspicious of Harry, when he first arrived. It felt like he’d been there forever. She closed her eyes, listening to the soft sound of the radio coming from his room, and drifted away …

  Time to slip into that strange, trance-like kind of sleep, and the vision took her. It often happened like that. Sometimes it was so quick that she’d close her eyes in her bed, and open them in a different world.

  That night she didn’t find herself in that surreal, strangely-lit world her dreams had taken her to lately – those grassy plains under a purple sky. Instead she was standing in her garden, under one of the oak trees. Golden-red leaves were falling and swirling all around her, floating on little whirlpools. The sky was bright blue, clear, cloudless.

  She brushed a leaf out of her hair, and turned around, checking to see if she was alone. She looked towards the oak, and back. Someone had appeared right in front of her.

  “Sarah.”

  She knew that voice. It was the pale, black-eyed boy again. Sarah felt a deep, sudden joy invade her, and with it came a sense of disorientation, as if a strange fog had risen in her mind, to cloud her thoughts. There he is! He’s back! That was all she could think, as if every other consideration had been dissolved.

  “Who are you? Are you a demon?” Her voice sounded strange to her own ears, muffled, like sounds on snowy days.

  “I’m not a demon,” he said, and he sounded … pleading. Yes, that was it. Pleading. There was sadness in his voice. Why?

  “Who are you, then?”

  “I was sent to you.”

  “Who sent you?”

  He didn’t answer; he just stroked her face, tracing her lips gently with his finger. “I never thought you’d be so beautiful.” He said it simply, as if he’d been making small talk.

  Sarah blushed, and didn’t know what to say. Of course, I have to be as hopeless in my dreams as I am in reality.

  “The spirits of the air,” he whispered. “The ravens today. It was me who sent them.”

  “You?”

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, my Sarah.” He took her face in his hands. For a second, she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he spoke again.

  “Sarah …” His voice was like velvet, like warm water. Like a spell.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  Don’t go. “When?”

  “Soon.” His eyes were burning into hers. Her mind clouded over. There was nothing left to say, nothing left to do but let herself float away …

  “Soon,” she echoed.

  Sarah opened her eyes, and she was in her room. Her head was fuzzy, as if she’d just woken up from an anaesthetic. Oh no, I’m awake. Please, let me fall asleep again. Let me see him again.

  She sighed, a sigh of regret, a sigh of joy, and closed her eyes again, savouring the moment. She wanted more of him, and then some more. A deep, deep happiness invaded her, in spite of all that was happening. As if the new world she was entering could hide some beautiful surprises, and not only misery and fear. As if she were standing at the edge of a warm sea, and all she had to do was dive.

  I don’t even know his name.

  She thought of the golden leaves swirling around him. She thought of how all her thoughts had left her mind, as if carried away by an invisible force.

  She didn’t write that dream down. It was a secret, something only for her to know.

  Sarah drifted back to sleep, a dreamless sleep, and resurfaced at dawn. The grey, cold light of the early morning was sweeping the room as she pushed the blankets off. A shower of leaves fell off the bed, red, yellow, golden, swirling around for a few seconds before landing on the floor, one by one.

  It could only be his doing. Sarah looked at the leaves in wonder. They were so beautiful. They were dead, or dying, their bright colours one last breath before the end – but their agony was amazing to see. Sarah untangled a red one from her hair.

  Leaf. In my heart, I’ll call him Leaf.

  10

  Chosen

  Salvation comes like fire

  Leaf

  It’s her, then. The one my father chose for me.

  I was expecting … Oh, I don’t know what I was expecting. I only know that I was dreading it, I was dreading to find out who was to share all this with me, if she’d drag me deeper, if she’d make it all even worse.

  But she won’t. She’s my salvation. I burn, she’s water; I suffocate, she’s air – I can just imagine, when I am one with her, how light will flood my eyes, how the night will part and let me out into the day. When I break her, the light she has inside will come out, like a seal breaks to reveal the hidden message – and she’ll have to share that light with me. I’ll be saved, and she’ll be the one who falls. I’ll burn her down; I’ll kill her and give her li
fe again. I’ll be true to her. I’ll never leave her, never.

  She smells of light and life, she smells of wind. I can see her, sitting in the darkness with a crown of fire, surrounded by spirits, her skin as white as my mother’s.

  I wish I could just take her, but that’s not how it works. She has to come willingly. She has to need me as much as I need her, and there’s a long way to go, before I win her trust. To make her want me was a good start. I could feel her fear dissolving into desire – it makes it all so much easier, that the one he chose for me is not only ready for the taking, she’s also longing to be taken. She’s asking to be taken away from all this. My influence works a lot better this way; it sinks deeper.

  Before anything else, though, I have to keep her alive. I could stop her enemies right now. I could destroy them all. But I won’t. They’ll attack, and I’ll be there to save her. I’ll be her protector, her guardian angel. She’ll fall for me, and when the time comes, she’ll follow me.

  I used to dread my new life, now I long for it. My father made the right choice. There can be nobody else but her.

  11

  Constellation

  Why did you let me love you

  If you had to go?

  Castelmonte, Italy

  Elodie

  Harry and I were like a two-star constellation. Eternal, unmoveable.

  Meant to be.

  Now that his star has been taken from me, I’m wandering through this black, infinitely lonely universe, half of something, half of nothing.

  I was sixteen when I met Harry. He had come to Lyon to speak to my father, Arnaut Brun, the chief of the Brun family, the most powerful Secret Family in France. My father now lies in the cemetery of Saint Michel, our family chapel, having died in the terrible knowledge that his wife and daughter were to follow the same fate, at the hands of the same faceless enemy.

  He was right about my mother, although not the way he thought. They didn’t come for her. She just lost the will to live when my father died, and withered day after day until one night sleep turned into death. As for me, I was far away already. I had followed Harry Midnight, the mesmerising heir of the Midnight family, to Japan, and then to London.