The Man of her Dreams: A Paranormal Romance

by Stratton, Nathan

  “What’s the matter, Lex?” asked Evan. He tried to take her hand, but she pulled it back roughly and stepped abruptly away. She wanted distance between them. She wanted a whole field between them, a whole world. She’d suddenly realized why she’d felt so strange about seeing him in the water.

  “Evan can’t swim,” she said.

  The surface of the lake began to ripple violently, and the fields behind her began to shake as if from a strong wind. The dream-world was in danger of coming apart. She had seen this happen before, so she wasn’t as nervous about it happening as she was about the man who stood in front of her. She needed some answers, and fast, if she wanted to regain control of the dream. Evan wasn’t saying anything.

  “Who are you?” she demanded, staring into his face.

  She tried to maintain focus, but the dream was getting blurrier by the second. As she stared at him quizzically, she noticed with shock that his eyes, which had been blue just a second ago, had turned to a dark, glowing amber. A chill went down her spine. What’s happening?, she thought frantically. The sky clouded over, and a loud thunderclap echoed through the air. She looked down at her sundress, and gasped with horror as she realized it had turned to filthy rags.

  As she looked on helplessly, the ground dissolved beneath her, and she began tumbling head over heels through a monochromatic abyss. It was too late. She’d lost control of the dream entirely.

  As she fell away from the dream-world, she saw Evan staring down at her. “Answer me!” she screamed, but it was no use. He stayed silent, still watching her, somehow floating above the world as she fell further and further away from it.

  She became conscious of a persistent, throbbing noise, barely noticeable at first but getting louder as she fell, until it blocked out all her senses and enveloped her in sound…

  Chapter 2: Revelation

  Alexis woke with a start, her eyes flying wide open despite the bright sunlight streaming in from the window. She lay there for a moment, breathing hard, her mind running on overdrive trying to process what had just happened to her. “Oh, my God,” Alexis started mumbling to herself, without realizing she was doing it.

  That had never happened to her before.

  As she slowly calmed down, she realized her alarm clock was buzzing raucously. “That explains the noise, at least,” she said, and reached over to hit the OFF button.

  She sat up in bed, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her heart was still pounding so hard that it made her chest hurt. She drew in deep breaths of air, still trying to calm down. She could think clearly now, but her body still hadn’t let go of the fear. Despite getting less than five hours of sleep, she felt totally awake, if not exactly refreshed.

  I guess a nightmare will do that to you, she thought to herself.

  But had it really been a nightmare? Her lucid dreams were never nightmares – they were always pleasant, always fulfilling her innermost desires. No, this was different – but how? She’d lost control of the dream, that was true, and she’d felt some fear towards the end of it. But maybe that was to be expected, given all the stress in her life these days. Perhaps that made it a – what? A lucid nightmare? She’d never heard of such a thing.

  Whatever it was – dream, nightmare, or something else – one thing was for certain: try as she might, Alexis couldn’t stop thinking about her dream for the rest of the day.

  On her commute, at work, and even later that evening, she replayed the events of the previous night over and over in her head. Something momentous had happened to her, but no one else knew about it, and she certainly couldn’t tell them. People noticed her inattention, and her boss had even reprimanded her for zoning out during a meeting. She’d mumbled an apology and tried to focus on work, but found herself daydreaming again within a few minutes. She had two big questions on her mind, and her gut was telling her that the two were somehow related.

  First of all, why hadn’t she been able to control the dream? And more importantly, if that man in the dream wasn’t Evan, then who was he?

  That night, she went to bed earlier than she normally did, in an attempt to force herself to fall asleep. But just like the previous night, sleep was long in coming. As if her insomnia hadn’t been bad enough already, now she had a whole slew of new questions to worry about. The questions kept swirling in her mind, threatening to keep her from falling asleep at all, no matter how exhausted she might be.

  But now there was an even more compelling reason to fall asleep – she knew it was the only way she could open the door to the dreams and get back to the place where it had all happened.

  Whoever that man in her dream had been, she was determined to get some answers from him.

  “I can do this,” said Alexis, her head resting on her pillow. She had no idea what was going to happen to her in her dreams this time, but she knew she had to try and take control of the dream if she could. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and tried to clear the clutter out of her mind.

  It took a few long hours of effort, just as it had the night before. She would try to clear her mind completely, then give up with a frustrated sigh. But as the night turned into the early morning, her insomnia began to fail in the fight against exhaustion. At some point in those deep, dark morning hours, she felt herself drifting off again…

  She opened her eyes to a world transformed. A milky white void surrounded her. Wispy, mustard-yellow clouds coiled around her legs and enveloped her body. Blinking a few times in the harsh light, she looked around and took stock of her surroundings. Then, concentrating intently, she began to reshape the dream-world as she saw fit.

  Where there had been fields of grass the previous night, she now summoned a lonely, desolate desert highway. Dirt-red painted cliffs dotted the landscape, and a warm sun shone down overhead. The setting looked like it belonged on a movie set somewhere, a cross between the Grand Canyon and Mars. A few crows flew past, high above her, cawing solemnly down to the earth.

  It might have seemed frightening, but Alexis felt comfortable here, having spent a few summers in Arizona as a teenager. The desert, the cliffs, the birds – all were familiar to her. And most importantly, she’d been able to call up this world easily from her subconscious. If she was going to maintain control over the dream, it was important that she could imagine it vividly.

  “All right,” said Alexis. She looked down at her clothing: she was still wearing the sundress from the previous night. “This won’t do,” she said to herself. Before her eyes, the dress dissolved, replaced by a sturdy-looking black leather jacket over dark denim and boots. “Much better,” she said with a grin.

  Confident in her abilities and comfortable with her surroundings, Alexis felt ready to face that person, whoever he was. But how could she get him to appear? She knew she didn’t have control over his actions; that had been the source of the problems last night. Still, it was worth a shot.

  “Come get me!” she screamed into the desolate, wind-swept landscape, her voice echoing off into the atmosphere. “I’m right here!” she cried, feeling her voice falter just a bit.

  She waited and listened. As her voice’s echo faded, an oppressive silence settled around her, broken only by the howling wind. “Come on!” she screamed in frustration. No response. What’s the problem? Alexis wondered. She began to pace back and forth on the dusty road.

  For a few long minutes, she waited for an answer, but none was forthcoming. She didn’t know what else to do but wait. Just as she was beginning to give up hope, she looked up and saw a figure walking towards her in the distance. She squinted through the dust, trying to make out who it was.

  “Hey!” she called out.

  As the figure approached, she was gripped by a sudden fear. What if she lost control again? What if the figure meant her harm? She had no idea what to expect, and wondered if there was something supernatural going on. But she held her resolve, and kept her back straight and her head held high as the figure came closer and closer.

  The fi
gure stopped short about five yards away from her. It was well within earshot, but hadn’t yet said a word. As the dust cleared, she got a closer look: it was Evan. No, not Evan, not really – but it was the same man it had been the previous night.

  She paused. But was this really a ‘man’? Or something else entirely? She remembered the way his eyes had changed in the last dream, and she realized she couldn’t be sure.

  A figure, then. Just a… something… in the body of a man.

  They stared at each other for a long second, each waiting for the other to speak. Finally, the figure broke the silence. It held up its hands, as if to reassure Alexis that it meant no harm.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” the figure said, tentatively stepping a bit closer towards her. “Please, give me a chance to explain.”

  “You’ve got some explaining to do, all right.” Alexis spat out the words angrily. “Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my dreams?”

  The figure sighed. “I understand your anger, and I’m sure that what happened last night was very frightening for you. But if you’ll just let me explain, everything will become clear.”

  Alexis stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. She folded her arms defensively, her body tense. She wanted to hear what he had to say, but she was ready to escape at the first sign of danger.

  “First of all,” said the creature, “As you’ve probably guessed, I’m not Evan. My name is Philip. I’m an incubus.”

  “A what?” asked Alexis in astonishment.

  “An incubus,” he repeated, a pained look on his face. He sighed. “It’s a type of… a type of demon.” At the word ‘demon,’ Alexis’s body went rigid. She had heard just about all she needed to, and she was a split-second away from bolting.

  “Now wait, just wait a second!” he cried, his hand reaching out towards her. To her surprise, she heard a note of panic in his voice, and somehow that calmed her down.

  “Please,” he said, “just hear me out. I’m a demon, it’s true, but not by choice. And I mean you no harm. In fact… I need your help.”

  She had to laugh at that statement. “After deceiving me like that, you expect me to help you?” she scoffed. “And besides,” she added sarcastically, “how can a mere mortal like me possibly help a demon? I thought you’re supposed to be all-powerful.”

  She had only been half-serious, but Philip’s expression gave her pause. “How I wish that were the case,” he said sadly. “No, I am quite weak, and very much a mortal being. I’m a prisoner, in fact. I made a deal with the Devil, seven centuries ago, and I’ve been locked in this form ever since.” He began to walk toward her slowly as he spoke.

  “You stay right where you are,” she said. He stopped in his tracks and lifted his hands again, showing that he meant no harm.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “And I’m sorry for frightening you last night. You see…” he began, but sighed again and fell silent. He was obviously struggling to find the words. Remarkably, Alexis realized she felt some measure of pity for him.

  “Look,” she said. “It’s all right. Why don’t you start by telling me what an incubus is, anyway?”

  He looked at her and nodded humbly. “Very well,” he said. “An incubus is someone like me, serving penance in demon form, as part of the terms of their contract with the Devil. I visit women in their dreams, and I…”

  He trailed off, looking into her face, but then continued. “I… coerce them… into acts of lust.”

  Alexis immediately blushed as she thought about the lustful ways she’d looked at him in the previous dream. But even as her face grew hot, she was confused about his explanation.

  “But why?” she asked him. “Why do you coerce them? What’s in it for you?”

  “Nothing at all,” replied Philip bitterly. “It’s all for the Dark Lord’s pleasure.” The look on his face changed to something dark and angry, and she shivered at the strength of his fury. “Though I perform the act itself, I gain no enjoyment from it. It is all to serve his gluttonous appetite. And I’ll go on this way for all eternity, trapped in his infernal bond of service, unless…”

  “Unless what?” Alexis prompted. He looked away abashedly.

  “…Unless I can persuade a mortal woman to fall in love with me,” he finished, staring at the ground as he spoke.

  This was too much to handle. She felt her dream-world unraveling at the edges, perturbed by the shock of what she was hearing. The borders of the landscape began to quiver and shake, and the sky was darkening ominously. Focus, Alexis, she said to herself. Stay in control. She stared defiantly at the mountains in the distance, holding them motionless by sheer force of will.

  “That’s why I tricked you last night,” continued Philip. He kept his eyes towards the mountains, too, as if embarrassed to look at her. “I thought that if I cloaked myself in the form of this ‘Evan’ person you so admire, your love for him would be sufficient to release me from my service.”

  Alexis raised an eyebrow. “You really thought that would work?” she asked quizzically. “It seems like Satan would realize I’d fallen for you under false pretences. Hell, even I noticed that.”

  She’d meant it as a joke, but Philip winced at her words. “Yes, I know that now!” he said bitterly. “And rest assured, I was punished greatly for the ruse. The Devil does not tolerate insubordination. I will spare you a description of my punishment, but suffice to say his methods are unlike anything a mortal mind could conceive.”

  He turned and began to walk away from her, and Alexis noticed that he was walking with a pronounced limp. She shuddered.

  “So, wait,” she called after him. “You’ve been like this for seven centuries?”

  “That’s right,” he said, not turning his head.

  “Who, um, were you?” she asked curiously. "Where did you live? What did you do? And how did you make this deal with the Devil?”

  At these questions, he turned to face her, and the hint of a faint smile returned to his lips. “As a mortal, I lived in England,” he said, and now there was a bit of pride in his voice. “I… was a nobleman, in fact.”

  “A nobleman?” she repeated, incredulous.

  He smiled. “Count Philip of Sudbury, at your service.”

  Chapter 3: The Beautiful and the Damned

  Suddenly, the mountains behind them began to crumble, and lightning crackled across the sky. Philip stood transfixed, staring upwards with a wary look in his eyes. He seemed to be searching for the cause of the disruption.

  The dream was coming apart in a way that it never had before. There was no falling this time, no feeling of escape or slipping away before the dream-world went back to nothingness. This time there was a true kind of terror, one that told Alexis her control was so far gone that it couldn’t return. Someone else was in her head, controlling everything that was happening. The feeling of utter violation left a metallic taste of fear in her mouth.

  “What’s happening?!” cried Alexis, her voice coming out as a strangled scream.

  At her words, Philip suddenly sprang into action. He leapt into the air, easily crossing the distance between them. He picked Alexis up with one arm and started running down the road. They reached a small boulder about twenty yards away, taking shelter behind it. He placed Alexis down, and she cowered in fear.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she cried. “Why is this happening?”

  The sky seemed to be falling apart, coming down in cascades of fiery ash and rock. The pleasant blue skies were now almost dark as night, filled with debris and smoke. Philip took Alexis by the hands and looked intently into her eyes, even as the world around them was being reduced to rubble.

  “I can get us out of here,” he said, “but you need to trust me.”

  Alexis stared at him wide-eyed. How could she trust him, when he had just revealed that he’d tried to trick her? How could she trust anything at all, when her dream was falling apart and she had no idea why? She shook her head. No way. She squinted her eyes,
focusing as hard as she could on trying to just wake up and get out of the dream.

  “That won’t work!” cried Philip, his voice rising in pitch and volume. He was looking more worried by the second. “You’re not in control anymore, Alexis. We need to get out of here, and to do that, you’re going to have to come with me – whether you like it or not.”

  “I can’t wake up?” she asked, shocked. “I am trapped here?”