Only in Her Dreams

by Christina McKnight

  “For fuck sakes! Grab your jacket and let’s go,” Darius yelled from the other room.

  Lucessa did as Darius instructed and followed him into the hallway, where Alexander waited.

  “Alexander, show these two lovely ladies to the car.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  Great, another car ride.

  # # #

  Lucessa sat in the backseat of the Oldsmobile between Alexander and Greg. With the windows open to the frigid air, the car sped through the night, destination unknown. Conversation was impossible with the wind so Lucessa had plenty of time to think. About her past, and her future.

  Is my past all a lie? Her father wasn’t her father. He wasn’t killed in a car accident but chose to leave her and her mother. To top it off, the man from her dreams was a lying bastard. Is bastard the right term? I bet he knows who his real father is. Everything in her life was a sham.

  Now she sat in the back of a pile of rust on her way to God knows where. And no one knew, except perhaps her lying, cheating husband.

  Maybe she was the crazy one, and she imagined everything that was happening. No one would believe she’s the adopted daughter of an Oneiroi, and not just any Oneiroi but the head Oneiroi. I’m still getting use to their existence. She didn’t even believe it herself. How can I expect others to believe me?

  With the way things were going she wouldn’t have to worry about that. It was unlikely she’d make it back alive.

  Sandy also puzzled her. She seemed to have a connection with Greg, but a stronger link with Darius. She’d hardly said a word to anyone. Greg sat next to Lucessa, his eyes boring into the back of Sandy’s head. Sandy watched Darius who sat beside her. So much had changed in the last few days. What I wouldn’t give to go back to the normalcy of working two jobs.

  She glanced back at Sandy, sitting confidently in the front seat. “Who is she?” she asked Greg, leaning close to be heard over the wind.

  Greg shifted uncomfortably next to her.

  “Come on, Greg. You owe me that much.” You owe me a lot more.

  “My girlfriend.” The wind blowing through the car carried Greg’s voice with it. Lucessa turned fully toward him, to make sure she’d heard right. Greg stared back, his eyes narrowed and his brow scrunched.

  “You’re joking, right?” He’s back, betrayed you, and brought his girlfriend, great!

  “No.”

  “What’s up with your girlfriend and Darius? They seem close.” The remark was meant to hurt him and from the way his shoulders slumped down the seat, it’d worked. Classic Greg style.

  On the other side of Lucessa, Alexander seemed interested in their conversation.

  “Do you know where we’re going?”

  “Not a clue.”

  Well, isn’t he just a fountain of information.

  “How’d you meet her, Greg?” She feared their relationship had started long ago, maybe even before she and Greg were married. Her mind spun trying to nail down a time when things had changed. Before med school? Before the wedding? Before Uganda? She didn’t know.

  “We’ve lived together for the last year.”

  Lucessa froze in her seat, her head whipped to look straight out the front window. I should be shocked. She was more then taken aback by Greg’s confession. She was dumbfounded. Of all the places Greg could’ve been and who he could’ve been with, she hadn’t expected he’d been with another woman. A part of her waited for him to tell her it was all a joke, that he didn’t know the woman sitting in the front seat.

  “Really?” Lucessa could hardly breathe. That’s the best I can come up with? Greg had chosen to disappear from her life and leave her with all the burdens…to be with another woman?

  “Is it hard to believe I’d want her over you? Don’t be delusional, blondes are always better,” he said with a small laugh.

  “No, I find it hard to believe you’d stay in Uganda...for anyone. But it does figure you’d find someone else to be your mother.” Now who’s smiling?

  “Shut the fuck up or you’ll be riding in the trunk.” Darius threatened from the front seat.

  Modesto receded as they drove south on the 99 freeway, towards Los Angeles. She hoped that wasn’t his destination, because it’d be a long drive. Dark country passed the open windows, the cold wind whipped her hair across her face. Her nose and ears were numbed by the cold. The men said nothing.

  As the car passed signs for Turlock, a small country town, they pulled off the freeway and headed west into the countryside. Lucessa’s mother grew up in Patterson, an even smaller town close by, and she knew there wasn’t much out here but livestock.

  Looking out the window, she recognized Fulkerth Road and the car continued to speed on. They eventually slowed and turned onto Vivian Road. Their journey had them backtracking toward Modesto. She didn’t ask why. She didn’t relish angering Darius further. It was way too cold to finish the drive in the trunk.

  The car started to slow again and turned down a dirt easement between two cattle ranches. The car hopped and dipped over every pothole. Stopping, they sat in complete darkness. No light broke through the vast space outside.

  “Where are we?” Greg leaned toward the front seat. “I thought you said you’d let me go. I’ve done what you asked.”

  God, what a whine bag! The pleading in his voice made her sick. Again, thinking only about himself. Sandy let out a huff. Looks like we’re in agreement on Greg.

  “Everyone out. We walk from here.”

  “Wait. I asked you a question,” Greg continued. He reached into the front seat and put his hand on the Darius’s arm to halt him. “We had a deal.”

  Alexander had walked around the car and opened the passenger door while Greg protested. Giving up, he exited the car and moved to the front. Lucessa followed suit. They stood closely as Darius and Alexander retrieved the large bags from the trunk. One was the blue and green duffle Darius had packed. She hoped the second contained flashlights, food, and toilet paper.

  Greg watched Sandy act as a fly on shit, never leaving Darius’s side. How did she go from hostage to accomplice?

  They walked further down the dirt road. Lucessa pulled her jacket closer around herself. A uniquely feminine smell emanated from the material. She pulled the collar to her nose and inhaled. The jacket didn’t smell dirty, like the rest of the place. It smelled freshly washed, lavender if she wasn’t mistaken. He went through the trouble of getting me a clean jacket. Interesting.

  The outline of a small shack came into view. There were no lights, no electrical wires running to the house, and the windows were boarded over. Tall weeds grew around the structure and through the open doorway. Not much different from the place we just left. “Where are we?”

  “A little place I ran across years ago. It was in better shape back then, but it suits my purpose just fine,” Darius answered. “Alexander, please light the lamps inside.”

  Darius ushered them through the open doorway. The room filled with a dim light from the lamps. Darius held a gun pushed into Greg’s back. Does he honestly think Greg is a threat? He’s wrong. Greg wouldn’t stand up for himself.

  But she knew someone who would stand up for himself. Maxim.

  The inside of the shack was in better condition. Old furniture cluttered the one room, with a small kitchen in the back. A large fireplace took up space on one wall, half burned pieces of timber were stacked inside. A multicolored rug covered most of the wooden floor. To Lucessa’s disappointment, there was no bathroom in sight.

  And everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

  “Sit,” Darius commanded. He dropped his bag on the floor, and waved the gun at a couch that sat in front of the fireplace. “Don’t go anywhere. Greg and I are going to collect firewood.” His eyes traveled to Lucessa. Anxiety prickled her spine.

  With that, the pair moved out the door.

  “Where’s Alexander?” Lucessa asked Sandy.

  “Probably outside, ready to kill you if you run.”
/>   That’s comforting. She chose a large armchair, as opposed to sitting beside Sandy on the only couch in the room.

  Alexander entered, carrying a lantern and the other duffle bag from the trunk. He ignored both women, whose eyes followed his progress around the room. He stepped into the small kitchen area and lit two candles from his lantern. They illuminated a crude wooden countertop and makeshift sink with no faucet. This was going to be a rough night.

  She hoped Darius and her father could sort out their issues. She wanted to return home...soon.

  # # #

  Greg followed the beam of light in front of him. His feet moved through the dust. Sweat drenched his shirt, despite the cool night air. The gun in my back isn’t helping.

  “Let’s move, just a few more pieces and that should be enough for the night.” Darius pushed the gun into Greg’s left shoulder blade, sending paining shooting down his arm.

  I’m obviously not seeing freedom any time soon. He needed to play along and live through this. He’d lived in Uganda for a year under desolate circumstances--he could handle a day or two without electricity or running water.

  “Back to the cabin.” Darius pointed the flashlight back to the shack.

  Greg dragged his feet, in no hurry to get back to the awkward situation brewing between Lucessa and Sandy.

  The shack came into view through the brush. Figures moved around inside. His arms lugged the fallen timber and dry bushes he’d collected, the burn in his forearms reminded him of the soft life he’d lived thus far. He planned to change that. If I live through this, that is.

  Lucessa and Sandy stood in front of the fireplace while Alexander arranged the half-burned pieces of timber in an attempt to bring some warmth to the room. At the sound of Greg’s feet scraping against the scarred wooden floor, both women and Alexander looked in his direction. Their eyes bore into him. If looks could kill, he’d have kneeled over, taking Darius with him.

  “On the couch, Flynn,” Darius said, prodding Greg again in the back.

  Helplessly, he walked the short distance to the couch and sat, wood and all.

  “What the fuck, you idiot?”

  “Just doing what you said, boss,” Greg replied. If he was trying to fly under the radar and survive, he was taking the wrong path. All the same, he stood and carried the wood to the box next to the fireplace. There was no reason to push his luck any further.

  Greg returned to the couch and watched as Alexander struggled to start the fire. Eventually, both women gave up on watching him and sat as well. Sandy sat next to him on the couch and Lucessa in the armchair, curling her legs underneath her. Her looks hadn’t changed much in the year he’d been gone. Her hair was a little longer and her eyes looked tired. She was a pretty girl but average, in his opinion, her body was curvy with smaller breasts and a bigger ass. As a man of the world, he now knew what he wanted in a woman and Lucessa was not it.

  He preferred his women more like Sandy with a small, slim but firm body and large breasts as if made to topple her over. The blonde hair and green eyes only added to Sandy’s appeal.

  His eyes moved to Sandy who sat next to him, just out of reach. She was obviously mad at him. He longed for her to look at him, see him. But her eyes followed Darius. She slept with him! Lust oozed from her every pore.

  The next day or so was going to be hell.

  Peeking at Lucessa from the corner of his eye, he noticed she also averted her gaze. She didn’t focus on any particular object. Her eyes held a faraway look.

  Chapter 33

  How things had changed. It was now Hera who viewed the scrying bowls, day and night--not that there was a night in Olympus. This feud was hurting more than the demigods she assumed. It now spilled over and jeopardized the women these men held close. “Unacceptable,” Hera muttered.

  This madness must end...and now. She’d been forbidden to interfere in matters pertaining to the demigods, and she could not change any human’s destiny. Fate is out of my control, but still there must be something I can do to prevent the impending tragedy.

  “Adelle,” Hera called to her attending servant. “Please tell my lover that I request his presence.” She lowered herself to the pillows littering the floor. It would not do to look anxious or nervous. Zeus did not react kindly to a woman’s tender side. Concentrating, she relaxed the muscles in her face, hoping to portray passivity and disinterest.

  Confident, solid footsteps echoed down the wide corridor of the palace. A lighter step hurried to keep pace with her oversized lord.

  “She wishes your presence in the sun room.”

  “Do you not think I know where my woman resides?”

  Lovely, he is already on edge. Hera arranged her skirts to cover her porcelain white ankles and leaned to the side, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. As if the weight of all womankind did not hang heavily around her neck. “My lover,” she whispered as Zeus entered the room.

  Chapter 34

  Maxim returned to Lucessa’s house to keep watch. At first glance, the household appeared settled in for the night. No lights shone through the front windows. He tried the front door. Locked. Good sign. His feet sounded on the hollow porch as he continued around to the gate leading into the backyard. The same gate Darius had stood by as he waited for his Melas to ransack Lucessa’s house. He was greeted by two large paws on his chest, nearly knocking him over when he slipped through the opening.

  “Goosey, what are you doing out so late?” He scratched the dog behind the ear. Lucessa never left Goosey outside for longer than it took the dog to use the lawn. It was possible that Lucessa was awake and standing in the kitchen, waiting for Goosey to return to the back door. Maxim leaned against the side of the house and stuck his head out to look around the corner. The kitchen light was on, but no one waited for Goosey’s return.

  Taking a chance no one was on the ground floor he went to the back door and tried the handle. Unlocked. Not good.

  He pushed the door wide. She’d be mad he was back, but he had to check on her. In his three days with her, Lucessa had never left Goosey outside unattended for more than a few minutes.

  “Hello? Lucessa? Greg?” he called into the house. He didn’t want to surprise anyone and get a baseball bat to the head. Again.

  The kitchen looked the same as when he left earlier, the dishes from dinner still sat in the sink. Goosey rushed in behind him and headed for the stairs.

  “Is she up there, girl?” He crept up the stairs, not wishing to wake her if she’d fallen asleep. Her door and the door to the guest room stood open and empty, her bed looked slept in. A night lamp lay broken on the floor.

  Maxim descended the stairs two at a time to the first floor, through the kitchen and into the living room. The couch was empty, too. Dread moved through his body, speeding up his heart rate. Her car was in the driveway. Where in the hell is she?

  One name and place came to mind. His twin had taken things too far. Maxim closed his eyes and concentrated on Darius last known “residence”.

  He walked through the front yard of the dilapidated house and through the open doorway. Melas Oneiroi laid all over the front room; naked women, drug paraphernalia and empty bottles littered all available surfaces. Stepping over bodies, he made his way to the hallway. The door he sought stood open. There was no one inside. I can’t keep covering for you!

  He retreated to the front room in search of Alexander. His eyes scanned the room.

  Grabbing the closest Melas, Maxim lifted him off the ground until they were face to face. “Where is Darius?”

  The Melas showed hardly any reaction, no flinch or ‘what the hell’. Nothing. He was probably drugged out of his mind. But when he responded, his voice was slurred and a lazy smile crawled along his lips. “Aw, they left ‘bout two hours ago.”

  “They? What do you mean ‘they’?” Maxim demanded, shaking the man to loosen his tongue.

  “Darius, Alexander and a few others. Not Melas. One man and two women. Now let me be,” the man p
rotested.

  Maxim dropped him to the floor and rushed out of the house. Once outside, he closed his eyes and concentrated on thoughts of his twin. Opening his eyes, he still stood outside his brother’s hellhole. What the...?

  His body didn’t sense Darius at all. His twin wasn’t near.

  Closing his eyes once again, he thought of Lucessa’s house. When he opened his eyes, he stood on the front porch, with Goosey barking on the other side of the door, her giant paws scratching.

  He entered the house through the back door again. Everything looked the same. She hadn’t returned. The group who’d left with Darius and Alexander were Lucessa and Greg.

  # # #

  Maxim paced outside his brother’s study for the second time that night. Every time he brought Guy news, it became progressively worse. He still didn’t know why Darius was so interested in Lucessa. So she was Guy’s adopted daughter, but Guy wouldn’t jeopardize the whole of Erebos for the safety of one girl. What advantage did this give Darius?

  Strong arming Guy into handing Erebos over to him was ludicrous. Threatening Guy’s family would be punished by death, Maxim had no doubt. Darius didn’t know what he was getting himself into. He could still find Darius, and in the process, make sure Guy never found out.

  Maxim raised his hand to knock but paused. Instead, he closed his eyes and returned to Lucessa’s house. I can handle my twin without Guy’s interference.

  # # #

  The fire warmed the shack quickly and dispersed extra light into the corners of the room. Lucessa looked around. The floor was wooden and dusty, the kitchen crude. All the windows were boarded over. If she had to escape, the only way was through the front door. The same door Alexander guarded.

  From her vantage point in the armchair, she could see everyone in the room. Sandy and Greg still sat on the couch--as far apart as they could get. Their eyes never met. Neither attempted conversation. But that wasn’t her problem.