I dreamed of them again, the copper angel, the girl whose hair smelled like baby powder, and the faceless guy with those unforgettable, electric blue eyes. For four dreams in a row, now, I dreamed this same exact dream. I was beginning to wonder if it was prophetic in some way. I had analyzed it and dissected it, inside and out, over and over again. I let this whole dream-thing consume me nearly entirely for the three days we'd been in our new house on Snow Melt Lake. This was better than where my mind would have ended up wandering if I hadn't.
To Dammon. It was always trying to wander off with Dammon.
I spent three days just lazing around our new property, trying to absorb the tranquility it had to offer. This place was like an exotic vacation getaway, a mountain retreat. I never imagined living somewhere so beautiful and peaceful as this. Of course, the giant lake in our front yard was the focal point, especially when the sun was just right in the sky, and the snow-capped mountain peaks were mirrored on her surface.
Between the mountains and the lake there was an endless forest of evergreens and aspens. Directly on the other side of the lake, I could see a clearing, but it was so far away I couldn't make out what it looked like from here. I promised myself I would take the long walk over to the other side, one day soon. But I knew it would be quite the trek. Nestling the sides of Snow Melt Lake, were spectacular rock out-croppings and dense, impenetrable-looking woods. The terrain looked very rugged and rough.
Mine and Addy's new house was a totally awesome two-story log cabin. The coolest of its features was its face of windows that stretched two stories high and overlooked the lake.
I stirred in my new bed. Sunlight spilled in through a bay window to my right. It offered a view of the thick woods behind the house. I was anxious to take that trek today, to the other side, despite the fact that the house was still full of boxes, but I was reluctant. There was something strange about the woods surrounding the property. I knew it wasn't the trees themselves, but I wasn't sure how else to describe it to myself. There was something about them that reminded me of that gooey, inky darkness that surrounded Bane in my dreams and that Sean had the magic to conjure. Which I still believed was only a figment of my imagination, because how logical was it, really, that someone could pull something like that out of my dream world? Sean may have been a warlock and whatnot, but I was quite certain he had no control, what-so-ever, over my dream world and pulling things out of it.
I kicked the blankets off my legs and sighed, thinking about Bane and how he had abandoned me. Maybe he took me seriously when I told him to give me back my heart and that I never wanted to see him again. I quickly shoved that thought as far back into my mind as I could, for the ache it caused in my entire being was something awful.
And so was the ache I felt for Sean Hylander's presence.
I was procrastinating getting out of bed because I knew I'd end up going for that walk around the lake, after a cup of coffee, and I still wasn't so sure I wanted to penetrate those eerie woods, yet.
And I'd have to cross the covered porch to get there.
I knew it was silly, but whenever I went outside, I had to run fast across the porch to get away from the porch swing. There was just something freaky about it. The rest of the house was fine, but just not the porch swing. It was like it was haunted or something.
Maybe something bad happened there, I thought to myself, as I stretched and rolled out of bed.
"Luna, I'm going to town, do you want to ride with me?" Addy's voice rose up from the first floor. I hadn't gone to town yet. I had no interest in it, really. Everything I ever wanted was right here. And besides, it was safe here, hidden away from the world, tucked away is a snugly pocket of the earth, in the bosom of the mountains.
I threw on my leather jacket and quickly left my room, hoping my ache for Bane would stay in my bed, that it wouldn't follow me around all day.
****