REMEMBERING THE GRAVITY

Chapter 2 - The Flashback

Darkness crept in every corner as the midnight air surrounded Lianne's bedroom. The silence was deafening, but it was suddenly broken by her frightening shout.

"Nooo!"

She sat on her bed, panting, beads of sweat crawled all the way down her temple to her neck, and her eyes stared widely at the window.

For almost a year now, she had finally dreamt it again.

A man standing on top of a cliff as if waiting. His face covered by the shadow. The ocean waves were furiously splashing the cliff, but he was unaffected by the sight. His hair and coat were wet with the rain.

Lianne was there, standing some distance behind him, but she was transparent. She didn't have a solid body.

When he turned to his back, it looked like he was looking at her, his eyes aglow, but it was dishearteningly sad. Then, his lips moved shaping a name - her name.

The surroundings then changed into a room of such grandeur; full of marvelous stones of various kinds, fresh bouquet of white roses in every vase and a fireplace that gave warmth all over the room. The man then entered it from the main door wearing a white robe that exposed his masculine body.

Lianne, in her dream, was there again, still transparent standing at the edge of the bed. She saw a lady in the balcony leaning against the railing facing the beautiful scene of sunset in the mountains. He walked intently towards her and then gently enveloped her back with his strong arms and caressed the curve of her smooth neck.

It shivered Lianne upon seeing it. Never had she seen so much passion and longing in a man. There was familiarity about her form and stature, Lianne thought, but she couldn't clearly see who she was. She wanted to see this lady. She wanted to know who she was. It felt as if she had known her before.

Then, the next scene wholly disturbed her. She saw blood staining at the back of the white satin nightgown of the woman, and in her standpoint, at the same time, she felt a sharp stabbing pain in her abdomen. The woman fell down onto the marbled floor with the man supporting her in his arms.

This stunned her true, but what really made her wail was seeing the face of the lady.

It was her.

After turning the lights on her bedroom, she went downstairs to her kitchen and opened the fridge taking a bottle of mineral water. She drank heavily the cold refreshing liquid knowing it would calm her pulse down. She was quite astonished finding out that the woman in her dream was her, but it confused her as to who the man was. She had dreamt it quite often in the past years but was so vague, she didn't actually care to reflect on it that much. But now, it felt like it was so real it made her very uneasy.

Leaning at the kitchen table, she suddenly got a slight cramp on her abdomen making her cringe a bit, and during that moment, she thought that it was odd. Really odd.

"Why now?" she asked herself. "Just when I am gradually forgetting about it, that's when it came back clearer? Like, it's a real memory."

She leaped in fright, turning quickly to her right side when she felt something touch her arm. Her grip came loose and instantly, the bottled water came splashing down between her feet.

A man stood in her front, but not just any man. Her eyes widened upon recognizing who the person was. His face was slightly illuminated by the upstairs light and fridge. His eyes fixed on only her, taking all of her in. Now that they were both at close proximity with each other, she can now undoubtedly see his face.

This is the man from the library this morning! she shouted to herself.

"You! How-how did you get inside?" Lianne asked with trembling lips. He, in the other hand, responded with silence, but progressed closer to her.

"No. Don't you dare come nearer or I'll, or I'll scream!" she added, putting more sense in her meager threat.

Still facing him, Lianne stepped backward, slowly moving to the kitchen's cabinet next to the fridge. There, she found her right hand touch the knife shelf.

Bingo.

She was at wit's end thinking she might have stumbled upon a dangerous stalker or a r****t, or worse a killer knowing he was able to find his way inside her apartment. How could she have let her guard down?! Now, she was unsure on what to do.

He approached her even closer despite her warning and this time, he spoke her name in an affectionate manner.

"Lianne..."

Like a bottle of alcohol, his gentle warm voice was lethargic. It's as if she had heard his voice before, but wasn't sure where and when. However, thinking that she had charmed a stalker who was gradually coming close to her, with all her fear, she quickly drew out from the shelf a long cutting knife and thrust it in between them.

Her meager protection didn't so much as frighten him because in an instant, he got a hold of her hand, removing the knife from her. She immediately screamed, frightened by the contact of their skin, but her scream abruptly stopped.

There was silence. Her eyes fluttered, amazed by what happened so quickly.

The rain started to pour heavily and a couple of thunderous rumble was heard from a distance. The knife he held fell directly to the floor making a faint sound.

She clenched both her fists but not that long as they loosen up feeling the intensity of his kiss. Her heart skipped a beat when he traced her face with his hands while locking his lips with hers. It was then that she noticed her eyes becoming wet. She slightly struggled but his strong embrace surpassed hers. It didn't seem like a stalker's kiss; much more not from a r****t. Whoever he is, his kiss truly affected her more than she could have allowed.

~ 0 ~

The alarm clock wrung loudly noting eight in the morning. She directly sat on her bed after reaching the alarm clock on her headboard turning it off. Then, her cellphone's tone played next at the kitchen table below giving Lianne a hint that it was Jen in the other side of the line. She still felt rather woozy but managed to stand up from her bed and walked downstairs hurriedly.

"He-hello Jen, good morning." Lianne answered.

"Oh! Hello Lianne, good morning to you too. Oh my! I bet you just woke up right?"

"Yah, you're-" All of a sudden, she stopped speaking after her sight rested on the water bottle lying in the wet floor of her kitchen. Instantly, memories of last night came surging in leaving her agape.

"It wasn't a dream???!" She whispered remarkably to herself.

"What wasn't a dream?" Jen confusingly asked. "You're not daydreaming again are you?"

She snapped out and answered back. "Huh!? Well.. ummm, nothing."

"Ohhhh! NO! Don't YOU 'um' me like that! You're hiding something from me I'm sure! You better tell me that when you arrive here at the bus stop, or else I'll keep on pestering you. Anyway, you've gotta work your ass off your bed now so the plane going to the Since Resort wouldn't leave us!" Jen commanded.

"OH YES!" Lianne immediately realized. "Yes! Yes! I'll be there now Jen, just give me 30 minutes, ok?!" she answered back quickly then hung up.

Knowing last night's event wasn't a dream made her feel more anxious, but at least now, she had finally concluded that he isn't a r****t or especially a killer, 'coz if he was, then she should have been dead by now.

She remembered his half-illuminated face and the way his lips felt from hers. The caring touch of his hands in her face and those eyes! How could she ever forget about those piercing brown-green eyes? Walking out of the kitchen door, she took a deep sigh and tilted her head on its frame and muttered to herself as she wrapped her arms on her waist.

"Who are you...?"