Demon in Love (Book 3)

Chapter 4

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”-Edgar Allan Poe

Chapter 4

-Karen-

I screamed loudly, pushing him away from me with all the power I had in me as the surroundings melted away, only to be replaced with pure darkness. I couldn’t stop screaming anyhow.

“Karen, honey, wake up,” Warm hands touched my shoulder, shaking me vigorously.

Gasping for air, I jolted upright on the bed. My hand went straight to feel my neck. Familiar faces morphed in front of me. Dad was standing right next to the bed with a worried expression on his face while mom still had her hands gripping my shoulders. Like a wave crashing, I realised that I had been dreaming and Victor wasn’t here.

My mouth felt sandpapery. With my heart beating frantically, I wiped my sweaty face with shaking hands. I could have died from a heart attack in my sleep.

“Karen, are you okay now?” Dad asked, concerned. He patted on my head softly. “Bad dream, kiddo?”

I just sat there, breathless, staring at them before finding my voice to speak. “Yeah, yeah that’s what it was.” I let out a breath of relief, “A very bad dream.”

“You were screaming and wouldn’t stop. You really scared us, hon,” Mom shook her head slowly. She touched my forehead with her palm, probably checking if I had a fever. “What terrified you so much, honey?”

I looked at the closed laptop. The headphones were still attached to it. I must have fallen asleep. Why couldn’t I remember how I fell asleep? I wasn’t even that tired.

“I took them off,” Mom said.

I gave her a confused look.

“You had your headphones on while you were sleeping,” Mom explained.

“Oh, I think I fell asleep to some song,” I shrugged.

I wasn’t convinced by my own statement. Maybe I had actually fallen asleep unnoticeably, because of how the sleepless nights I had spent were finally catching up on me now. Sleep was turning out to be my enemy too; since it was bringing me nightmares. I have had my fair share of bad dreams this month but this one was extremely realistic.

“Your mom told me that you aren’t feeling well these days. Do you need to see a doctor?” Dad asked curiously. “I can fix an appointment tomorrow itself if you want.”

I had already seen it coming but I didn’t want to see a shrink.

“No, I’m fine. It was just a horrible nightmare. That’s all,” I said, looking at the closed window. It was a freaking nightmare. “I just need some sleep, I guess.”

“What was it about?” Dad asked.

“I don’t remember it anymore,” I lied and went on when I saw dad’s doubtful face, “I remembered it until I woke up. And after waking up, it’s really hard to recall what I saw in that dream.  It must have been a green octopus-like monster with long tentacles. You know how scary they are.”

Way to clear the doubts, Karen. You’re doing an excellent job here.

Dad raised his eyebrows, “Are you sure you don’t wanna go to the doctor?”

Biting my tongue lightly to stop myself from rambling, I nodded my head. I didn’t have a great imagination, to begin with. I was surely going to end up in a mental hospital for describing a prompt dream.

“I’m fine, dad.  A night of good sleep will fix it. I’m sure.”

Dad just nodded and lifted up the laptop along with the headphones to place it on the study desk. I sighed and let my head hit the soft pillow. I knew I wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep now because of the most realistic dream I had had.

I watched dad leave the room noiselessly. I knew he was considering the idea of making me go to see the doctor. I didn’t want to see him tensed, so I had to consider it too if he asked again. It wasn’t like I was really hallucinating. And I wasn’t depressed too.

Mom smiled at me when I pulled the covers over me.

“Do you want me to sleep here with you?” She asked.

“Mom, I’m not a little kid.”

“You’re still a little kid for me,”

I smiled back. “I’ll be alright, mom. Go, sleep.”

“Okay,” She said, kissing my forehead. “Goodnight, honey.”

“Goodnight,”

It was going to be a very long night for me.

Surprisingly I slept. Even if it was for an hour or so, I did. Guess my poor mind was too tired to keep itself awake for the remaining night.  This time neither any dream invaded my sleep nor did I wake up with sleep paralysis, looking like a zombie.

Of course, I called Jon to meet me up the next morning. He was the only person I could talk to without making me feel as if I were going insane. I had called him at 7 am, breaking his beauty sleep for which he asked me to apologize. I never did though.

I wore comfy jeans and a black T-shirt and pulled my hair into a simple ponytail. I had to mask the dark circles under my eyes with a layer of makeup. It was 9:23 AM when Jon miscalled me, indicating that he was waiting for me outside my house. Ringing the bell was too old fashioned for us.

I got out of the house, feeling the fresh morning air on my face. Wow, I had missed this.

I narrowed my eyes at Jon who had parked the car in front of the house. He was leaning his back against the passenger door. He lifted his eyes up from his phone and looked at me.

“You’re inconveniently late,” I said, lifting my hands up, “And why did you bring your car? It’s walking distance from your house to mine, for God’s sake.”

“Hey, grumpy cat, how’s your day going?” He mocked. “You look in a mood to kill someone. Should I be cautious?”

I rolled my eyes. “Humor me, Jon.”

“Before you go ninja on me,” Jon slid away from the passenger door, “My girlfriend wants to talk to you.”

I saw Maya White excitedly waving from the seat. Oh, that’s why he had brought his car. He had picked her up before coming here.

They had started dating some months ago after I had returned from the other dimension through the time portal. I used to despise Maya for becoming Jon’s girlfriend because of the huge crush I had on him for years. Until one day, he announced that I was like a small sister to him. And he was right. He was my best friend and he had always been more of a brother to me.

Fairly, I was left heartbroken for days but then I realised that what I felt for him might have been sisterly love and I had mixed it up with romantic love. It was hard to understand our own feelings sometimes when there was a thin line between them.

Like feelings for Victor.

But I was sure as hell that it wasn’t sisterly love. Or any other love.

I hated him.

Maya got out of the car and hugged me. “How are you, Karen?”

“I’m fine,” I hugged her back. See, she wasn’t an evil cheerleader. “Did you two have plans?”

“Of course not,” She pulled away and shook her head. “I was literally dying of boredom at home. There is nothing to do but watch TV. Jon told me that you weren’t feeling well and you needed our company. So, here I am, ready for an adventurous trip or something.”

“I don’t wanna be the third wheel, Maya,” I said.

Her dark blue eyes widened and then she glared at me.

“If you say that again, I’ll unfollow you on i********:,” She said in a serious tone. “I mean it!”

I chuckled. “Oh, no, don’t you dare!”

“Wait, do I even follow you there?” She tossed her blond hair over her shoulder.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I have too many followers. I couldn’t care less.”

Laughing, Maya hit me playfully on my arm.

“Girls, it looks like I’m the third wheel here,” Jon commented.

“We should totally plan a sleepover, Karen.” Maya ignored him on purpose. “Some of the girls in the cheerleading squad are planning it after the graduation party. You can come over if you want.”

“Ah, I will think about it,” I knew I wouldn’t. “So, where are we going?”

“A coffee shop is the best place to have a discussion,” Jon said, opening the door of his car. “Get in, princess. We have a lot to talk about.”

“I agree. I need a cup of coffee so bad,” Maya sighed.

We got into the car and Jon drove to the coffee shop we often frequented. I didn’t mind having a cup of coffee while talking to the only friends I felt safe with. It reminded me of my normality. It kept me aware that I could also be a normal girl who was about to graduate. A girl who could sip her coffee without thinking about a certain crazy vampire.

I wanted to be normal again. I wanted to worry about my grades and college, not about a vampire on a killing spree. I knew I hadn’t gone through as much as Nate or Victor had, but this seemed tiring. All because of the blood I shared with the greatest witch.

“Karen, are you listening?” Jon snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Stop spacing out.”

“Sorry,” I shook the thoughts out of my head. I needed to focus here right now. “What were you saying?”

“When you called me you mentioned a dream that you saw last night,” He replied. “What did you see? Do you remember it? I never remember dreams after waking up.”

“Yeah, I saw a dream about Victor,” I said, looking down at our table. “I don’t think I’ll be able to forget it easily anytime soon.”

“Victor is the other vampire brother, right?” Maya asked. “Isn’t he the one you’re searching for?”

Jon had told her everything. It was good to see that he was keeping transparency in their relationship, but I was worried about her being dragged into this. Not everyone was able to protect themselves when it came to vampires. The images of the dead girl in the woods flashed before my eyes.

“I was sitting on my bed when I noticed the window of my room was open. I walked towards it to close it,” I explained. Jon and Maya were staring at me with their curious faces. “He was right behind me and I didn’t even know. He bit me on my neck. That’s when I woke up screaming my head off.”

Maya reacted, “Whoa!”

“It was just a dream, Karen. Don’t be upset over it,” Jon said comfortingly. “Dreams are only dreams. I mean it doesn’t have anything to do with reality. And we’re here to protect you. Considering you’re a witch, I think you’ll be able to protect yourself better than I can.”

That was the main problem. Even if I was a witch and kind of knew how to use my powers, I was unable to fight Victor. Although, it was a dream; I still hadn’t made any move to hurt him. The position I was in the dream was of a weak person.

“Yup, let’s drop this conversation,” I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t wanna spend my time thinking about some stupid horrifying dream. Can you believe, my parents think I need medical help?”

Jon sighed. He brought his hand on the table to take mine and squeezed it softly. My eyes went straight to look at Maya to see if she was bothered. I didn’t want her to feel left out between two best friends. She wasn’t bothered at all. She kept staring at me sympathetically.

“With whom are you going to the graduation dance?” Jon asked.

I retracted my hand back and smiled widely. It was an effective change of topic.

“I’m going with Mr. Nobody,” I said. “Ever heard of him?”

“Karen, you don’t have to go with Mr. Nobody. He isn’t a very great of a person,” Maya replied, feigning seriousness. “I asked Jon to ask Lukas to go with you. He is better than Mr. Nobody.”

Jon gave her a look, “Lukas Stein? Wasn’t he going with one of your friends from the squad?”

From Jon’s reaction, I could conclude that they hadn’t even brought this up when they were together. I suppressed my smile when I saw Maya glaring up at Jon. They were so cute and perfect. And normal.

“Nah, she isn’t going. She has some other plans after the graduation ceremony with her family. Lukas would love to go with Karen,” Maya took a sip from her coffee before continuing. “What do you think, Karen?”

I had talked to Lukas Stein about four times in my entire school life. He used to be in my chemistry class and boy, was he annoying? He was more annoying than Jon. He had to be the first one to raise his hand to the questions put up in the class. You know those kids who just love to show off. He was over six feet tall and had an athletic figure; the main reason to be in the basketball team with Jon.

I had never seen him make a clean shot in the basket ever.

“I don’t know if I like the idea,” I looked at the coffee on the table. “Can’t I skip the dance?”

“What! No way,” Maya nearly spit her coffee. “What’s wrong with Lukas?”

“What’s not wrong with him?” I asked back.

I looked at Jon for help but he was busy typing on his phone.

“Jon, what are you doing?” I asked quickly.

“I’m setting you up with Stein,” He said, flashing me a toothy smile. “There is no way you’re skipping because we’d skip too. Do you want us to skip? Do you want to live your whole life with this guilt of making us skip the dance?”

“Hey, give me the phone,” I said, glaring at him.

I tilted my head and an unwilling smile escaped my lips. My eyes drifted from Jon to the large coffee shop window. My smile dropped instantly along with my stomach. Panic rushed through me, freezing my whole body. I was sure this time it wasn’t a damn dream or hallucination.

There he stood; with his hands casually in the pockets of his jeans, a smirk playing on his lips, and those grey eyes focused on me. Victor’s hair was a mess, moving in the direction of the wind outside the shop. The challenging smirk never left his face.

I got up quickly, knocking the cup and spilling coffee all over the table, “He is here.”

“Karen,” Maya and Jon’s worried voices rang in my ears.

But I didn’t care. I was already rushing to the shop’s door, not caring for the stares I was getting from the people in the shop. I could still hear Jon calling me after me, following me as I opened the door and stepped out. The cool breeze touched my skin, making me shiver. People were passing by, indulged in their own activities. I turned and looked at the place where I had seen him.

He wasn’t there.

I stood there frozen. Fear gripped at my heart. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? I had seen him there, staring at me. I wasn’t asleep and this wasn’t a dream.

“Karen, what happened?” Jon got out of the shop behind me. “Who is here?”

My head spun. I had positively seen him standing right there. How could he vanish into thin air? I tucked the strand of loose hair behind my ear. I wasn’t crazy or was I?

“Karen, talk to me,” Jon urged.

“He was standing there. I saw him,” I said, confused. “Victor was standing right there,” I screamed, pointing at the spot.

“Karen, look at me. Calm down. He isn’t here,” Jon grabbed me by my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. “We need to go back home. Damn! You’re shivering. Are you cold?”

“I paid the bill,” Maya came out of the shop hurriedly. “What happened?’

“I think she is sick,” Jon said to her. “We need to take her home.”

I pushed him away angrily, “I’m not sick. I know what I saw! He was looking right at me through the window. Do you think I’m insane?”

Shaking his head, Jon looked at me helplessly. I felt too bad for screaming at him but I had no choice. How could he not understand me? He was my best friend, the person I could rely on to trust me when no one else did. If he was giving up on me this easily—

“Karen?”

Our heads whipped towards the voice. It was Nate. His eyebrows were twitched together and he was panting. It seemed like he had come running all the way.

What was he doing here?

He moved swiftly in front of me. Grabbing my hands in his cold hands, he bent down a little. His intense eyes inspected my face as if searching for something. “Are you hurt?” He asked.

“What are you doing here, Nate?” Jon asked immediately.

“I picked up his scent,” Nate said to Jon. “I picked up Victor’s scent. He was here.”