Enigma (15 page)

“Let’s start with the note you found. You saw the person who put it there?” When he spoke, I knew he had heard every word that I had been thinking, even though I never said it aloud. This should have scared me and made me get as far away as I could, but instead, it felt intriguing.

“Yeah, he was hiding in the bushes. I must have walked outside right after he’d planted the note.”

“You have no idea who it could be or what they want?”

“Not the slightest clue,” I answered as I tried to think of anyone who could possibly be upset with me while at the same time failing attempts at making sense of how Avan could detect the thoughts in my mind.

“What did the note say?”

“It said, ‘They know what you are,’” I said with a shudder.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Avan said. A serious look came across his face. “What’s all this about Lena and Ian? I mean, I know he’s giving you trouble. I can tell it’s on your mind, but tell me about the specifics.”

I went into a rant about all the things Ian had done in the past two weeks, being as detailed as possible. I told Avan about how I felt Lena was taking away my choice in the matter and pressuring me to put myself in a harmful situation. I broke down about how I never felt like I had any say when it came to making decisions for my life. I also expressed her expectation of me to be another version of her.

I admitted to him that I was sick of living like this, wishing there was another option, and how I did not understand how everything had completely turned to crap three years ago, leading up to all this. I had just admitted to feeling as though I was just a target waiting for the second I would be erased from existence just like my parents when he took my hands in his, looking me in the eyes as I stopped talking.

“Mattie, I will never let anything happen to you. You are too important. I couldn’t exist if anything were to happen to you,” Avan said calmly as he was still looking into my eyes.

There was something about the way he said it that caught my attention. It was as if it had almost hurt him to imagine something ever happening to me. He said it in a way that let me know it made him nearly break down. It was clear he was being nothing less than completely honest with the words he used.

“So I guess you kinda like me, huh?” Where I found the courage to say it I would never know, but he looked up, making eye contact with me, and I could have sworn he was going to jump out of his chair and hug me but found the willpower to contain himself.

“Like is the understatement of the year.”

“Then how would you describe it?” I could tell my voice was not as confident as I meant for it to be.

“Mattie, the truth is that I’ve been in love with you from the moment I saw you six months ago.”

As he said it, I felt a heavy wind whip up around us, and I grabbed onto the chair. Suddenly, Avan’s arms were around me as he pulled mine up, positioning them around his neck. His arms slid around my waist, supporting me, and in the next second, I could no longer feel the chair or floor beneath my feet. All around me things had turned into what looked like night.

The wind died down, and I noticed I was still in Avan’s arms on the roof of a building so high in the sky it felt if I lifted my arm, it might poke a hole into the floor of heaven. The stars were bright and beautiful, and even though I knew I should be scared, I was secure. Something about being so high up, feeling I was close to Heaven itself felt warm and comforting deep inside my soul.

“How did you do that?” Avan’s voice was slow and steady.

“I did that?”

“Yes, how long have you been able to do it?”

“This was a first,” I answered now wondering how I could have caused a small tornado to occur, landing us on top of a building at night.

“Okay, well this is a cool spot, but what made you decide you didn’t want to be at Spirits anymore? If you wanted to go somewhere and talk alone we could’ve gone for a drive.”

Whatever Avan was talking about, I had no idea what I had done much, less anything else that had to do with this situation. Besides, we had been the only two people in Spirits, so why would he ask if I had wanted to talk to him alone? Everything in my life seemed to be getting more complicated by the second and it seemed as though I was the secret to it all! What was it that I didn’t know? With that I came to the logical conclusion that every part of this day was a dream and in actuality I had not woken up yet.

“Where are we?” I looked around afraid to let go of him.

“I’m not sure how to explain this, but I’ll try. Basically, when we leave here you’ll wake up at home in your bed and it will be Sunday morning again. I can’t tell you why or how I know this right now, so you’re going to have to just go with it. Right now we are inside your dreams. This won’t be possible all the time and you can’t use it to get out of things—so you’re going to have to get used to actually talking to me.” He laughed as he continued, “The cool thing is that anything you say to me here I will remember tomorrow and so will you. Your day will go just like you remembered it going already, up to the point where you show up at Spirits.”

“You said you are in love with me.” The words came falling off my tongue even though they were completely off subject.

“Yes, I am.” He looked in my eyes as he told me again.

“How do you know?” I had never had anyone say those words to me. We were still in high school. How could he know he was in love with me?

“I was designed to do nothing more than protect you and to love you forever. I can’t tell you any more than that. That is, until you figure out some things on your own about what you are.” His answer was so matter of fact it left me knowing two things. One, that he was telling the truth and two, that I was not going to get any further explanation.

“What am I supposed to do? What am I? How am I supposed to find these answers?”

“All I can do is point you in the right direction and help you put the pieces together.” I could tell it was killing him not being able to say anything else.

“Okay, what direction is that?” I asked, frustrated at the situation.

“I can give you a name, but I have to warn you that she isn’t always available.”

“Okay, what’s the name?”

“Natasha.”

“Natasha? As in the lady with the long, red, curly hair who works at the mall?”

“She was working at the mall?” Avan had a confused look on his face that told me he also found this information very entertaining.

“Yes, at the mall, in the store that sells angels cut from crystal.”

“Wow, she gets more creative all the time!” He chuckled.

“Is there something funny about this, Avan?”

“No, and yes, that would be Natasha, and the crystal angel explains how you were able to get us here. Did you tell her you knew me or something?”

“No, she said she was friends with my parents and that my mom wanted me to have the angel. Obviously she has not been informed that my parents are dead!” I could not help but yell.

“Okay, okay, calm down. Look, give this a few days to let all this settle into your mind, and Natasha will show up again when she needs to. She obviously wanted you to talk to the person who was sent for you but didn’t know who you belonged to. No, I’m not saying you’re my property. It isn’t like that, so take a deep breath. If she had known it was me you would be talking to, I could have saved her a lot of time and energy with the whole dream angel thing, though.”

Avan reached up to remove a hair that was lying across my cheek as his voice brought me closer to feeling normal again.

“So that’s why I’d slept better than usual. A dream angel protects your dreams, I’m guessing?”

“Yes, dream angels are designed to protect you from darkness that can enter your dreams and harass you. However, they can also let you create a dream if your emotions are heightened and the circumstances are right, but like I said before, it isn’t something you should become accustomed to relying on.”

“Okay, well I guess I’ll start trying to find out what I am then.” I guessed that was my only option.

“The good thing is I can help you find the answers. I just can’t tell you myself,” Avan said, trying to make me feel better. Unfortunately, I was still as lost as I had been all along.

“So I guess I’ll be seeing you shortly after I wake up then, huh?”

“It looks like it,” he added with a smile.

“Well then, I guess since I’m a wuss, I will do what I should have done for the first time in my dream, that way when it comes around again in a little while it won’t seem so awkward.”

Reaching up, I pulled his face to mine until our lips met; it felt as though fireworks were exploding!

Leaning forward, I whispered into his ear, “I am so in love with you!” His skin felt like velvet against my fingertips, smooth and so soft I never wanted to let go. I had never been able to feel anything as I felt Avan at this very moment. It was as if every nerve ending had been awakened at once as my sense of touch heightened beyond imagination.

My emotions exploded inside of me as I could have sworn he had a pair of beautiful white wings that spanned at least ten to twelve feet across stretching out from behind him when I opened my eyes. He smiled at me with his perfect smile showing his dimple and touching my cheek as he looked down into my eyes before everything went dark.

CHAPTER 7

When I woke up, everything went just as Avan said it would. From the way I looked in the mirror discovering how different I looked today to how Lorenzo had reacted. I was in the car on the way to Spirits, thinking about the dream and still not sure how I had taken us back in time to Saturday night and planted us in my dream. The drive was exactly the way it had been the first time I had driven it previously and felt like déjà vu doing it the second time around.

I made it downtown, driving around the fountain of love, and pulling into the same spot I parked in earlier. Before going inside, I unzipped my bag and pulled the note out and stuck it into my wallet. I leaned over and unlocked my glove compartment, taking out the other two notes and sticking them with the one I received last night. For a minute or two, I sat in the car staring at the door, wondering how different it would be seeing Avan after the dream I created.

I was nervous and excited all at the same time, knowing we had both been honest and told each other how we really felt. I just hoped he really did remember everything from my dream. Even more confusing was the sight of the set of beautiful white wings that words could not begin to describe. I could say so many things about how he looked so majestic and breathtaking, but any words I could come up with could never do him enough justice. Taking a deep breath, I got out of the car, locked the doors and headed for the door to Spirits.

When I walked in, the aroma of fresh espresso and coffee beans greeted me once again. I slid into the oversized, brown leather chair after taking Avan’s jacket off, laid it over the arm, grabbed the menu from the coffee table, and looked over the items when I smelled Avan’s cologne. I looked up, placing the menu back on the coffee table, to find Avan standing right beside me, looking down into my eyes. He knelt beside my chair holding a large, peppermint mocha topped with whipped cream and sprinkles in one hand and napkins in the other. Taking the cup and napkins out of his hands and placing them on the coffee table, I leaned into him as I felt the explosion of fireworks again, and an overwhelming feeling of intimacy overtook my senses. I had never felt so close to anyone before in my entire life. His lips felt hot on mine, and I could not believe this moment was actually happening to me. The blood in my veins felt heated, but this time it was from deep emotions rather than anger. I never knew I was capable of feeling this way for someone.

What was truly magical was that Avan’s feelings for me were evident through the touch of his lips on mine. I was unsure how he had been able to communicate them through touch, but it was happening. The feeling of his true love for me, purer and more innocent than any love in the world as I had ever known; it was so strong I could feel a tear drop from the corner of my eye and roll down my cheek.

I’d never known anything to be so beautiful in my entire life. As our lips parted, my eyes remained closed as he wiped the tear from my cheek. I did not want to open my eyes and be back in the world that had so many questions and concerns that I could not understand. I went against what I wanted and opened them to see Avan still knelt in the same position, looking at me as if he needed me to tell him I was okay and still alive.

“So you remembered my order,” I stated the obvious.

“Of course I did!”

“I still mean what I told you before I woke up.” I knew I was taking a chance saying it but I had to.

“I know. I could feel it the same way you could from me.”

“Really?”

“True love can always be felt. It’s a force that can never be conquered and can withstand anything. In time as it grows we will be able to tell how each other are feeling, pinpoint the location of one another, and even communicate without talking.”

“There’s something special about you, isn’t there?” I already knew there was, but I wanted to know what it was.

“The one thing that makes me special is you.” He had not given the answer I was looking for, but it was sweet anyway so let it slide.

Bradley and a few other guys who worked there came in through the back door and came to pile up in the same sitting area we were hanging around in as they piled onto the chairs and loveseat, casually sprawling out.

“Avan, dude! What’s goin’ on, man?” Bradley said as he leaned over playfully pushing Avan in hopes of knocking him over into the floor.

“Not a lot. It’s been pretty quiet in here so far. Mattie, you already know Bradley, but this is Alex, Declan, Trev, and Dorian.” He pointed to each one as he said their name.

I nodded to each one, not really knowing what else to say.

“So we finally get to meet the girl who beat up Brad? This just made my day!” Trev said jokingly as the others laughed mocking Bradley.

“Where’s everybody else?” Alex asked, looking around at the empty place of business.