Free Old Souls by P.A. Lupton Page B

evaporated.

Chapter 7
    Nightmares
    Along with the good dreams about Mark that began when I started my new job, I’d also been plagued by nightmares that had become increasingly more frightening. Well, it was only one nightmare really, a recurring nightmare. And it was back, different though…worse somehow. It almost felt like my subconscious was trying to tell me something.
    Lucid dreaming, I think that’s what they call it, when you’re sleeping but you know you’re dreaming. The moment I saw that terrifyingly familiar face staring down at me, I knew I was dreaming again. Still, knowing it wasn’t real didn’t stop the physical reaction that followed. My heart thundered in my ears, my breathing became labored, and adrenaline suddenly poured through my body, leaving a nauseous feeling deep in the pit of my stomach.
    Why was it always him?
    His eyes shone black and utterly flat, unfettered by emotion. Cold and ruthless, his cruel gaze held mine and conveyed one simple, unarguable message: You are going to die .
    Screaming would’ve been a great idea, but no sound ever escaped my mouth when I tried. Hard to make noise with a hand crushing your larynx. Uselessly, I clawed and scratched, trying to free myself from the vice-like grip. I was still breathing, barely, but that wasn’t what had me so terrified. No, the chill settling deep into my bones was something else entirely. It was fear. Fear from the knowledge of what his hand around my neck was doing to me. I had never recognized it the previous times when I’d had the nightmare, but I had never experienced that feeling before. Now I had, once with Colin and the second time with the woman in the hospice. It was only twice but still, I knew what was happening. He was killing me, draining the life from me.
    Blood dripped from where I’d broken his skin with my nails, but his focus remained fixed.  The pressure he exerted never relented. And though his strength remained constant, I sensed mine waning.
    “Alyssa!”
    Mark? I couldn’t see him, but just hearing him call my name offered a small measure of comfort—even if his voice was as panicked as I felt. Closing my eyes, I reached out to him with that part of me that could always sense when he was near. Relief filled me when I felt his unmistakable vibration. Knowing he was close helped hold the fear at bay. I wanted to call out to him for help but couldn’t gather enough energy. Then, all of a sudden, I heard his voice again. This time echoing loudly, screaming inside my head.
    Alyssa, wake up!
    My eyes snapped open and my body jerked awake, only to be plunged into a living nightmare. It took a few seconds for my vision to focus and the confusion to pass. When it did, I found myself staring into the same ruthless black gaze I’d been looking at only seconds before, but this time it wasn’t a dream. This time, it was real. Fingers dug painfully into my skin, accompanied by a tingling where he was stealing the life from me.
    Shit.
    “Let her go!” The sound of Mark’s voice, so insistent and furious startled me. I stopped my frantic struggling as I tried to make sense of what I felt. It was emotion, but not my own. Mark’s anger and fear rolled over me like a tidal wave. I couldn’t see him, but I felt his rage as if it were my own. How could I feel what he was feeling? It didn’t really matter, the anger helped push back my fear.
    “She has to die. She upsets the balance.” The man answered. His tone, so matter of fact and utterly devoid of feeling, sent a shiver up my spine—and not a good shiver.
    “No.” Mark grunted. “ She …doesn’t”
    Something built in the air, a pressure or tension that continued to grow and grow until it felt like something was going to snap. It felt like a balloon. The rubber tightens and stretches to full, but the air continues filling it and you know at any second it will burst. It wasn’t long until the pressure in the air shattered, and when it did the building