Free Visioness by Lincoln Law Page B

she spoke with strength.
    “Well I went to sleep and I
started to dream.”
    “Naturally,” Adabelle
replied.
    “And then in the middle of
something that I’d consider a good dream—I can’t remember the exact
details—this fog came in. At first, it was only a thin haze, like that on a
cold morning. But then it thickened and deepened, till everything was grey and
foggy. I could smell the cologne, so sickly I almost choked. And then there was
music. The Dreamer’s Lullaby, from memory. It played a handful of notes,
and then I remembered hearing it in my first dream. But the music made me
forget what I was in the dream for…or rather, I forgot I had to actually do something if I wanted to escape. And then this silhouette came out from the
fog, and I recognised it, and I knew it was Count Therron, but I couldn’t act.”
She choked a little here. “I couldn’t run, I couldn’t even move. Before I knew
it, he had me in the chair, and I was tied down.”
    She paused here, closing her
eyes, voice wavering with terror. Tears collected in the corners of her eyes,
though she did not sob.
    “He pulled out a knife. He
told me I had to be quiet, or he’d use it on me. And then…and then he asked me
what you were doing.”
    She fell quiet. Adabelle
waited for Larraine to speak, and for almost a minute, she didn’t.
    “And what did you say?”
Adabelle prompted.
    “Well at first I denied him.
But then he put the knife to my neck and said he’d rip me open if I didn’t.”
The words were jagged, almost cold like steel. It made Adabelle shudder. She
felt the knife at her own throat, biting her skin.
    Such hateful words, Adabelle thought.
    “I’m sorry, Adabelle, but I told
him you were at the University. I didn’t know what else to do.”
    “You can’t lie in the Dream
Frequencies,” replied Adabelle, voice gentle to assure her she understood. Dreams
were the mind talking, and it could not lie. It could withhold certain aspects
and camouflage things, but to outright lie was impossible.
    Adabelle placed a comforting
hand over her shoulder, patting softly. “Then what happened?”
    “He said he’d been observing
you, watching carefully. But he then said he hasn’t been able to see your
sister.”
    Adabelle’s fear that had
come on at the thought of him watching her was suddenly exchanged for a
tremendous amount of relief. As if the boulder she had been rolling up that
momentous precipice had been smashed; she felt suddenly free.
    If I can keep the knowledge
of my sister away from him, then she will be safe.
    “Did he ask you was she
alive?”
    “No, thankfully,” she
replied, “He said he hoped she was still around, considering the deal he made
with your mother.”
    “Deal?”
    “The promise to let your
mother give birth before he killed her.”
    The shiver of fear that had
sprung up her spine suddenly disintegrated at the thought. Her sister could
remain blissfully ignorant for the time, and that was something of a blessing.
    “But then he asked if you
were a Dreamer, and I said yes, and then he asked if you were competent, and I
said yes, and then he asked how competent, and I said extraordinary for someone
without training. Then he asked what you were doing with your life, and I
responded in kind, but then when he asked he to summon up an image of you, I
refused. Apparently, his first attack was meant for you. The Sturding Nhyxes
were meant for you, but since he doesn’t know exactly what you look
like, he can only go off vague guesses based off how you looked when you were
younger. I suppose since we’re related, we have some of the same features. But
I refused, which was when he pulled out the knife again. He asked again, and I
refused, and again, I refused. Each request drew the knife closer, but never
did I let up. And then he finally cut.”
    “I was there,” Adabelle
said. “I heard your screams, and I went into the Dream, and I found you. I
wanted to stop it, but I couldn’t. I’m so, so