CHAPTER 21
I'll See You in My Dreams
It was relatively early on a Saturday night, if I was back in Bradford, that is. In Bradford, I had friends. Lots of friends. In Eden, I had a boyfriend, his twin sister, and the sycophants who pretended to want to be my friend because of my boyfriend and his twin sister. Jane, Peggie and Annie would still be out. I certainly couldn't talk to Jennie about anything. I needed Joan. She'd help me forget what a wonderful time I'd just had with Michael and the excoriation I was in for when Ty found out.
I needed something hardcore; some Runaways, Joan Jett's teenage girl band. I jammed my earbuds in and began my private head concert with "Fantasies". It was a little slow, but the guitar was heavy and loud and just what I needed. I pounded my fluffy pillow to make a divot for my head and crawled under the covers.
The blaring rock and roll drowned out any warm and fuzzy thoughts I'd had about Michael as I concentrated on the angst-ridden lyrics. Song after song filled my head but sleep eluded me.
I opened my eyes to find myself in Ty's house, sitting all alone on the sofa in the formal living room. What am I doing here? Where's Ty? I sat for a few minutes but no one came around, so I got up and walked through the dining room to the kitchen. No one. I went to the front door to see if my car was in the driveway. I was surprised to see a driveway filled with cars, although mine wasn't among them. Where was everyone? I continued to roam the expansive first floor, only to find room after room empty. When I came upon the library, I ventured in and took a seat in Mr. Gregory's tall leather chair which was tucked neatly behind his large mahogany desk. The shelves on either side of the room reached from floor to ceiling and were stuffed with thousands of books.
After contemplating my situation for a while, I rose from the comfortable leather chair to examine the comprehensive collection. As I ran my fingers over volume after volume, my progress was halted by something that was protruding slightly. It was blue. Using my index finger, I tilted it cautiously toward me to get a better look. Peering over the top, I could see that it contained pages. It was a book. Unlike all the rich, leather-bound editions sitting perfectly on the many shelves, however, this felt like it was made of glass or maybe ceramic. I pulled it out a little more. Upon closer inspection, the cover looked like it could be made of sapphire and it was adorned on the back with a golden Star of David with Hebrew symbols in its center and in four of the six outer triangles. It was magnificent. I removed it and returned to the desk.
Carefully, I opened it, feeling the soft vellum pages, turning each one reverently. It took me a minute or so to realize that I should be reading it from back to front. Flipping to the last - or rather, first - page, I saw the words, "Sefer Raziel HaMalakh" in an Old English font, the Hebrew characters written underneath. Full-color illustrations adorned the left side of every page with what I surmised was the corresponding text on the right. Interspersed with the text were many unfamiliar symbols. I had never seen anything like this.
Totally engrossed in what appeared to be a grimoire, I was slightly startled when, in my peripheral vision, I thought I saw someone pass by the door.
"Hello?" I called out. No one answered. I closed the book and returned it to its place. Once at the door, I looked right, then left. No one. Since I had come from the right, I decided to go left, in search of the person I thought I saw. As I rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, I saw the figure again at the end of yet another hallway. It was a little girl.
"Hey. Wait up," I yelled, but she disappeared again around the corner. I ran down the long hallway and, as I did, it seemed to get longer. The faster I ran, the further away the end seemed to be. Finally winded, I stopped and leaned against the wall to catch my breath.
When I looked up, I was suddenly at the end of the formerly endless hallway - no passage to the right, around which the girl had vanished - with a door now taking the place of what was, just moments ago, empty space. Timidly, I reached for the door knob and turned it slowly. It wasn't locked. I pulled the door open, nervous when I saw the dark staircase. I stood motionless for a moment, trying in vain to peer into the blackness, when I thought I heard faint voices in the distance. Why would Ty leave me upstairs all alone?
I tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to trip in the darkness. When I reached the bottom and I was certain my feet were on the floor, I paused, seeing a pale light up ahead spilling over from another room to the left.
My eyes were adjusting to the minimal light and I could see well enough to make my way past the furniture in this very large room, toward the light in the adjacent space around the bend. As I walked, the voices got louder, only it sounded more like chanting than conversation.
My heart began to beat faster as I neared the light. I gulped hard and moved to the wall, not wanting to be seen just yet, edging ever closer to the clandestine meeting. When I ran out of wall, I stopped, certain whoever was on the other side could hear my heart pounding. Stop being such a big baby! I drew in a breath and forced myself to peek around the corner.
What the heck was this? It was a scene taken directly from one of the illustrations in the grimoire, or at least that's what it looked like. I counted twenty-four people in red robes sitting around an enormous square table on which was etched a Star of David in a circle with unfamiliar ensigns in various places within and without the star. In each corner of the table, a bowl had been hollowed out and it appeared that each one contained an element - earth, in the form of a small pile of red clay; water; air, which looked like a miniature tornado; and fire. Presiding over this assembly were Mr. and Mrs. Gregory, seated in what could only be described as thrones.
Should I stay or should I go? Just as I was deliberating that decision in my head, I felt a hand grab my shoulder and it startled me. I jumped.
"Essie, wake up!" Jennie snarled as she shook me.
"What?" I gulped. "Where..."
"You've been talking in your sleep."
"Oh. Sorry. Was I that loud?" I said groggily, pulling out my earbuds and squinting from the too bright light of the ceiling fan that Jennie must have switched on when she came in the room.
"Not that loud, but I couldn't sleep, so I could hear you. You've been talking for the past half hour or so. What were you dreaming about anyway?"
I shook my head vigorously in an effort to wake up. "I don't remember," I lied. I definitely didn't want to share this with Jennie. I yawned a big yawn. "Sorry for disturbing you. I'll try to keep it down."
"You going back to sleep?"
"I was going to try. You?"
"I wish. I've got a lot on my mind."
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"Like you care."
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."
"You only asked because now you know that I couldn't sleep and I just told you I have a lot on my mind. Otherwise, since my name isn't Ty or Mara, I don't exist."
"Stop being such a drama queen and tell me what's going on." I paused for a second and waited for her to look at me. "Please?"
Her face was puckered in an angry expression. "Fine," she huffed. "I like a boy who doesn't know I exist. Happy?"
"Is it anyone I know?"
"Probably. He sits with your group at lunch."
"It's not my group. It's Ty and Mara's group."
"Whatever."
"Well, what's his name?"
"Jace."
"Jace Robinson?"
"Do you know any other Jace?"
"Just making sure. You don't have to be a jerk about it. Do you want me to introduce you?"
"No! I mean... yeah, but..."
"Don't worry. I won't make it obvious. He usually sits fairly close to me, along with Jackson, Savannah and Colton. When you're ready, just come over and ask me for money or something. I'll take it from there."
She smiled at me for the first time in a long time. "Thanks, Ess."
"Do you think you can sleep now?"
"Doubtful. Now I'll be stressing that I'll trip or say something
stupid."
"You'll be fine," I assured her in my most motherly tone. "Now try to sleep."
She flipped the light switch off and shut the door on her way out of my room. I laid on my back, staring at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep, wondering about the meaning of my latest dream, envisioning Michael as Clark Kent and Ty as Lex Luthor, ruminating on how I came to be caught up in this strange melodrama.