Page 1 of Love Lives

Chapter One

The whole world was dark,except for flashes of images that lit up before my eyes. Impressions of people, scenes, places… blood. None of them made sense, neither by themselves nor put together. I tried to memorize the details, but even that was difficult. Everything was just a little blurry, just a little… unfocused.

It had been like this ever since the fire. My dreams had been clearer before then. I couldn’t say if it was the meds messing with my mind or something else, though. Part of me was relieved. Part of me was even more terrified.

How could I prepare for the future if I couldn't see it coming?

Another flash. This time, I caught a better glimpse. Black feathers. Red scales. My brothers. Collin and Luke. They were lying on the ground, clutching their heads.

More blood.

My stomach clenched, but before I could make out anything more, the image was gone again. Another vision took its place. Not just an image this time, either. It was more than that. It was a feeling, really. One that made the hair in the back of my neck stand up and cold sweat break out on my forearms. Vlad stood before me. Staring at me. There was no kindness in his eyes, no empathy.

No indication that he'd ever been human at all.

I woke with a gasp, greeted by the low light of the hospital room.

"You were dreaming."

Turning my head to the side, I glanced at Aldrich and pulled the oxygen mask off my face so I could speak. "It wasn't a dream."

He quirked an eyebrow at me, as if I was a child who was telling him about flying saucers. Whatever. I didn’t have the energy to argue with him.

"I don't care if you believe me or not," I said.

"I didn't say anything."

"You can speak without words." I sat up in my bed as Aldrich handed me a glass of water. He was useful for some things, at least. "Thank you."

"What did you see in your dream?"

I shook my head, wincing at the way the motion caused pain to shoot up the back of my neck. "Nothing important."

"Oh?"

"Don't worry about it." I sipped at my water. If Aldrich didn't believe in premonitions, what was the point in telling him about them?

"Feeling okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said, only half-lying. Sure, my head still hurt a bit, as well as various other parts of my body, but I was pretty okay for someone who'd nearly burned to death a week before.

Everything was relative.

Setting the glass aside, I rubbed at my eyes before focusing my attention on Aldrich again. He looked at me as if trying to judge whether or not to believe my words. He’d suggested I ask the doctor to up my pain medication, but honestly? I enjoyed being able to form clear thoughts. I had no desire to go back to the vegetative state I'd spent my first week at the hospital in.

"You don't look so great yourself," I observed.

He huffed in mock-offense. "Please, I look fantastic."

Actually, he was kind of pale.

"When's the last time you fed?" I asked, because he spent all his time here. Every time I opened my eyes, there he was. It was kind of sweet, really, even though I didn’tneedsomeone to babysit me.

He shrugged. "I don't keep track. There's no app for that, if you can believe it.“

"When's the last time you left the hospital?"

He touched his chest and pretended to look hurt. "You want me to go?"