Nightmares - Chapter One (Revision 1)

Prologue

Cassie spun around quickly. He was suddenly in front of her, grasping at her throat. Her feet slowly lifted off the floor as he raised her up. She gasped for air, but found none. Her head felt as if it were swelling as the oxygen cut off. Tears streamed down her face. She fought helplessly, prying at his fingertips. There was no hope. He laughed violently as she shuddered. The room was going dark now and Cassie was at the end of her life when she sat up in her bed, drenched with sweat.
She glanced around the room with wide eyes. Naturally, she reached up to her throat. It felt fine, maybe a little swollen. 'This isn’t my imagination.' Cassie told herself. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. When she opened them, she stared at her reflection in the mirror across the room. A large bruise, the shape of a hand, covered her entire neck. She shivered in fear.

***

Steven walked out the front door and jumped into his car. He slammed the gear into drive and pulled out into the street. He raced up the road towards the high school as he tried to escape the reality he faced at home. There was no way to avoid it.

He swerved in front of an SUV and mashed the accelerator. Quickly, without tapping the brakes, he whipped into the school parking lot and parked in his usual place. Stepping out of the car he retrieved his backpack from the passenger seat. He tossed it over his shoulder casually. 'Okay.' He told himself. 'You’ve got eight hours, make the best of them.'

He paced himself as he headed for the building, when he entered he moved swiftly to his class and sat down beside the prettiest girl he had ever met. She was the reason he bothered with school, as well as the reason why he fought his unnerving reality everyday.

“Good morning.” He said as he made his presence known.
“Oh. Hi.” She responded.
“Are you okay?” He asked. “You seem a little, I don’t know, out of it.”
“No, I’m fine, really.”
He smiled and glanced at her long brown hair, which swayed around her face, then back to her bright green eyes. It was when she blushed and turned away that he noticed the scarf around her neck.
“It’s a little warm for that, don’t you think?” He asked as he reached out for it.
She smiled weakly, but said nothing.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Cassie?” He asked again.
“I’m fine.” She insisted.

Chapter One

Cassie sat down on the edge of her bed. She held her head in her hands as she sobbed and thought about her recent dreams. 'What does he want from me?' She laid back and stared at the ceiling.

“Dad, I wish you were here. I wish you could speak to me somehow. I just wish I knew what was happening and what I’m suppose to do about it. I know mom wants to help, but what can she possibly do?”

She sat up quickly. “That’s it!”

“Mom!” She called as she ran down the stairs. “Mom, I need dad’s old books.”
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
“I just need his books, please.” She brushed past her mother and trotted down to the basement.
The light came on behind her. Her mother was coming.
“I wish you would cut on a light sometimes, not everyone has your supernatural vision.”
“Sorry.” Cassie mumbled as she dug threw the old boxes.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Dads books.”
“Honey, is something wrong?"
Cassie didn't answer.
Her mother reached down and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to her feet. “Why do you need them? If something happened, you need to tell me.”
“Mom, you shouldn’t get involved.”
“I’ve been involved for twenty-five years. I think you should tell me what’s going on and I also think your father would have wanted you to.”
Cassie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It's my dreams." She pulled the scarf from around her neck and revealed the large bruise she had tried to hide earlier that morning.
“Oh.” Her mother gasped. “Wh-what is this?”
“I had this horrible dream last night. I was trapped in this pitch-black room. No matter which way I turned and ran he was there, grabbing at me. Before I woke up, he had me by the throat.
With tears in her eyes, Carol hugged her daughter tightly and whimpered in Cassie's ear, "I should have warned you about this."

She regretfully pulled away from her daughter and walked over to a tall bookcase. She pulled a dusty journal from the top shelf. “This should answer your questions.” Her voice was low, comforting and full of fear.

She smiled weakly at her daughter and started up the stairs and into the living room. Cassie followed slowly. She knew her mother had answers, but from the look on her face, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear them.

They sat on the sofa and her mother looked at the old clock for a moment, as though she was gathering her thoughts as well as her composure. Then turned to her daughter and sighed.

“Your father warned me about this. It’s the reason he didn’t want to have children. Because he knew their fate would be nothing like he thought his was going to be…" She paused for a moment. "He told me that if we ever had children, we wouldn’t be able to take care of them, because he would be the cause of their death.”
She handed the journal to her daughter with a shaky hand. “Read this and it will explain everything.”

Cassie took the book from her mother and ran upstairs. She hated leaving her mother in the state she was in, but she knew the only way she could help her was to make sure that the man in her dreams didn't win. She ran into her room and shut the door behind her. ‘This is it.’ She thought as she looked at the journal in her hands.

She sat down on her window seat and carefully opened the old book. The ink was dark against the white page. She smiled to herself. She was one step closer to freeing herself from her nightmares, and she knew it.

The first page read:

My child

If you are reading this then something has gone wrong. But I have faith that your beautiful mother is still with you on earth. I hope she is and I hope she is well. But there is something you should know.

By now you have realized what you are. My darling, you are not an outsider and you are not a curse. You are a product of love, a product of defying all odds, you are amazing and powerful. You are my child and you are both human and warlock. No matter what any of those Crafters say, you are special and you are a blessing to the world of magic as well as the world of mortals.

But there is something you must know. Though you can live a normal life, you must be careful as you live among the humans. They must not know of your powers and you must be aware of those who are not human. You must avoid all Crafters. Because it is threw them that you will be shown to Arzath. And if you are ever shown to him, he will do everything in his power to destroy you. Arzath is a very powerful warlock; however he lacks the ability to track those that are not full-blooded. He will only be able to find you through the eyes of a Crafter, a full-blood warlock. And once he sees you, my child, he will do everything to get to you.

In the eyes of many Crafters, a warlock of human blood is worthless, a curse to their world. You will be seen as a threat and they will destroy you if you are not careful. So you must do everything possible to stay undiscovered.

In the event that you are discovered, Arzath will come to you, first in you dreams. He will haunt you there while he finds your exact location. From there he will command any and all local Crafters to bring you to him. If they refuse he will ban them from his world and eventually he will end their term of life. If they refuse he will send more after you. It will be very difficult and practically impossible for you to escape his wrath. So you must be extremely careful and avoid all Crafters.

However, I want you to live a normal life. I hope that you are never discovered, but if you ever are, this journal will be a key essential to your possible survival. I have great faith in you. For I know of the power that lies in the hands of a human warlock.

My child, believe me when I say, I would give anything to be with you, especially right now. But I can’t, simply for what I have just told you. My child, if I were with you now, I would be the one who hands you over to Arzath, and that is something I can not live with and certainly something I can not witness. Take care of you mother and know that I will always have an undeniable love for you and her.

Cassie hastily turned the page, only to find it blank. Anger flared deep within her. “How is this supposed to help if the rest is blank?” She said aloud.

Then suddenly words started to form on the page before her.
They read:

As you should see now, this book has been enchanted. I did this because it is important for you to take time to think about what you have read and clearly understand it.

In the meantime, practice your magic.

The words quickly faded. Cassie stared absentmindedly. Her father must have been a wise and powerful warlock. She wondered if she too was as powerful.
She flipped back to the first page.

For I know of the power that lies in the hands of a human warlock.

She placed the journal lightly beside her on the seat and stared out the window as she shuffled threw her thoughts.

‘I’ve been discovered.’ She thought as she watched the trees sway in the wind. ‘Arzath knows I exist and he isn’t happy about it. He will send his servants after me because I’m…different.’ She shook her head. ‘What is this high school?’ She sighed heavily and continued to stare out her bedroom window, thinking about the next page and how she was going to avoid the Crafters that would soon be trying to take her away from her home.

“I wish you were here, dad.” She mumbled.

***

Steven walked threw the front door of his home. He ran quickly up the stairs, his parents were usually occupied with their experiments in the basement at this time. ‘Runaway.’ He thought. ‘No! I can’t. Where would I possibly go?’ He sat down on the edge of his bed and caught sight of his large duffle bag stuffed under the dresser
“They won’t allow it.” He told himself.