Beyond Dreams: Fateful Dreams, #1

By Andreea Pryde

SOME SECRETS SHOULD REMAIN IN THE SHADOWS 

Those who know me will say I'm an ordinary, and a bit naive, 17-year-old. They might think differently if they knew my secret. It's something I've never shared with anyone, and I mean no one.
Every once in a while, since I was eight, I've had a dream. The same one, every time. I dream of a man hidden by shadows, who never fails to save me from the searing flames that threaten to devour me. 
He is always there for me.
Always!
That's the dream…this is now. I have a new classmate, and instinctively I know, something seems strange. In a matter of hours, dark rumors abound, labeling him an outcast. Even before he has the chance to become one of us, my classmates turned against him.
My heart tells me there's more to him than his frown and this specific expression he has. That's what my heart says, but I saw something I shouldn't have. That night, in the park by the willow I saw him covered in blood.
I should keep my distance, but I can't. Something mysterious draws me to him.

He has secrets of his own.

However, one secret could destroy us both.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andreea Pryde
• Release date: Jan 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781788084796

Book preview

Beyond        Dreams

Andreea Pryde

Copyright © Andreea Pryde 2018

Any reproduction, total or partial, of this book, without the written accord of the author, is absolutely forbidden and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-78808-479-6

Contact info:

https://www.andreeapryde.com

https://www.facebook.com/AndreeaPryde

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

When you think about it, life is nothing but a dream...

Just you and me...

Chapter One

HE WAS STANDING IN front of me, watching me, those wild eyes staring right through my soul. The flames behind him grew higher and higher, enveloping the room. The danger was overwhelming, but it didn’t scare me. Slowly, but without precaution, I moved closer to the stranger in front of me. He didn’t wait for a sign before pulling me protectively into his arms. I felt safe in his embrace. I looked up at his face, trying to find a small feature, but I couldn’t see him. Through the fog that was covering him, I could see only the silver tears flowing down his cheeks.

Heart pounding, drenched in sweat, my eyes flew open and I shot upright in the middle of the bed. For a second, I was disoriented by the darkness which surrounded me. A single beam of light from the lantern in front of the house penetrated my sheer bedroom curtains. I tried to breathe slowly in a pointless effort to calm myself down. I checked the time, two o’clock. Of course, it was dark; it was the middle of the night. With a slight move, I turned on the light and stretched idly after the mirror from the nightstand. What a fascinating image reflected on its surface. My cheeks were red, my hair scattered on the pillow, and my eyes wet.

Was it because of the dream?

No.

It was because of the person in my dream.

I touched a finger to my trembling lower lip, and still looking in the mirror, I sighed from the bottom of my heart. Though occasionally, I’ve had this dream since I was a little girl, but the real problem was when I woke up. In that split second of wakefulness, I felt overwhelmed by feelings, which were replaced by a profound and excruciating loneliness.

I grabbed the notebook from under my bed. On the pink, damaged cover, I had written some years ago: Dreams Diary. It was inaccurate to say ‘dreams’ because it was made for only one, always the same. Filled more than half and with wrinkly edges, it didn’t look like much, but it was special to me. I opened it to the last note, and started to write:

September 28th

Three months have passed since our last ‘meeting’, but tonight he appeared once again in my dream.

He was crying. I can’t believe it, but he was crying. The last time I had this dream, I woke up right after I fell into his arms, but this time he was crying.

I can’t wait for the next dream. Every single time something new happens. Maybe next time I will finally be able to see his face.

I can’t help but wonder if he is real.

Is he someone from my life?

Or perhaps he is just the result of a hyperactive imagination.

Maybe I’ll find out at some point, but until then I can just dream.

Silver tears ...

I closed the notebook and I hid it back in my secret pocket under the bed. The last thing I wanted was for my mother to find it. The first time I wrote in it I was around eight years old. That was when I started dreaming. It didn’t happen every night, only from time to time.

Although I always dreamed him in the shade, he grew up at the same time as me. At first, he was just a little boy, close to my age.

Over time, I fell in love with him. I know it sounded absolutely foolish, but it was too late to have regrets. I know that it has affected the way I have lived my life and the choices I have made; I know that this is where all the interest in the opposite sex disappeared, or the cause of my short-term relationships, usually out of boredom.

Lost in my very own labyrinth of thoughts, I soon slipped back into the world of dreams, but this time there was nothing worth remembering.

Chapter Two

ON PALM SUNDAY, THE last day before another crazy school week was set to begin, I walked around the park by myself taking advantage of the good weather while we still had it.

Grateful for the silence around me, I hid in my perfect tiny world; alone in a fleeting utopia. I sat down on one of the old peeled benches by the lakeside to watch the sun setting on the other side, enjoying the pastels of the sunset.

All was nice and peaceful until my attention was distracted by a shadow dancing on the calm surface of the lake. At first, I thought it was a fish. I had seen men fishing here before, so it was only logical to find fish in the lake, but my fish didn’t make itself unseen. He approached the water surface and the shore, becoming bigger.

Perhaps curiosity made me stay put as I pulled my feet up onto the bench. I wanted to run away, but at the same time, I wanted to see. With my eyes widened and almost holding my breath, I couldn’t move or look elsewhere as the shadow changed its shape, swimming towards the shore, slowly becoming human. In less than a second, pulling himself out of the water and collapsing from exhaustion on the grass, appeared a ... boy.

The water flowed from his black hair, cascading down his cheeks, then down his chin, finally touching the ground. I could see that he was hardly breathing, but he was not moving at all. He was just lying on the grass, his feet still in the cold water.

I lowered my feet back to the ground and cautiously leaned in as far as I dared. When he didn’t move, I found myself tilting even closer until my full weight was back on my feet and I was gradually inching towards him. My heart was pounding, and my body was tensed.  I didn’t know what to expect. I sat next to him and stretched out my hand to touch him, but before I was able to feel his wet shirt, he jumped to his feet. I noticed how the last rays of sun perfectly contoured his athletic silhouette. The sunlight hid the color of his eyes, but not the wildness within them. I was captivated. He stared at me as if he could see the deepest corner of my soul. I opened my mouth without knowing what to say. Before I could make the slightest sound, he passed by, ignoring me, walking away casually as if he had not even seen me.

What the heck did just happen? Where did he come from? Was he alright? I wished I had the opportunity to ask him these questions, but I didn’t.

I was astonished, gazing toward the hidden path where he had headed. It was quite clear that he hadn’t gone out for a swim session, not dressed in denim and shirt, although you can never tell how unpredictable some people can be.

Strolling towards the park exit, I tried not to think about what had happened, but it was impossible.

LATER THAT EVENING, on a date with my boyfriend, Adam, and a few other friends, I still couldn’t forget the occurrence of this afternoon.

Ari... Ariana? my best friend tried to catch my attention.

"Wha... What? Stop shaking me, Ella!

Did you listen to anything I said? What’s going on with you?

"Sorry, I was thinking about something else. Maybe I’m just tired. So? What were you talking about?

I asked you if you saw the show last night.

Oh, I forgot. Was it last night? I answered smiling sheepishly.

You are hopeless. I will never give you TV shows recommendations.pretending to be upset, she turned her attention to Adam.. Will you please say something to her, before she falls asleep on her chair?

Let her dream. he replayed short, resuming his conversation with the girls on his left.

Thinking of something else, was a complete understatement. I was on an entirely different planet. Adam didn’t seem too bothered by my behavior and I was lucky it was a group date, so the focus was off me most of the time. I just couldn’t reconnect to the real world. Those piercing eyes remained imprinted on my mind and soul.

I refused Adam when he offered to take me home. Taking my time, I went back into the park. With my shoes dangling in my hand, I strolled by the lakeside, like earlier. I probably looked crazy, but the grass felt so relaxing between my toes. I watched absentminded, the reflection of the full moon dancing on the lake’s surface while my mind traveled to distant places.

The return to reality was sudden, hard and cold - I cut my foot. Fortunately, it was a superficial wound, but it still needed disinfectant and probably a Band-Aid. I should have been more careful.

I looked behind and saw something shimmering in the grass. I bent and picked up a small metal object.

The one at fault!

On closer inspection, I discovered in my hand was a golden harmonica on a little chain, which seemed broken in the pale light of the lanterns, but I couldn’t be sure until I brought it home. In one corner, under a little mud, a message was engraved in beautiful calligraphy:

With love, Mom & Dad

Chapter Three

ANOTHER MORNING, ANOTHER unpleasant day at school.

First class – Universal Literature.  

I really liked the subject, well, most of the time. What I didn’t like was the fact that our teacher, Mrs. Lena, would continually tell us stories about her personal life. I was convinced that I could graduate high school without listening to stories, such as how the dog escaped from his leash and scared two pigeons, or how she potty-trained her son. I felt kind of sorry for him; it was true that the boy, now a grown-up man, graduated the Medical University and became a doctor at one of England’s top hospitals, but even so, I wouldn’t want my mom telling personal stories about me in front of a group of high-schoolers.

I dragged my feet to my next class, trying to avoid the crowd in the main hall with the intention of detouring by the secretary’s office, but, as usual, the universe had other plans for me.

Ariana! Ariana, wait! shouted a squeaky voice behind me.

It was Ella; tall, brown hair, big black eyes, and perfect porcelain skin. A natural beauty, as the world might say, also my best friend.

We’ve known each other since forever, and we always stayed together, for good and bad ... more for bad. We were such a wild duo. The first crazy thing that we did together was painting elderly Miss Serenity’s Persian white cat in a light blue, just to match her personality a bit better. We received cookies from her instead of being ratted to our parents and punished, but maybe we shouldn’t have been so surprised; the woman saw only the full half of the glass.

Oh my God, you’re walking so fast for a hurt person.

Does it look that bad? It’s just a scratch.

Well ... you’re wearing sandals. If you wanted to hide it, you should have worn trainers Anyway, how did it happen? Yesterday, when you left the date, you were fine.

What a good friend I have, always concerned about me.

Does it matter? I answered.

Obviously! If I don’t worry for you then for who?

I stepped on some glass in the garden. Satisfied?

Sorry, but if I tell you I was in the park at night, you will kill me.

Well, I don’t believe you, but let’s leave it like that for the moment. You’re not good at lying.

If you say so. Come on, I don’t want to be late for class, or maybe you want a dose of theory, in raucous eagle-ish, about how dark your future will be if you’re not punctual? I told her, amused.

No thanks. I’m good. I don’t want an overdose.

We both left for Latin class, laughing. We had turned left of the corridor

Reviews for Beyond Dreams

[Nicole Danciu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An elegantly understated paranormal sense of mystery leads the way, just like in real life. The feelings are powerful as first love. You don't want to miss this. Romantic enough to make one swoon, with a hard edge to make one nod in fierce enthusiasm, plunging on hungrily. I didn't stop reading. When it ended, I was surprised by two things. One, what a great, emotional, crazy tale. Two, how it suddenly was evening, not daytime. If anyone tried to contact me I'm sure they gave up. Apologise to your family in advance for ignoring them. It's that intense.