A Dream Come True Ch 02 4

Marie awoke slowly Monday morning, thankful that the dreams had at least not come again that weekend. She was a natural artist and usually spent her weekends dabbling in various mediums but her heart was too troubled to succeed at any attempt she made. Every painting, drawing, and sculpture held some element of the dreams that plagued her and only served to disturb her further. Monday held a small mercy for her however, as it held a normal routine of teaching students at the local college.

Marie chose to drive manually to the building today in an attempt to keep her mind busy. It worked somewhat, with flickers from the dream interrupting only a few times. She made it to the classroom a little over five minutes before class started and started to arrange things for the day.

She started a bit as Rebecca stuttered nervously behind her. "Are you ok, Miss Dower?"

Marie turned around and sighed. "Rebecca, you scared me. I am fine, why do you ask?"

Rebecca tilted her head to the side and studied her. "You're tense, ma'am."

Marie attempted to smile reassuringly at her. "I am just tired, I assure you. Please, take your seat, Rebecca."

Rebecca obeyed but continued to watch her anxiously.

Marie turned and finished writing the assignment on the board as the rest of the class filed in. The bell rang and she finally turned to face the class.

"Welcome, everyone. This class is about those of you who have been gifted with extraordinary powers. As you all know, you all are classified as Gifted Children. Every morph has at least one small gift but some have a gift with considerable power," she paused and smiled at Rebecca. "Some of you may be concerned that a normal morph is going to teach you but I assure you that I am Gifted just as you are. Would anyone care to try and guess my Gift?"

A grey wolf morph raised his hand and she nodded to him. "Well, Miss Dower... is it psychic?"

Marie chuckled. "No. Any other guesses?"

A few others offered various guesses. A female fox morph guessed fire; a male panda morph guessed invisibility. Her eyes wandered to a pale snow leopard with her hand raised.

"Yes, Lycia?" She asked with a small smile.

"Contrary to others beliefs on a cat's aversion to water, my own Gift is predominantly of ice. I would guess that yours is water," the girl chuckled softly.

Marie smiled warmly at her. "Correct, Lycia. My power is over water."

A young wolf morph grinned. "Can we see?" He asked eagerly.

Marie nodded and shifted her gaze to a bottle of water sitting on her desk. Within seconds the bottle burst and the water swirled into the air to form a small ball of liquid. She started a bit as the outside of the ball froze and suddenly shattered.

She frowned at the group of kids and noticed Lycia and a younger female looking guilty. "I see two of you have already practiced with your Gifts prior to this class."

"Sorry, Miss Dower," the younger female snow leopard murmured. "Me and my sister were just curious..."

Marie sighed. "You are not in trouble. Just ask next time." She turned to the board and motioned to the box of supplies in the front of the room. "I want you all to form groups and build one of the objects I have drawn on the board. The boxes hold objects of different materials for you to use. You have thirty minutes. Begin."

****

The classes continued in a similar manner all day until 4 p.m. when the bell rang to let out the classes. Marie left unwillingly, knowing in a strange way that the nightmare would return that night. She decided that she would not immediately return home from class as she usually did. Instead, she drove her car to one of the few night clubs in town. She had not been to one since she was 17....almost 6 years ago.

She sighed as she entered and sat down at the bar. In her misery, she wished that alcohol had not been banned in the 2030s. Since then, scientists had made a safe alternative with similar mental effects. It was like being drunk without a hangover the next morning. Having little interest in science, she only knew that it mimicked alcohol and was a stimulant rather than the depressant alcohol was.

She sighed and turned to the bartender. "Can I get an Alabaster Snake?"

The bartender rolled his eyes. "You here to drown your sorrows, miss, or have fun? Few order a drink that strong."

Growling softly in annoyance, she glared at him. "Fine, a Pink Flamingo. Now leave me alone."

Chuckling softly, he left to make her drink. She huffed in agitation and turned to glare at the bright colored beams of light crisscrossing the dark room. Occasionally, a pair of male eyes wandered to her lithe form but they quickly looked away when they saw her pissed off expression.

"God...." She groaned inwardly. How she wished the guy in the dreams was real. It was killing her to suffer through these nightmares, wishing so much that they were real. They never were and it absolutely broke her heart.

She took the drink when it was sat down and drank it swiftly. Without looking at the bartender, she muttered a request for another. Thankfully, he obeyed without a word. He must have sensed her misery...

Three drinks later, she was tipsy and beginning to relax. She didn't even jump when a male approached her from behind and touched her shoulder.

"Hey there, gorgeous," a smooth male voice chuckled into her ear. "You wanna have some fun with me and my friend?"

"Not interested in that shit," she slurred slightly.

"What about just me?" He asked, not daunted at all by her negative answer.

"What, do you ask every girl that walks in here to fuck? Sick bastard," she grumbled.

He snorted. "Stupid bitch. You're missing out."

"On a three inch dick that nobody wants," she muttered and turned away.

She sighed and rested her chin on her hands. Her buzz was gone now thanks to that jerk. Might as well pay up and go back home....

She waved the bartender over and handed him a note for twenty credits. He started to hand her the change but she shook her head. "You keep it."

She swiftly left, leaving the bartender with a considerable tip and a confused expression. She got in her car and set her destination for home before leaning back in the seat. The trip would take at least twenty minutes. Maybe she could doze a bit on the way...

****

Marie snapped awake at a loud knock on her car door. She sat up quickly and rolled down the window. Outside, a bear morph in a police uniform studied her anxiously.

"You ok, miss?" He asked in a rough, growl-like voice.

"Yes, sir," she answered anxiously. "I must have dozed off and not awoke once the car reached home."

"Very well, miss. But it is late out. You should get inside where it is safe and sound." She nodded quickly and he returned to his patrol car. She rushed inside with her purse and went straight to bed.

****

Marie groaned softly as hot breath blew against her neck.

"My lovely Marie," her nightly visitor sighed huskily into her ear. "How I love you so."

She bit her lip and fought back the tears as his hands stroked her back. She couldn't take this anymore...

"God..." she whimpered, the sound unmistakably of pain.

She felt him tense behind her. He made her face him but she kept her eyes shut. She couldn't stand to not see him again. She felt his firm, strong hands stroke her face, wiping away her tears.

"Why do you not look at me, my love? Have I upset you in some way?" He asked gently.

"I can't..." She whimpered brokenly.

He made a soft sound of pain and kissed her gently. "Please, my love. I cannot stand to see you in such pain."

She tried to resist but she failed utterly. His pain broke her heart. Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped, "Oh..."

The man above her was exquisite... a spotted panther morph with dark evergreen eyes and long sandy hair that hung down to his shoulder. She gasped again, her small hand shyly reaching out to cup his cheek. He looked so tenderly at her, like he would jump off a cliff had she but said the word.

He pulled her close to his chest and held her as she sobbed. "My god..." she gasped in great shuddering gulps of air. "You're real. You have to be."

****

Ash woke up with a start. He had been dream walking with his mate for more than a year, but tonight had brought a strange realization to him. He had never stopped to wonder what the effects of his dream walks would do to his mate... She must have been out of her mind with misery...

He slipped out of bed and wandered down to the kitchen for a glass of herbal tea. Its soothing scent filled the room and eased his tension a little. He felt like shit for making her suffer so...

"Marie Dower..." he sighed. He would have never had been able to access his mate's dreams had his mother not been a seer. On his eighteenth birthday, she had given him a card with a single name written in it and the message, "Go. Find your mate."

He had been ecstatic and had rushed to try and find her dreams that very night. It took a few nights but he had finally succeeded. She had responded so warmly to him; now that he stopped and thought about it, she had probably assumed that it was just a dream. Every dream was filled with passionate touches and slow exploration of each other, ending with him waking up as she climaxed. He absolutely loved seeing her break apart... Perhaps he should have introduced himself before it had progressed this far.

He closed his eyes and searched out her dreams once again. He found them after a few minutes and was surprised at what he found. She sat at the foot of a tree with her legs curled up touching her chest. She looked out at the nearby beach with a tortured expression, like she was about to cry.

He approached her slowly, making sure not to startle her. "Marie... I should have told you a long time ago."

She didn't respond. She just turned to look at him with a vulnerable expression.

He paused and looked away guiltily. "I am so sorry... I must have really made you think you were mad or something."

She sighed softly. "Yes."

He looked down into her troubled blue eyes and knelt beside her. "I'm so sorry, Marie. I am a dreamwalker... my mother forsaw you as my mate..." He paused and looked at the ground. "I was so excited to spend that little time with you that I never stopped to think how you might take it. How it might upset you."

She kissed him hard, surprising him. Hot tears dripped onto his chest and he pulled back. Tears stained her face and her eyes were a bright blue. "I'm so happy... So happy that you are real," she sighed. "Please...can I have your name?"

"Yes, my love. My name is Ashton Michaels," he replied softly as he pulled her close. "I love you so much."

She looked down and he could see her skin flush red under her thin fur. "Please... I must find you. I work at Northwood University until four tomorrow. Please?"

He smiled and kissed her. "I will find you."