Secrets Within

**Dez**

Dezmond woke in a cold sweat. The ache in his heart was worse than ever before. It had been growing more intense over the past few weeks. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He didn’t bother looking in the mirror, he knew what he would see. His face would be white and his eyes haunted with the need to find answers. Dezmondneeded to know why he was being tormented in his dreams. He was never supposed to dream again.

“I can’t take this anymore!” Said Dezmond gloomily.

**Ruby**

Ruby couldn’t focus in class, another night of tossing and turning. Seeing the flames consuming the house. Hearing the screams as her family slowly died, knowing there was nothing she could do. It had been three years since the incident. The day she lost her family in the fire. She was the only one that wasn’t in the house. And she relived that horror in her dreams every night. Though recently her nightmares felt different. More like a warning than a memory. 

Rough night? Whispered Haven. Haven had been friends with Ruby since they were kids. “Yeah. They started happening again.” Ruby whispered back. They never really stopped. “Have you talked to anyone about it? Ruby, you can’t keep it a secret forever.” This is the same discussion they have had many times. “Please stop, I don’t want to talk about this right now.” The bell rang dismissing class. " Can you come over later? I don’t wanna be home alone tonight. I just have a bad feeling.” Ruby was embarrassed to admit that she was really scared being home alone. “Of course!” **Dez**

“Dez, why didn’t you say something sooner?” Viktor said. “We do not dream.” He looked away lost in though momentarily. “Unless it wasn’t really a dream.” “What do you mean?” Dez asked perplexed. After all he was told he would never dream again after his new life began. He hadn’t dreamt in nearly five hundred years. About two and a half year’s ago he heard screaming and smelt smoke while “sleeping.” That’s also when he first seen her. A young woman sobbing. It felt as if her very sole was weeping. The intensity of her sadness shook him. Even in his human years he had never felt an emotion with such depth. He was drawn to her, there was a need to comfort her. He couldn’t stand the crushing waves of pain coming from her. She was curled into a ball on the ground and trembling. As he got closer to her, the more he felt her pain and the more intense the urge to comfort and protect her became. He was right next to her now but she didn’t seem to notice. Dez was struggling to make his presence known, he couldn’t find the right words. Then just as quickly as she appeared to him, she vanished and everything went dark again. He shot straight up and grasped at his chest. He could still feel her emotions and her pain. It was like a burning sword had been left in my heart. I could still feel the physical pain from her sadness. 

“It could be your mate calling you to her. Does it feel as if you are being pulled somewhere?” I can see Victor thinking and deciding which questions need to be asked. “What can you tell me about her? Any detail could be important, no matter how minuscule you think it is. Have you been able to converse with her during your dreams?” I look at Viktor while I decide how honest I want to be with him. He can always sense when I am lying to him but I don’t know if I should disclose everything. “I have wanted to speak to her but she is so sad and sobbing. Sometimes she seems to be reliving a memory or replaying it as if looking for clues. I haven’t been able to make my presence known to her yet. And I didn’t know she could be my mate, so I didn’t even think to try to get her attention.” Viktor had started pacing. “And are you suggesting that she will be able to communicate with me? Are we in a shared dream or something like that? Am I in her mind or is she in mine?” I don’t know how I feel about being in her head. “What should I try to find out?” Viktor stopped and gave me a pointed look. “Well the most important question would be, what is she? This type of connection is a very rare gift. Even more so if you can communicate directly. There are prophecies about such things. I must go to the archives and research this. In the meantime, learn what you can about her. What she is and where she is. Her name, anything could help. I also order you to not speak of this to anyone.” A direct order, he hasn’t commanded me like that in ages. This must be a sensitive matter. “Why do I need to keep this so secretive?” I feel a little rebellious all of a sudden. But commands from Viktor must be followed, I have no choice in the matter. “There are certain occurrences that we stopped teaching to our children after the Hybrid Wars. We were brought to the edge of extinction. That is what started the Great Rebirth, shortly before I found you. We had to find suitable heirs for our clans. The elders gave us free choice in who we could turn then.” My jaw dropped, I had never heard him speak so candidly about the wars and the aftermath of them. “The elders gave us strict order to pass down all the horrible things we had to endure back then. I must go now.” Viktor barely said farewell. 

Confusion. That is mostly what I felt in that moment. Millions of questions but no answers. I had just learned more about The Hybrid Wars than I had in the five hundred years id been with Viktor. He has been like a father to me since I was reborn. 

**Ruby**

I always feel like I’m being watched. The sun is still out and bright but I can feel eyes on me. I can never find the source. I am thankful that this feeling isn’t as intense inside my home. I haven’t been able to relax and the emptiness of my house is suffocating. I have isolated myself from most people. I don’t really feel like I fit in anywhere. Haven is the only person I can open up with. A part of me thinks that it’s because I knew her before the fire and she was there for me when the other kids in elementary school avoided me. I used to wonder why she was always so nice to me. After the fire I lived in a motel for about a year. I was almost 18 when the fire happened so a judge approved an emergency emancipation. My parents left me everything, all there assets and I was the beneficiary on their life insurance policies. I can live comfortably and never have to work, but I hate spending any of their money. It doesn’t feel right. I only spend what I absolutely have to. I bought this house and sold the land my family home was on. I can’t bare to live on that land. And I bought a good car to get me to school and work. A car door shutting brings me back to present times. Haven walks in and she brought a pizza, my favorite. after the movie was over I decided to go to bed. 

**Viktor**

I have been in our ancient city for two days. Feigning academic research. The elder can’t know about Dez and his possible mate. I am hopeful that he has found his mate, that poor boy has never had anyone. Even as a young human he had no one. His mother, a whore in a local brothel. His father unknown. He was left on the doorstep of the orphanage as an infant. He discovered who his mother was when he was thirteen. “Viktor, my dear friend.” Ozias beamed at him. Ozias is much older than me. By thousands of years. He’s a master at reading people. I must tread carefully. “I would like to do some research. I’m interested in prophecies and how they have come to be and how accurate they were.” Ozias was studying me. I could feel his skepticism. “Why the sudden interest?” He suspects something. “I feel like enough time has passed for it to be appropriate for me to start my research.” I feel him relax slightly.

**Dez**

A storm was brewing. They sky darkened and the wind grew colder. I was watching the storm from my window. The stronger the storm got, the more tired I became. It was as though my energy was being sucked out of me. Darkness overwhelmed me.

Screaming in the distance woke me up. I was in a dense, dark forest. I started to follow the screams. As they grew louder so did the feeling of being watched. Smoke was filling the air around me. I could smile burning wood and something else. The screaming had stopped, now I could hear crying. There’s a house on fire surrounded my police and firemen. I didn’t dare get closer. I watched the firemen try to put out the fire. The fire was winning. Then a scream like I’ve never heard. There she was, I can feel it. She is mine! She was yelling at a fireman. I can’t hear what she’s saying. I started moving closer, when suddenly everything was gone. I was back in my home. This was the most real one of these dreams has ever felt. I could smell the fire and feel the wind in my hair.