The Dark Duet by Kasonndra Leigh

because he has awakened me, and nothing boils my blood more than someone who intrudes on my mood boosting rest. Besides, my scalp is still sore from his alpha male display earlier. Nevertheless, he has set something inside of me on fire, and I can’t get the way he made me feel earlier tonight out of my mind.
    N: I will deter you no longer.
    Me: Fine. See you in a little bit.
    N: Goodnight, sleeping beauty.
    Me: G’night, Sir Belikov (not master)
    N: You wish, little dove.
    Me: Ditto!!!!
    Then the phone goes silent; no more texts light up my screen. I find myself literally cradling my cell phone, getting lost in the vision of golden hair falling loose around a set of broad, well-toned shoulders. Not to mention the memory of s tattoo ... a royal blue phoenix rising out of an ocean, creating tidal waves in its ascension as it does so, a design inked into the left side of a broad, firm chest—a kick ass tattoo unlike any other I’ve ever seen. Eventually, I drift into yet another one of my dreams.
    This time I’m sitting inside a living room in a strange house with a man. He’s tall and wears a gray T-shirt that emphasizes his blue eyes, wavy black hair, and well-toned body. And God that smile of his. He’s laughing, and the warmth of his grin reaches all the way into my soul, the sincerity in his eyes warming and calming me.
    Who is he? Why is he in my dream?
    He stands and stalks toward me, this enigma without a voice. However, as soon as he starts walking toward me, the dream changes.
    I’m nine years old again and standing inside of the funeral home, waiting at the door as they haul my parents away in caskets. Desperation slams into me as I realize what this moment means. I break free from my grandparents and run out of the funeral home, ignoring the voices calling out to me. Something, or maybe someone, I saw back there has set me on edge. I run down the street between either sides of the graveyard until my legs start burning.
    I have to get away. I must escape. My throat’s closing up on me and the scenery around me has blurred into one big picture of nothing. Someone grabs me from behind, hurting me, but every single time I turn around, he or she is gone. I wake up screaming, my body drenched in sweat.
    My mind shuts down, becomes a vegetable, and I remember nothing more about my life after that point until I wake up in Burkenstein’s hospital, a place that specializes in the treatment of nutty people like me, or at least, that’s what I’ve been told. However, I do know the answer to the missing parts of my life lies inside the darkness of my dream. If only I could see the person who grabbed me; I’m sure it’s the key to understanding what’s going on in my head. Until I do, I’ll always be a shadow of the person I once was, a ghost of myself.
    I sit up and try to calm my heaving breaths. “Air. That’s all you need, Alese.” Stepping out of the bed, I trudge over to the window. The damn thing gets stuck before it finally decides to move.
    A melody of night crickets chirping and frogs croaking on a cool, early spring night assaults my ears, drowning out echoes of screaming, while the air on my skin dries up the sweat at once. I take a couple of deep breaths, closing and then opening my eyes as I do so, and glance toward the trees at the far side of the parking lot across the street and inhale sharply.
    I inhale sharply when I spot a figure standing amongst the cluster of shrubs in front of the trees. I can’t tell whether it’s a man or a woman, but somebody’s definitely standing there. My heart flips, and it takes my brain a moment to catch up to what my eyes are seeing. At once, I rush out the door and make my way downstairs, my heart thudding the way it did the day I fled my parents’ funeral.
    Of course by the time I get out to the spot where I saw the shadow in the bushes, I find nothing but rustling foliage.
    Who was that? And why do I get the feeling this isn’t the first time the figure