Chapter 7: Eternal IntroductionTaylor opened his eyes to find himself standing amid a grassy meadow blooming with fragrant flowers of all kinds. He bent down and gently plucked a daffodil growing wildly by his feet. He was so occupied in admiring the beauty of the area, he never heard the rustle of leaves as footsteps made their way towards him.
"I'm glad you came back," she said, allowing her teeth to shine past her outstreched lips.
Startled, Tay whipped around quickly to find himself face to face with the girl who had appeared in his dreams the previous night.
"Here, I got this flower for you," Tay said, lying through his teeth.
"How sweet of you!" she exclaimed. Boy, was he lying through his teeth, she thought. She quickly accepted the flower and stuck it in her rear pocket. Apparantly, her actions were not quick enough, however, because the flower wilted at her touch. Did he see that? she wondered with panicked thoughts. No, of course not. He's too busy telling himself how pretty I am.
Tay blinked. Did that flower just wilt at her touch? No, of course not. She was too beautiful to instantaneously make a flower shrivel up.
"Why don't we go for a little walk" Maybe we could head down to the lake," she said, invitingly.
"I think I'd like that," he replied. Why do I act so stupid in front of cute girls?! he asked himself.
"I don't think you're foolish, Taylor," she said with a surprisingly cold tone to her voice.
Did I say that outloud?! he wondered. "But I..."
"I know, you didn't say it, but I can hear your thoughts," she said with a glimmer in her eye.
When they reached the lake, they carefully chose a flat rock to rest on. Taylor looked up at the girl and realized he didn't even know her name. "You seem to know me so well, and I can't even remember your name," he confessed disappointedly.
"Oh, you can call me Drus - er, Drew," she stuttered.
"That's a pretty name," admired Tay.
"Oh, it's only a nickname. There's nothing...special...about it, really," Drew flirted with him nonstop, but of course he didn't mind.
"This place is beautiful," observed Tay.
"Well it's not my favorite spot, but it is nice," Drew said dreamily.
"So..." Tay said uncomfortable, after sitting through such a long silence.
"Right, um...you probably want to know how I know you. We met very briefly, but out introduction to eachother was eternal," she began.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tay asked curiously, feeling a bit of joy intertwined with disgust.
"Please don't be scared. Here, touch my hand." Drew reached her are in Taylor's direction.
Taylor had no idea what to expect. He had so many thoughts and questions, he found it difficult to remain seated where he was. Slowly, he lifted his arm and stretched it to meet hers. He gently began to curl his fingers around her small hand. He had not, by no means, expected his hand to completely pass through heers. He looked down and noticed his large fist going through her long fingers. "What the..." he trailed off in amazement.
"That's right, Taylor. You could say I am a ghost. Don't let that change your opinion of me, please," she grinned slyly.
Taylor shuddered as the cool, breezy air brushed against his cheeks. "It doesn't matter; this is only my dream," he answerd kindly.
"That may be true, but it will affect you more than you think. Little by little, you will eventually be mine for the taking. There's nothing anyone can do. They won't even know." she now smiled a devilish grin. Taylor expected a pair of vampire fangs to miraculously appear.
"I'm not going to sit here and listen to this. I don't know why you think you have so much control over me, but I'm getting out of here!" he raged.
"I don't think that's a very good idea, Taylor," she spoke, with sharpness in her cold, icy and dry voice. She was losing control, and she knew it. Silently, she was kicking herself because she had made a dangerous mistake. Too anxious to make Taylor her own, she could not help saying the words pouring out of her mouth rapidly like water pours out of a large pitcher.
Taylor came to a surprising hault, unaware of the fact he had stopped his escape from Drew. He couldn't help it; there was so much power, and so much darkness in her words. He stole a small glimpse at his surroundings, half expecting icicles to be dangling sharply and dangerously low from the trees because she seemed so cold. "Why do you say that?" he questioned calmly, yet apprehensively. Inside his hart was an earthquake of nerves.
"Nothing. I don't mean it. There's almost nothing I can do to keep you here. I just wanted to spend more time with you." She answered cooly. How she wanted to lose control and take care of everything now! Of course all would be lost if she did. She hated that her worst quality was her lack of patience.
A ringing noise from the depth of Taylor's clothes broke the monotonous silence. He wondered where he got the cell phone,but remembering he was in Dream World, he reached into his back pocket for the phone. "Hello?" he answered in a fatigued voice.
"Taylor!"
"Um...yeah."
"Taylor, come on!"
"Who is this?"
"Taylor, Tay!!! Please, it's Zac."
"Oh, hey Zac."
"Tay, come on, you need to wake up now."
"Um...I AM awake...you're talking to me."
"Tay, we have to talk! I'm getting tired of trying to wake you up!!"
Taylor shot a look a look at Drew, telling her he had to go with his eyes, although it was anything but a friendly look. He was still mad at her for the things she said to him.
"Of course, go see your brother. We'll meet again...don't worry. Maybe not yet, but we'll definitely be seeing more of each other." She cocked her head to one side and casually rocked back on her heels.
"Yeah, maybe," Taylor responded. That chill. The shivering feeling he felt so frequently in her presence returned. Slowly, the haunting image faded as his eyes introduced him to the real world again, but it never completely disappeared. Neither did the chill.