Dream Haunter

~ Prologue. ~

  “Do you really love me?” she asks, her heart pounding in her ears from the excitement of Adam’s lips against her temple. He nestles his head against her shoulder, his raven colored hair brushes against the soft skin of Melody’s neck.

  His lips are a few inches from her ear; they slowly part as he speaks, “Yes.”

   Goosebumps prickle across the back of her neck while the room begins to spin, fading away into a haze of white, as the icy wind pulls her from the steam filled dream.  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

                                      

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Chapter one

        Melody’s eyes slowly open as she sits up in her tangled sheets, arms shaking under her weight. The soft, white cotton sheets cling to her skin from the sweat dripping off of her. She blinks, the morning sun blinding her for a few short moments while she reflects on her sultry dream. Last night’s dream was just one of the many frequent dreams about Adam that have been gracing her sleeping mind for the past four months; like clockwork Adam calls to her each time her head hits the pillow. At first, she considered these dreams just another hormone driven fantasy from being away from her boyfriend, Sam, for the span of the last four months, but once she realized that these dreams were taking control of her life, she forced herself to stop.

  They are persistent little buggers, though, stealing her subconscious from her when she is at her weakest and has no other choice but to witness these hauntingly beautiful dreams. Melody drops her head back on the soft feather pillow, shutting her eyes briefly; Adam’s face haunts the inside of her eyelids. Every striking detail of his tanned face is in front of her, his bright azure eyes ready to take her away when she asks. She grunts, trying to push the image away before it can take hold of her again. Melody’s alarm screeches from the wooden night stand next to her bed, reminding her of her coffee date with Sam. She throws her feet over the side of her bed, her body mourning the loss of warm sheets which had been so lovingly wrapped around her, as her feet hit the floor before she makes her way across her brightly colored bedroom.

  She plops herself down on the wire chair in front of her vanity, pushing the fluffy black pillow around under her butt, assessing her face in the mirror in front of her, before attacking her thick red hair. Her fingers grasp the wooden of hairbrush before she pulls it through her hair, trying to think of topics to speak of with Sam; it’s been so long since she’s last seen him.

  Melody has been in deep, sappy love with Sam for two years now; she doesn’t just say it, but believes it with all her might. She sits her brush down, picking up the silver frame from her vanity. She stares at it a moment, her flat iron warming on the table next to her. A sad, sweet folk song reverberates through her pink speakers as she looks over at the shiny silver frame that holds a photograph of her and Sam. She looks over the image of her standing next to Sam.

  His index finger is gently playing with the ends of her thick, red hair. She comes up to Sam’s shoulder, which is short, and isn't the skinniest, but Sam tells her she’s perfect.

  She smiles, Chester, Sam’s long-time best friend, had taken this picture the night Sam played solo at a coffee shop across town that was having an open mike night for local artists.

  Sam sat on the wooden barstool, his arms comfortably draped over his tan colored guitar while Melody sat awkwardly next to the stage, watching her new boyfriend as he sang his heart out in front of her.

  She watched him delicately pluck away at his guitar strings, his fingers quietly move from one string to the next, as to not disrupt the sweet conversation that they were having with the audience.

  She envied him. He was so calm, so comfortable, upon the stage.

  He sang a slow love song to the coffee buzzed crowed, but the words had no real effect on them. Instead, the melody rang from the brass strings of the guitar and floated their way over to Melody like a soft, unexpected summer breeze.

  His leafy green eyes met hers for a brief moment.

  And suddenly the bustling coffee shop began to slow until it came to a complete stop. The sound of coffee being ground, people laughing, and the slow ticking of someone typing on their laptop in the far corner of the room, it all turned into a soft haze around the two of them.

  Something inside of her sang back the soft, sweet melody to Sam.

  Melody pushes her hair behind her ear, blushing at that tender yet simple memory from two years ago, when they had just started to date. Though Chester has never said it to her face, he approves of the relationship between Sam and her. Melody gently sets the picture frame down, picking up the now hot iron and running it through her hair.