Jade, wake up! Please hurry! "Jade, I am here. Wake up!" I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I could. "Jade, I am right here. It is okay. I am here now." I stopped fighting and looked up into Aris' eyes, relieved. "He was here. He was on me. I smelled him, felt his breath on my face. It was so real." Aris hugged me to him, "He is not here. It is just me." He rocked me for a minute then said, "I made sure that he will never hurt you again." "I'm sorry. It was so real." "It is okay. Sometimes nightmares are realistic."
"Jade, are you okay?" I looked up at the bedroom door. Ripley stood there watching. "I think I'm okay now," I answered. "Okay. I am going back to sleep. Just yell if you need anything." "Thank you." He turned and left.

I looked back at Aris, "I don't know if I can sleep now." "I can help you sleep," he offered. "I know. I'm afraid though. I don't want him to come back." "It is just dreams. It is not real." "I know but it feels so real," I whispered. "Do I have permission to enter your dreams?" he asked. "What do you mean?" I asked, confused. "When you dream, I insert myself and change the course of your dream if it is going bad." "You can do that?" "Yes. So can you." "How?" "I give you permission too," he told me, "we sleep touching. Whoever dreams first, it will be us sharing the dream." "Even if it is a good dream?" "Yes. It is best to practice with good dreams first." "Okay," I agreed.

"Are you ready?" he asked. "Could we smoke first?" I procrastinated. "Let me go get cigarettes from the kitchen. I ran out and forgot to grab another pack." "Okay," I changed into my snowsuit. I sat on the bed and waited for him to come back. About five minutes later he came back with Ripley. "Rip is going to smoke with us," he explained. "Okay," I agreed. Did you do something about the painting? Yes. Aris opened the sliding glass door and we walked out onto the deck. "Great view," Ripley commented. Aris packed the cigarettes, then lit one and handed it to me. They both lit cigarettes.

"Jade, Yaris has gone into my dreams before," Ripley started, "It really does help." "What does he do in your dreams?" I asked, curious. "Mostly, he works to redirect my focus to something that is not bad, like a dog or a pretty girl, my sister, sometimes him. He does not do anything bad. He has done this for Lia too. After a few times, the bad dreams just went away." "They go away?" I was interested now. "I have not had that dream in over a year now," he explained, "I used to have it at least twice a week." "Really?" now I am excited. "Yes."

"Just let me try. If you do not like it, I will not do it anymore," Aris pleaded, "I promise that it will be okay." "Oh, I'm not worried that you'll hurt me. I'm just skeptical that it will work," I explained, "I've always had bad dreams. I've never slept well. I guess that it is worth a try." "That is all that I ask. That you try it." "Okay. I will try it." We finished our cigarettes and went inside. Aris shut the sliding door. "Well, goodnight," Ripley greeted, "No more screaming in your sleep." "I will do my best," I returned the greeting, "goodnight." He left through the bedroom door.

I turned to face a smiling Aris. "Are you ready for bed now?" he asked. I changed into shorts and a tank top. He changed into shorts. I climbed into bed while he shut off the lights. He laid down next to me. He pulled me close and kissed me on the forehead. I got a funny feeling, like when he made the cabin visible to me. "Are you okay," he asked. "I think so," I answered, "I just got a weird feeling. It must be the wine."
I relaxed as his scent got stronger. "Do you sniff me too?" I asked. "All of the time," he answered, "I can not get enough of you." "Your scent relaxes me," I explained, "but when you touch me, I feel tingles. Do you feel the tingles too?" "Yes. Like small electric shocks." "Is that normal?" "Is what normal?" "The scent, the tingles?" "For us, yes. For others, I do not know. You would have to ask them."

I relaxed further. "Jade, look into my eyes," he advised me. I looked into his eyes. I saw the familiar shapes and colors swirling, none of them the same, though. They swirled fast and then slow, fast and then slow, then fast again. I opened my mouth to ask a question. He stopped me by putting a finger to my lips. "Shhhh...." The swirling slowed, then slowed even further. I felt my eyelids grow heavy and then close.

I woke with a start. Aris was gone. I sat up and looked around. The curtains to the balcony were open. He was standing outside, facing the lake, smoking a cigarette. I got up, immediately changed into my snowsuit, and went out to join him. I walked up to him and hugged him from behind. He shook a cigarette out of the pack and lit it for me. "You have succeeded in entering my dream," he said handing me the cigarette. "We're dreaming now?" I asked, " it feels so real." "They usually do," he commented. "So what do we do?" I questioned. "Whatever happens," he answered.

We stood and smoked in silence, waiting. A few minutes later the door opened and we were joined by Ripley. "Did you invite Ripley too?" I asked Aris. "Yes," he answered, "I thought it might be helpful this first time." "Did you invite anyone else?" "No. It is just the three of us."

Ripley lit himself a cigarette. "These taste so much better in dreams," he commented. He was right. I knew they were different, I just couldn't tell how until he voiced it.

We all finished our cigarettes and decided to get something to eat. Ripley insists that food tastes better in dreams too. We went inside and downstairs to the kitchen. We all decided on pancakes, sausage and bacon. I wasn't allowed to cook, so I just sat at the island and watched. Ripley made the pancakes while Aris made the bacon and sausage.

"So Jade, what do you think of the cabin?" Ripley asked. "I love it," I smiled at Aris. He smiled at me. "Could you see spending most of your time here?" "I guess so. Now that I am getting used to the cold," I answered, "how about you?" "I suppose that I will get used to it too. Then it will not be so bad." "Aris do you like it here?" I asked. "I love it here," he answered, smiling again, "I will love it more when we stay here because we want to, not because we are hiding out." "You know what you have to do about that," Ripley commented. "I know Ripley. She is not ready yet," Aris groaned. "Have you even asked her?" "I do not have to ask. I will know when." "Just ask her," Ripley implored, smiling, "I promise you will not be disappointed. Just ask her when I am not here." Aris threw a piece of bacon at him. He caught it and ate it.

"What do I have to do to get a piece of that bacon?" I asked. "Come here," Aris told me. I got up off of the bar stool and walked over to him. "Give me a kiss here," he pointed to his cheek. I stretched up to kiss him on his cheek. He leaned down a little so I could reach. At the last second, he moved so that I ended up kissing his lips. "You could have just pointed to your mouth," I told him snatching a piece of bacon. "But, would you have kissed me?" he asked. "Well, now we'll never know," I answered, putting the bacon in my mouth. Ripley was right. Food tastes better in dreams.

"Rip, will you watch this for a minute?" Aris asked, "I want to show her something." "Sure." He led me to a large picturesque window overlooking the yard on the side of the house. There was a man and woman, both in white snowsuits, playing with two small children, in a pink and a blue snowsuit. There was a snowman off to the side with a carrot nose, two button eyes and a red and black plaid scarf tied around it's neck. It looked like the happy family had moved on to a snowball fight. I caught a glimpse of the woman's face as she threw a snowball at the man, hitting him on the shoulder. "What is this?" I looked at Aris. "Just watch," he replied. I moved closer to the window. He stepped back behind me and put his arms around me. The family continued to play. The little boy threw a snowball and hit the little girl in the face. She started crying, "Mommy it hurts." The man and woman both ran to her and started brushing the snow away. The man picked her up, "come along. It is time to go in." "But Dad, we are having so much fun," the little boy whines. "We will play again tomorrow. It is time for your nap." He follows his dad, but has to run to keep up. "You promise Dad. That we will do it again tomorrow." "I promise," the man agrees. I catch a glimpse of his face as they are walking toward the cabin. "Aris?" I look up and over behind my right shoulder. "That is a small glimpse of our future," he answered. "Is that what you dream about? Our future?" "Sometimes," he answered. "So you know that we will have a boy and a girl?" "Yes." "So you know that we end up together?" "Yes."

"Food is ready," Ripley called out, carrying plates to the dining room table. Aris pulled my chair out for me. I sat down and he pushed my chair in. He got us drinks out of the refrigerator then came back and sat at the table. We waited for Ripley who was getting the syrup and butter. He sat down and handed me the bottle of syrup and the butter dish, "You first Jade." I put a little bit of butter on my pancakes then proceeded to drown them in syrup. "That is a lot of syrup," he commented. "My pancakes like to swim," I told him. I passed the butter and syrup to Aris. I took a bite. "Ripley you are right. Food does taste better in dreams," I told him. "Challenge accepted," Aris called out. We both looked at him, confused. "In the morning, I am going to make you pancakes that are better than these," he explained. "Okay. We'll see about that," Ripley commented. We ate in silence. The dream ended with us eating.

I woke with a start. I was snuggled up next to Aris in bed. Am I dreaming now? "No, you are awake," he spoke up, "it is still early though. We can stay in bed a little longer." "How do you know the difference?" I asked. "I just do," he answered, "You will get used to it." I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent deeply. I opened my eyes. He was no longer with me. I rolled over on my back and looked at the mirrors above the bed. I was no longer in one of my shorts sets that I usually sleep in. I was in a lacy white nightgown with red trim. Now I know I am asleep and this is probably my dream, because laying next to me is the man from the alley. "What are you doing here?" I manage to squeak out. "I am here to take you because you are mine," he growled. "I am not yours. I belong to Yaris," I say with conviction. "There is no mark on you. If you belong to him, why has he not made you his?" he asked with an equal amount of conviction. I don't know how to respond, so I choose to make my break from him.

I throw the covers off of me and onto him and scoot away as fast as I can. I run for the sliding glass door to where I can see Aris smoking on the balcony. He gets a hold of my arm, spins me around and shoves me up against one of the windows. "This will work too," he growls. He holds me in place by my neck and comes in for a kiss. I turn my face to the side and he licks me on my cheek. "You disgust me," I manage to say between breaths. He rears back and smacks me, but not as hard as usual, because I felt no pop. I knock on the window three times and scream, "help!!!" in my head.