Icarians: Poisoned Dreams

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Icarians: Poisoned Dreams

By Vanessa Mock

and

Jessie Reinking

Cover art provided by:

Starscoldnight

And

Lisajen-stock

©Vanessa Mock/Jessie Reinking 2012.

Prologue

Six year old Analeigh awoke in the middle of the night. She couldn't remember what woke her so she kept still and listened to hear if maybe it was her mother or grandmother that was awake. She heard nothing at first, so she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Suddenly she heard a loud grunt, startled, her eyes flew open and her body froze. It didn't sound like her grandmother or her mama. Maybe her dad changed his mind and came to be with them instead of staying home to work on a case, she thought.
Her heart beat faster with hope as she threw back her covers and jumped out of bed with excitement. She opened her bedroom door and stepped out into the hall. She realized that the strange sounds were coming from outside. Analeigh walked through her grandmothers big two story house in the dark. She walked down the long hallway and looked down the stairs from the second story landing. She didn't want to go down stairs by herself. Not at night. Her grandmothers house could be so scary at night. But I'm a big girl, and I want to see my daddy she thought.
Analeigh started down the stairs slowly holding the banister so she wouldn't fall. When she reached the bottom, she heard muffled voices coming from the backyard. She made her way through the living room to the big french doors. She reached up as far as she could on her tip toes to unlock the bolt lock. It finally turned.

Analeigh walked out onto her grandmothers patio and tried to see through the dark. That's when she spotted a young boy standing by the woods. He just stood there staring at her with wide eyes. She didn't understand why he was there. Suddenly a man came out of the woods, he was very big, bigger than her daddy. The strange man turned to look at her. The look in his eyes made her shake. He turned to the young boy, that's when she noticed his wings.

Struck with fear, all she could do was stare. She had never seen anything like it before.
"See what you have done? She has seen me. Now you know what I have to do!" The man told the boy in a very deep and enraged voice.
"No!!" The boy screamed but it was to late, the man was already running toward Analeigh so fast that no one could have stopped him. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing would come out. He was almost upon her and she knew she was going to die. Suddenly her grandmother appeared from behind her and Analeigh was covered with a fine mist, everything went black as she fell to the ground.

Chapter 1

Analeigh had always known her grandmother had willed her the big two story house, that her grandmother grew up in. Now that it was finally hers, as of her twenty first birthday, she couldn't quite believe it. She never understood why her grandmother left it to her. Her mother always told her that it was very important to her grandmother that Analeigh get the house when she was old enough, that it was meant for Analeigh to live in it. She hadn't been back to Ravenwood, North Carolina since the night her grandmother passed away, and now she was moving in.

She had been driving for four days and she was finally here. Analeigh turned her car into the long graveled driveway. As she pulled slowly up to the house her breath caught in her chest, it looked exactly the way she remembered. Completely surrounded by trees, sat the huge sea green two story Victorian style house. It had dark green shutters, a tall tower, massive burgundy french doors in the front, and a wrap around screened porch.

As she put the car in park and got out she was hit with the sweet smell of a near by honeysuckle bush. Analeigh walked up the squeaky front stairs and unlocked the door. As she opened it and stepped inside she was suddenly flooded with so many memories, one that stood out the most was her fifth birthday. Her dad had to work so her mother brought her to her grandmothers as a surprise. Her grandmother had the whole back yard decorated with crape paper and balloons. She smiled to herself as she remembered her grandmother. Eleanor Chapman had always shown her so much love. Analeigh sighed to herself as she walked through the big house making a mental list of what had to be done.

The house had sat empty for fifteen years and it looked it. Every square inch was covered with a thick layer of dust, there was some sort of nest in one of the corners of the living room, the down stairs bathroom window was broken, along with other countless repairs. Tomorrow she would have to drive into town to get supplies and try to find a repairman.

She walked back outside to her car and started to unload her bags. One by one she carried them up the steps and into the entrance. Analeigh turned to retrieve the last bag and ran into a very tall young woman, almost knocking her down.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" They said almost at the same time, both laughing.
"Hi, I’m Mercedes Cole, but everyone calls me Sadie." She said smiling at Analeigh.
"I'm Analeigh Evans."
" I'm sorry but the front door was open and I saw you going in, I tried calling out to you but obviously you didn't hear me." Mercedes explained.
"Oh, that’s no problem I just got here myself, the place is a real mess." Analeigh said apologetically.
"You know I'm your closest neighbor and I would love to help you, there’s not a lot to do around here and I don't leave for school till summer is over."
"Oh, where are you going to school?" Analeigh asked trying to make polite conversation.
"I will be attending my first semester at NC State University in the fall." Mercedes said in a mocking tone. “I take it your not looking forward to it?" Analeigh laughed.
"No I would much rather take a few years off, do some traveling, but my older brother insists that I will have plenty of time for that after I finish. So I'll just make the most of it."
"Yeah I might take some time off myself, it just depends on if I'm finished with the house by then or not."
"So are you planning on keeping the house when you get it done or are you going to sell?"
"I have no idea, I haven't been here since I was six years old, if I do decide to keep it though I will need to transfer schools. By the way how did you know it was mine?" Analeigh asked sighing as she looked around the big house.

Mercedes laughed again, "You know small towns, everybody knows everything about everyone!"
"Yeah, I'll have to get used to that!"
Analeigh always heard rumors of how small town life was, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She might even come to like the idea of getting to know everyone by name and vise versa. Analeigh looked at Mercedes, she was a very beautiful girl, she had light blue eyes, delicate bone structure, long blond hair, tall and very slender.
"Maybe you can help me, I would like to hire someone to help with the yard work and some maintenance aro-"
"My brother!” Mercedes interrupted. “He does that for the town, he owns the local mechanics shop, but when business is slow he does that sorta thing to keep busy.”
"Ok, yeah, if your sure he would have time?"
"Oh I'm sure, I'll let him know in the morning. He had some business to take care of today so I might not see him tonight."
"That would be great, thank you!" Analeigh said relieved that she was getting to know one of the locals.
"Well listen I have to go, but here’s my number. And like I said I would love to help you out anytime." Mercedes said as she handed Analeigh her cell phone number.
"Ok I think I will. Thanks a lot." She said as she walked Mercedes out to her dark blue Audi S5.
"Wow that is a really nice car!"
"Thanks I love this car, its my baby! OK well it was really nice to meet you."
"You too, and I'll call you." Analeigh said.

As Mercedes drove away, Analeigh walked back into the house, she had to go into town at least get something to eat, so she grabbed her keys and her purse. She stopped to get a glimpse of herself in the hall mirror, she looked tired from the trip and the stress of such a big change. She put on a light coat of lip gloss and fluffed up her thick curly brown hair. As she grabbed her purse she got the feeling someone or something was watching her. She looked around and saw no one. But the feeling was still there. She tried to shrug it off as she walked outside and locked the front door.

Analeigh got into her car and started it. As she pulled out of the driveway she thought she caught a glimpse of someone in the trees at the side of her house. She stopped the car and stepped out but left the door open.
"Hey! Who's there?" She yelled. She waited a few seconds, then got back in the car.
"I'm seeing things and now I'm talking to myself!" She said as she put her car in drive.
Her house was only a couple miles outside the town of Ravenwood. As she drove down the graveled road she passed another graveled road not to far from hers. She wondered if that was where Mercedes lived. Soon she was in town and pulled into the local diner.

It was a small town of only about six hundred people. There were a few shops on the main street that she assumed were locally owned, a grocery store, a mechanics shop, and a bar. It seemed like a friendly town, there were people sitting out in front of shops watching people drive by and occasionally waving at the ones they knew.

Analeigh got out of her car and went inside. She took a booth near the front door. An older woman came over to her and introduced herself as Analeigh’s waitress, she handed her a menu and Analeigh ordered the special which was baked chicken with a vegetable on the side. As the woman walked away to place her order, Analeigh looked around at the place.

It consisted of five red booths and a handful of tables covered with red table cloths. The walls were a textured off white. Classical music played softly in the background. There wasn't many people in the diner, it being only four in the afternoon. She glanced at the few people that were there. A young woman with two little children. A couple in a booth across the room.

Analeigh didn’t realize how hungry she was until her food arrived. As she ate, her thoughts were on her grandmothers house. Mostly her memories of the house and her grandmother were good with the exception of the very last memory which was very vague at best. Analeigh was so engrossed in her thoughts and her food that she didn’t notice the strange man glaring at her from the dark ally across the street.

Chapter 2

Jaxon stared out of his window at nothing at all. He couldn't believe she was here. Part of him hated it because he knew he wouldn’t be able to control his feelings around her. But another part, no matter how much he hated to admit it, was very tranquil, almost at peace, because it had finally begun. They will finally, after fifteen years, find out what little Analeigh Evans remembers. If she remembers anything at all.

Jaxon stepped away from the window as he saw his little sister pull into their driveway. His thoughts were still on Analeigh when he walked into the kitchen just as his sister bounced through the front door, he turned to look at her, she looked just like their mother, tall and beautiful and full of energy. Jaxon had been taking care of Mercedes for as long as he could remember, even before their parents died six years ago.
"She's here." He heard her say.
"I know." He said calmly. He had felt Analeigh deep within his being as soon as she arrived.
"Well your going to be mad so I might as well just get it over with, I went to see her."
"You What?!" Jaxon growled.
"Look I know you said to stay away from her, but I have a plan." She said innocently.
"I don't care what your plan is, I told you to stay away from her!" He yelled angrily.
"No, really I thought about it and it makes sense. Just hear me out please!" Mercedes pleaded with him.
Jaxon took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "Maybe you don't understand just how serious this is-" He started.
"No I do, that’s why I think we should do this." Mercedes interrupted.
"OK what? What is your idea, but more importantly what have you done?" He said as he sat down at the island bar, his brain ready to start working on a solution. Mercedes sat down next to him and turned to face her brother. She could tell he was barley keeping his anger under control.

"All I did was introduce myself to her and offer her help with the house. We talked a bit. My intentions are to get to know her and be her friend, find out what she knows and what she remembers. And I thought you could help me with that, so I told her she could hire you to help with some of the maintenance. The way I see it, its better this way because then we can find out instead of guess and wonder what Eleanor Chapman has told her." She explained quickly, clearly nervous of his reaction.
Jaxon was silent for a long time gazing at the window across the room, not really seeing it at all. His sister had a point. The guessing was driving everyone crazy.
He looked at her.
"I’ll do it. Because I’m just as tired of this as you are. And because I think He has come back."