Chapter 7 – Lucas
Bird song and the soothing trickling of water filled Harlow’s ears. She had her eyes closed, but the warm sunlight still soaked through her eyelids. Her fingers idly plucked at the grass she could feel the gentle prickle of against her exposed arms.
The light breeze that tickled Harlow’s feet didn’t at all detract from the warmth of the sun that poured over her. Running a hand down her body she smoothed the satin dress she wore and smiled languidly.
“Perfect” Harlow breathed.
A shadow flashed across the sun and sent a shiver down her body. Something fell softly into the open palm of her hand. Opening her eyes, she held up the object to inspect it.
“Wow.” Harlow looked in amazement at the feather in her hand.
It was about twice the length of her hand and jet black; though when she held it up to the sunlight, she could see glittering silver laced through it. It was beautiful. She ran her finger down its length, marvelling at the softness of it.
Then after a moment or two, the feather began to disintegrate, blowing away into a thousand pieces of sparkling silver. It was breathtakingly beautiful to behold, but Harlow couldn’t help but feel sad for the loss of that exquisite feather.
She didn’t have long to think about it though, as the shadow re-appeared, blocking out the sun. Looking to its cause, Harlow was met with a sight that caused a small gasp to escape her lips.
“You again,” she managed to croak out, sitting up so fast her vision tilted.
The inky haired boy grinned down at her, “Were you expecting someone else?”
Butterflies filled her stomach just at the sight of him, “I don’t know…Who are you?”
“Lucas Hadley,” he smiled, tucking his hands into his jean’s pockets, “and you, are Harlow Diegan.”
Her heart raced at her name on his lips “How do you know my name? Am I dreaming again? What the hell is going on…?” Harlow trailed off, feeling more than a little confused.
The boy – Lucas - laughed heartily at Harlow’s bewilderment which was evidently written all over her face. Ignoring the thrill the sound sent through her she frowned at him, pushing her hair out of her face.
Once again, her gaze inexplicably looked to the space behind him, expecting to see something. She disjointedly thought of the feather, and her frown deepened. Harlow’s shook away the bizarre thoughts.
“This isn’t funny! I feel like I’m losing my mind...” something clicked into place in Harlow’s head, “and it’s all your fault!” she huffed, her temper rising.
He didn’t laugh again but raised a dark eyebrow at her in question, his luscious mouth twitched with a suppressed smile. Forcing down an urge to touch his lips, Harlow did her best to muster up the anger Lucas deserved.
Standing up, she turned her back on the tall, dark haired stranger. The beautiful scene that met her eyes clashed with her pent up annoyance. A small brick bridge arched over a trickling river and brightly coloured wild flowers bloomed, surrounded by lush green grass.
In different circumstances, she would have appreciated being in such a beautiful place, but her troubled thoughts just wouldn’t let her at that moment.
“I don’t even know who or what you are, and yet you’ve managed to turn my whole life upside down,” she fumed.
“If you hadn’t barged into my dream, I wouldn’t have freaked out when I saw you while I was doing my guitar exam!” She looked to the clear blue sky, fury pumping through her body at an alarming velocity.
“I wouldn’t have failed, I wouldn’t have run out of school and made Lisa angry, I wouldn’t have met Amy so I wouldn’t have listened in on her conversation in the woods–“
“What!? You were there? What exactly did you hear?” His voice, low and dangerous, came from right behind her.
“So it was you, the boy she was with?” Harlow said, mostly to herself. “How is that possible, how are you here?” she asked, her back still to him.
“Harlow,” his tone grew firmer, “what did you hear?” he had moved closer; she could practically feel the heat radiating from him.
The proximity to him caused a shiver of excitement, which she duly ignored, and began to walk away from the strange and beautiful Lucas. She didn’t like how he commanded answers – yet answered none of hers, or his cocky attitude, or the how he had turned her life on its head. Or the way he was making her feel.
She hadn’t even taken two steps before he spoke softly to her, in a way that would melt any girl’s heart “Please…It’s important.”
Biting down on her lip, she looked back towards Lucas; he looked so serious and so…sad. It reminded Harlow of how he was when she first dreamt of him, a far cry from the arrogant charm of how he was now.
“Don’t just fall at his feet” she chastised herself, “don’t give him the satisfaction of having you wrapped around his finger…you don’t even know him.”
“I heard it all, okay? Not that it even matters. I have no idea what it was all about, and I only listened to protect Amy.” She crossed her arms stubbornly.
Relief coloured his features and the cocky grin returned, “Good, don’t you worry your pretty little head about Amy, she can more than handle herself. Anyway it isn’t her who is in danger.”
Ignoring the patronising tone Harlow frowned, trying to untangle the riddles he was speaking, “What? Well who is in danger, who were you talking about?”
“You ask way to many questions,” he rolled his eyes dramatically, “don’t worry, you’ll find out in due course”
“I want to know now!” Harlow yelled. She was quickly finding her temper fluctuated erratically around Lucas.
He scrubbed a hand through his black hair, flicking the tresses out of his eyes. “Trust me; you’ll want to keep yourself far removed from this for as long as possible”
“Lucas!” Harlow threw her hands up in exasperation.
“Why can’t he give me a straight answer?” The fact he was being so secretive made her want to know even more.
“Just try not to worry…anyway it’s time for you to wake up now.” He smiled sweetly at Harlow his eyes glistening in the warm sun.
“What...I don’t want to wake up, I want answers!” Her vision shook a little, the edges around Lucas and his surroundings blurred. “How are you doing that?” Her voice sounded distant.
“Shhh.” He soothed in a hushed tone, she was instantly calmed and stopped fighting. A final whispered “Wake up…” met her ears followed by a soft fluttering noise before everything went black.
*********************
Harlow was drifting through the blissful state of being half-asleep, when a knock on the bedroom door pushed her unexpectedly into being fully conscious.
“Look alive, sunshine!” A cheery voice sang, half muffled by the door.
“Ugh! Too early” Harlow grumbled into the fluffy feather pillow.
