Dark Swan: Chapter one

Chapter I1

Catherine was in his dream.2

In his dream he was in a field of that undulated though there was no wind. There was a tree in the midst of that field. Cat swung from that tree. She wore a white dress and it billowed about her each time she swung to new heights.3

In the way of dreams he was soon right beside her. She smiled when she saw him and stopped swinging. He ran light fingers along her cheek. Her brown skin was dark against the white fabric. Catherine rubbed her cheek against his hand like a cat would. She opened his shirt and placed her ear against his chest, lightly tracing pattens over his heart.4

“Do it.” She whispered.5

Suddenly he felt someone stab him from behind, slicing between his ribs and skewering his heart before exiting inches from her face. She laughed.6

He fell to his knees. There was another laugh behind him and Neil stepped around him to take Cat’s hand. He was in the same wolf costume he had worn during the masquerade. They danced around as he lay in the dirt his hands scrabbling uselessly at the stake protruding from his chest.7

Gasping, Nathan woke up.8

His whole chest ached and he rubbed the place where the dream stake had punctured. That was the second dream in which she managed to kill him in some way.9

Nathan got out of bed. Heavy curtains on the window blotted out any light that tried to come in but he didn’t have to look out of the window to know the sun had set an hour ago. He hesitated before donning a white shirt. It looked very similar to the one he wore in his dream but he quickly shook it off, he never put much stock in dreams even if they closely mirrored his own fears.10

He stepped out into the hall. Catherine’s room was empty. She was probably in the diningroom with Neil. Their daily chess match had resumed the moment he had allowed Neil to come back. He went down the stairs. The windows creaked as the wind blew against the house, frosting the panes of glass with flurries of snow. Winter had come with a vengeance.11

The dinning room was frigid when he entered but Neil was sweating profusely and his heartbeat was like the frantic wings of a caged bird.12

“She won’t let go.” His eyes dwarfed the rest of his face. Catherine sat at the edge of the table, she kept Neil’s right arm twisted behind his back, the other was fastened to her mouth. Nathan could see her throat working as she swallowed. As if to prove his point Neil tugged at his arm. Cat made a small sound of protest and if it were possible clamped even tighter over his wrist.13

Nathan moved toward them. “Unless you want her to kill you, stop struggling.” He told Neil. He grabbed Neil’s arm just below where Cat’s mouth was and placed the other hand on her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes. They were a shiny hard black that bled outward until even the whites were covered. She stared at him, but it was Catherine who was behind those eyes. This was not his Catherine. This Catherine would kill her friend and never care. And the horrible thing was he’d help make this Catherine.14

He yanked her head back and crashed into the table, bringing it down with her and causing the chess pieces to fall to the floor.15

Neil cried out and grasped his bleeding wrist. Nathan ignored him, he didn’t let go of Cat until he was certain his eyes were no longer black. She shuddered and began to cry. He slowly becked away keeping a careful eye on her. She wiped her chin with a shaking hand. “I thought I could do it.” She refused to look at either of them. “I thought I could stop.”16

Nathan squeezed the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply. “I’ve already told you, Cat. It takes discipline and you don’t have that yet.”17

“But I thought—“18

”No,” Nathan cut her off. “You weren’t thinking and if I hadn’t come in you would have killed him.”19

“It was my idea.” Neil interjected as Cat wrapped her arms around her knees. “You don’t have to yell at her.”20

Nathan sighed loudly, it was almost a groan. “Neil, you’re not helping her.”21

“Can’t you see she’s miserable?” Neil said as if she wasn’t right there as living proof. 22

“I couldn’t tell,” Nathan said sardonically. “After what you’ve done she’s looking so much better.”23

There was a knock on the front door and through some inhumane feat it managed to be louder than the shrieking wind.24

“You shouldn’t have changed her.”25

And Nathan had nothing to say to that.26