Prologue ~ In Dreams

“Still every night I burn! Every night I scream your name. Every night I burn! Every night the dream's the same...” - Burn, The Cure

Pulling him closer, she took the lead and got them moving across the dance floor. Everett seemed surprised by her actions, but it wasn't like she'd never led them in a dance before. He recovered quickly and let her have her way. Still, he seemed reluctant, and she almost thought she saw a flicker of apprehension cross his face.

Unwilling to ponder why that was, Tanya drove them deeper into the crowd.

They danced together and for long moments, what seemed like forever, she saw no trace of Jude anywhere. But suddenly she spied his distinct black and red tux in the swarm of bodies. Cutting through the masses, she caught glimpses of him across the room. She could see him, swaying in and out of the crowd with a new partner, someone that towered over him. The other girl wore a revealing dress of blood red that strangely mirrored Everett's outfit. A moment later, one of the other couples moved aside and Tanya saw Jude's partner.

It was her.

Shocked, she stopped completely and stepped away from her fiance. Everything suddenly seemed so wrong. This dance, it was nothing like the prom she remembered. The people, the outfits, the music, it was all terribly wrong. She and Jude had never shared a single dance that night. Not one. Her best friend had never been there and neither had Everett. They hadn't met yet and Jude had been ill. In fact, he made her promise to go without him and enjoy herself with the rest of their friends.

Tanya turned back to Everett, except he wasn't Everett anymore. He was Jude.

She gasped and moved even further away from him. Not Jude. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“That's the question, isn't it?” he said with a smile, eyes becoming as deep a red as his tuxedo...

Author's Note

A fragment of a prologue...