Debts - 28. EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

Three weeks later

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Desmond was tired for several reasons. Rayhe, who was asleep already, was the obvious one; but he was also tired because of all that mental training he was receiving from Tess. She was right – it didn’t take him too long to be able to tune out everything he didn’t want to hear. By now, he could keep that certain barrier up without much effort; he didn’t even have to think about it – it was simply there for as long as he wanted. He could also pick a certain mind he wanted to hear; that came in very handy on his tests, especially on the oral ones. Telepathy was a handy tool for a teacher, he had to agree with that.

Tess was also right when she said that he would want to try and advance his new ability. Today he was testing his hearing limits and figuring out if he could expand them. Turned out that yes, he could, but the process was rather straining; therefore, right now, he was very tired.

He yawned, thinking that he was very glad that nothing else had surfaced in him (it would by now -- that’s what he thought anyway), and that thankfully, telepathy was the only ability he got. He could live with that. He yawned again, wrapped his arm around Gabriel’s waist, closed his eyes, and five minutes later, he was asleep.

Then some time later, he woke up and blinked several times, trying to figure out what in the world he was seeing. He sat up, staring in front of him. The entire wall of the bedroom was gone, it seemed, and he was looking into some room, which looked entirely unfamiliar to him.

“What the hell...” he muttered and got off the bed.

He pulled on his pants and shirt, and slowly walked towards the newly materialized room. He hesitated for just a second before walking in there, and then shrugged and stepped inside. He quickly glanced behind his shoulder and frowned. His bedroom was still there, and he could see Gabriel’s sleeping form. However, there was another form next to his mate. Desmond blinked when he realized that he was looking at his sleeping self.

“It’s a dream...” he muttered and glanced around. “Huh,” he said thoughtfully. “I am dreaming and I know that I am dreaming... I guess this is one of those lucid dreams... They say that you can make anything possible in these kinds of dreams...” He smiled slowly. This could be fun – he never had a lucid dream before. “Let’s see...” he muttered. “Well, how about I’ll wear something different for starters...”

He frowned when nothing changed.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Different settings then...”

Once again, nothing happened.

“Well, drat,” he sighed. “I guess it’s not true then...”

He walked farther into the bedroom, looking around with curiosity. It was obvious that it was a child’s bedroom. There were several posters on the walls representing different characters. Desmond blinked when he recognized Captain Judgment – that was a rather old character. He looked around some more and picked up a medium-sized plush dog. The toy was somewhat disheveled, as if it had been played with a lot, which was probably the case.

“Cute,” Desmond muttered and walked towards the dresser.

Suddenly, he heard quick footsteps behind the closed door, and then a child’s voice loudly called out:

“I’ll be right there, Mom! I have to find Demetrius!”

Then the door opened and Desmond saw a little boy, who didn’t look older than seven years old. The boy stopped the minute he saw Desmond.

“Who are you?” he asked with curiosity, looking at him with brown eyes. “And how did you get here?”

“Umm,” Desmond said, thinking that this was one hell of a vivid and strange dream. “My name is Desmond,” he said slowly, thinking that he would just play along. “I came from...” he looked behind his shoulder again. “There...” he nodded at his bedroom.

The boy followed his gaze and frowned.

“You came from my wall?” he said with puzzlement.

“You don’t see that?” Desmond blinked.

“I see my wall,” the boy nodded, and then shrugged. “I need to find Demetrius; my Mom and I are going to the store. I never go anywhere without Demetrius,” and he started looking around.

“Who is Demetrius?” Desmond asked with mild curiosity.

“My dog,” the boy said, and then sighed. “He is not a real dog,” he shrugged. “My Mom and Dad don’t like pets much... Demetrius is good though,” and he started looking around again. “Where is he...?” he muttered after several seconds, getting more and more upset. “I know I left him here...”

“Is this it?” Desmond handed him the toy he still held in his hand.

“Yes!” the boy immediately brightened up and took the stuffed animal. “Thanks!”

“So, what’s your...” Desmond started saying when there was a loud voice calling from somewhere in the house:

“Gabriel, hurry up please! We need to go!”

Desmond stared at the boy without blinking.

“Coming, Mom!” the boy shouted. “Well,” he looked at Desmond. “I gotta go!”

“Your name is Gabriel...?” Desmond muttered, and the boy nodded.

“Yes,” and he ran to the door.

“Wait!” Desmond called. “What’s your last...”

“I have to go!” the boy said without slowing down, and a few seconds later, he was gone.

“Holy hell...” Desmond muttered and looked behind his shoulder again.

The bedroom was still there, but now, he could clearly see a phantom wall. He figured that he’d better get back, just in case, and quickly went towards his bedroom, glancing around one last time. He stepped through the half-visible wall, and the minute he did that, everything around him turned pitch-black.

...“Rayhe, turn that thing off...” Desmond muttered sleepily when the alarm kept shrieking in a very annoying manner.

Gabriel mumbled something, and a few seconds later, the alarm was silent. Desmond sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He got out of bed and shuffled to the shower.

...“I had a weird dream last night,” he said half an hour later when they were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee.

“Oh, yeah?” Gabriel looked at him with interest. “You too, huh?”

“What was yours about?” Desmond finished his coffee and got up to get more. “You want more coffee?”

“Sure,” Gabriel handed him his mug. “I dreamt about one time when I was a kid,” he said, and Desmond carefully set the mugs onto the counter, a small frown greasing his forehead.

“I think I was seven,” Gabriel continued. “My Mom and I were about to go to the store, and I had to find my favorite plush toy...” He grinned. “I took that thing everywhere with me... Anyway,” he continued without looking at very thoughtful by now Desmond. “I get into my room and there is...” he hemmed. “...you,” he finished with a slight nod. “Bizarre,” he sighed and finally, looked at Desmond. “You okay?” he frowned.

“A stuffed dog, right?” Desmond asked weakly, and Gabriel blinked at that.

“Yeah...” he said slowly.

“Did you name your toys...?” Oh, Desmond definitely did not like this.

“No,” Gabriel said as slowly as before. “I only named that one dog... I named him...”

“Demetrius,” Desmond said, and Gabriel became mute.

******

To Be Continued...

Yes, this is the end of this particular story. I suspect most people's reaction would be something like

but not to worry! The next one picks up pretty much where this one left off & also, the next one is longer too! 😀