The Forgotten Ones

that I could form a witty reply. But, he didn’t give me a chance. His lips just brushed against mine, soft as a feather. He brought his hands up and cradled the back of my head. So gentle . His lips moved against mine—not taking, only asking.
    His fingertips trailed down my arm and made me shiver. I pulled back, needing to breath. He didn’t let go of me though.
    “We should go back outside, before we ruin this by fighting.” His smile was genuine, if the slightest bit wistful.
    I blushed. Yeah, he was probably right.

    Liam walks through a room lit by tiny glowing spheres suspended in the air. The round lights cast shadows on the high-curved walls. He keeps his head bowed as he nears a woman seated on a dais against the far wall. Her hair, as black as a moonless night, is gathered at her neck by a jeweled clip, and hangs in loose waves over one shoulder. Eyes as blue and cold as ice watch him approach.
    Liam kneels slowly at her feet, eyes trained on the floor. The woman smiles, and cocks her head to the side like a bird, grabbing his chin and pulling it upward until his eyes meet hers. As he speaks, the woman’s face contorts in rage. He winces and she loosens her fingers, leaving behind a bloody trail where her fingernails have cut him. The woman closes her eyes for a moment before shoving him roughly onto his back.
    I sat up in my bed, my lungs screaming for air. I pulled my legs up and rested my forehead against my knees as I attempted to catch my breath. Rain beat against my window, matching the drumming of my heart.
    For the past six months I’d dreamed about Liam almost every night. Most of the dreams involved blood and fear. They’d gotten more intense now that I’d actually met him too, more foreboding.
    The need to go for a run came upon me so suddenly that when I jumped from my bed, my head teetered. I counted backward from twenty as the dizziness subsided and changed into shorts and a tank top. A little rain never hurt anyone.
    I inhaled the smell of wet grass as I bound down the front steps. The air was misty, and a gray cloak hung over the trees and early-morning streetlights. It took all of my self-control to force myself to warm-up when all I could think of was launching into a mind-numbing sprint.
    The rain eased as I ran, leaving a dreary fog in its wake. After an hour, I looped back around to the bend in the road just before the path to what was now Liam’s property.
    Allison.
    The voice was the same as last night. It made my name sound like a song. But this time there was no one around.
    I stopped running, forgetting about cooling down or stretching. My stomach clenched with leftover panic as I looked around in the gloom. I approached the path when Liam stepped out of the trees. His expression was the same uncomfortable one he wore when I saw him last night, as though he dreaded speaking to me.
    The blonde materialized next to him, as if the mist had been hiding her body. She cocked her head to one side…reminding me of the woman in my dream. She looked nothing like that raven-haired woman, but she was equally beautiful. Her golden hair was sleek and smooth, cascading down past her shoulders, and her eyes were such a light gray they appeared nearly colorless.
    I stopped walking. Something about this woman made me nervous. She smiled at me, her icy eyes glinting, even though the sun hadn’t yet made an appearance today.
    “Allison,” she said out loud in the same voice I'd heard in my head. A shiver raced down my spine when she spoke. Why were they even here?
    “Liam? What’s going on?” I asked through clenched teeth.
    “I wasn’t prepared for this,” Liam said, his eyes focused on the ground. He was grinding his teeth, too.
    “I’m sure you weren’t,” the blonde said. “But too much time has passed already. You should have known you couldn’t put this off forever.”
    Liam looked at me then, his eyes filled with regret. My heart lurched, and I had the urge to bolt. I shouldn’t feel empathy for the man who left my mother pregnant and alone.
    “I would’ve liked to...” He broke off and turned to look at the blonde woman. “She knows nothing of your kind.”
    Anger and frustration instantly replaced any other emotions that may have been building. “What are you talking about?”
    Liam took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “The things I didn’t think I could explain to you last night”—he exchanged a look with the woman—“well, it appears I can