Sour Taste (Part Two)

Note: Yes, I'm turning this into a series. Thank you for your support!. If you don't understand it then go read part one please.

"Darling, why have you been so distant lately?" James asked Pearl while they were in their cozy living room. His voice was low and Pearl guessed it was because he had a busy day at his law firm. Pearl gave him an award-winning fake smile. "I just had a bad dream the other night, I'm just a bit on edge." she replied shortly. She got up and went to their kitchen before he could question her further.

When she closed the kitchen door behind her, she saw Alec sitting at James and Pearl's dark-oak kitchen table. "Alec, you idiot!" she exclaimed. "He could've seen you here. He could've been the one to come in here. Do you know how hard I try to keep you a secret?" "Ah, but I knew you'd be here alone. You always try to get away from him. I know you, Pearl. Better than he ever will," he said with a sly edge to his voice. Pearl loved his edge even though she didn't want to. "How did you even get in here?" Pearl asked, looking around the kitchen with curiosity. She saw the window was open and she let out a happy little sigh. "Never mind. You can leave the way you came," she said. "But I came all this way and I didn't even get a hug," Alec said with a teasing note in his voice. "Fine," Pearl said, giving in. "Meet me in the barn at midnight. Do not let anyone see you."

Pearl returned to the living room and she tried her hardest to stay calm, but she couldn't help but feel goosebumps on her arms at the thought of Alec. She sat next to James and pretended to laugh at the awful comedy he had put on. Finally, at 10:45 P.M., he got up, kissed her cheek, and said, "I'm going to bed, are you coming?" "Not right now. I'm going to watch a really long movie and I probably won't be in bed until after your asleep," Pearl blabbed. Luckily James was too ditzy to notice she was spinning that ring of hers which was her biggest nervous habit. "OK," he muttered sleepily and he plodded up the carpeted stairs in his light blue pajamas. He was ignorant to what his future wife was really up to.

At five minutes until midnight, Pearl stood outside the red barn. She had goosebumps so she hugged herself to warm herself up, thought she doubted that they were from the cold. Suddenly, by the light of the moon, she saw a dark figure walking up to her with a bouquet of flowers. As he got closer she could tell that they were blood red roses. The thought of blood red and Alec made her think of that dream, so she closed her eyes and tried to rid herself of those nasty thoughts. "Hello there, Stranger" he said as he flourished those darn flowers at her. She opened her eyes and smiled, despite herself. She took them from his grasp, as she did a thorn pricked her finger and her instincts told her she should run. She ignored them. She was just overreacting."Thanks, but I can't keep these. If James saw these, well, he may be an idiot but even he isn't that stupid." Pearl mused. "Hey, I thought you came here to see me, not him," muttered Alec in an annoyed tone. "Sorry," Pearl replied, leading him into the barn. Inside it had a strong smell of chicken poop and hay. "Don't worry about it, anyways I had an idea," Alec said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Suddenly Pearl was overwhelmed by a strong sense of fear and Deja vu. "No. No, no, no. I have to go, I can't do this," Pearl said, backing away from Alec, fear visible in her dark eyes. Alec ran to the barn door and blocked it with his arm. "I knew you'd get like this, You were like this last time I tried." he said in a hiss. Pearl let out a gasp. So it wasn't a dream! "That's why I came prepared. You see those flowers, I sharpened the tips of the stem." he marched over to Pearl's little body so tightly she was sure it would leave a bruise, grabbed her firmly around the waist, and wrenched the blood red roses out of her grasp. He lifted it up as if to stab her. She couldn't escape his grasp. She closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for death to come.

Pearl sat up in a cold sweat. She looked around her dark bedroom and saw James asleep, his mouth was wide open, drooling on their white satin pillow. "Why do I keep having these bad dreams," she said aloud to herself. James let out a snort and rolled over. She sighed and went to put her hands over her eyes but stopped in her tracks. There was a scab on her finger from where the rose had poked her in her dream. She let out a soft scream and quickly looked over at James. He wasn't awake because he was a heavy sleeper. She quickly dashed to the bathroom and turned on the light. She looked in the large mirror and lifted her shirt. She saw no puncture wounds but she did  one big bruise on her waist where Alec had been holding her tightly in her dream. But this time she was sure that it wasn't a dream.