Page 5 of My Silent Demon

The man looked like he’d walked off a movie set — handsome and built, wearing jeans, a dark t-shirt, and a form-fitting leather jacket. The only feature that was out-of-the-ordinary was his eyes. Like Onyx, his irises were fully black. Maybe it was that I’d seen him so often in my dreams, but something about him unsettled me. “Tell me he’s an actor or model or something.”

I looked back to Wynn, who narrowed her eyes at me. “Osian? He’s not famous. What’s going on?”

“I’ve—” I sighed. “This is going to sound weird no matter how I say it.”

Wynn barked a laugh. “You may be surprised. Try me.”

“I’ve seen him in my dreams.”

Wynn’s brow creased. “Osian?”

“Yeah. But I’ve never seen him in real life before.”

“Did you dream about him last night? Maybe you had a premonition about who you would meet today.”

I shook my head no. “Well, I mean yes, I did, but that’s not it. Not only last night. I’ve dreamt of him every night for months. Hundreds of times.”

“Huh. That is weird. I don’t know what it means.” Wynn bit her bottom lip in thought.

“You see why I’m acting weird, though, right? I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Oh, I get it. Maybe you should talk to Osian.”

“About what? He’s going to be weirded out if I tell him about the dreams.”

“Believe me, it’ll take more than that to weird him out.”

I crossed my arms. “I don’t know. Maybe I should let it go.”

“Why don’t you play it by ear? See what happens? Osian is a good dem— err, guy. You might become friends naturally. Maybe eventually you can tell him.”

“I guess.”

Wynn nodded. “It seems like a good plan. It should work. Let’s go back to the table.”

“Okay.”

Wynn led the way back to the table. “So what’s going on?” Wynn asked as she settled onto her chair. I did the same. Osian stood as Wynn and I sat down.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Onyx said.

“Osian, you’re leaving? Won’t you stay for breakfast?” Wynn said.

I shivered when he glanced at me.

He shook his head, showed her the peppermint candy in his mouth, waved goodbye, and left.

“Well, so much for that plan,” Wynn said. She popped a grape into her mouth. “We’ll get you guys together, don’t worry.”

“Huh?” Onyx asked.

“Nothing,” Wynn said. “Girl talk.”

Chapter 3

Magdalene

I went to classes like normal for the next few days. Campus security issued an alert warning students to travel in pairs when possible and not at night. Apparently, some local students were murdered, and this was security’s effort to avoid more.

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