There was a loud bang. And afterwards, everything turned black. Everything around him seemed wet until he realized that he was sweating like a leaky heater. His breathing went fast but it took a while until his brain got the idea that there wasn’t much oxygen left.

Finally, he kicked back the blanket that had covered him entirely.

Breathes in – breathes out.

Then he opened his eyes. Blinked. And noticed that he was in his bedroom. In his bed while there was already a bright day happening on the other side of the window.

For a moment he simply wasn’t unable to connect his latest memories with his current situation. He tried to remember. About the theatre. About his job. The conversation. The other conversation.

The horribly spectacular sunset.

Until he realized that all of that just had been a dream. Well, it had to be. Because if his latest memories weren’t a dream, then what was that? What was his state he was in at the moment?

Darren Myles looked down on his hands, turned them around, tweaked his skin.

It hurt. And this was the sweetest feeling Darren ever had the fortune to feel. He laid back down on his bed and felt tears of relief leaving his eyes.

One hour later he was standing backstage at the theatre on his control panel, dusting every single LED with loving passion, as if it was the best and most enjoyable work possible. He had been a little late, so the director had to put on the most needed lights. But fortunately enough, the performance only started in about another hour. So, today’s audience wouldn’t notice that something had been different before.

During the performance, Darren had his little monitor by his side. It belonged to the theatre’s older equipment, so its screen only showed very little people in black, grey and white nuances. And also of his lights and smoke he only got an idea from what it should be, not how it actually was seen by the spectators. It was the curse of the control panel’s position. But he should really demand for at least a better screen.

Darren actually smiled at this thought. Because it didn’t really matter. He knew what he had to do. He knew how the lights and the smoke effected the play and certain scenes. He was able to do it even if he’d be blind.

Still, it would be nice to watch the effects in their all brightness or darkness and beauty. It would also help Darren to make it even better next time. But seriously, compared with this horrible nightmare he had to experience last night, the ancient technology of the theatre not even caused the slightest anger in Darren.

This night’s performance had been just another huge success, mostly due to the breathtaking portrayal of the protagonist of the play. And Darren felt a strange pride for the young man, like he had been the one on stage or being a close relative to him.

Maybe because of this strange nightmare he felt connected to the young man.

Maybe he was just glad that it had been only a nightmare.

But he was still proud of him, and he was staring at him when he appeared backstage, surrounded by his fellow actors and staff from the play and the theatre.

When their eyes met, it wasn’t an accident because at some point Mr Fitzpatrick had to look at him because Darren wasn’t looking at anyone or anything else for the last five minutes.

And he kept eye contact just to make sure to both of them that it really wasn’t an accident.

Then Darren finally turned back to his control panel to switch off all lights that weren’t needed any more. And he wasn’t surprised at all that Mr Fitzpatrick wasn’t standing amidst all his admirers and colleagues any more when Darren risked a peek after a while.

And he actually felt slightly excited when he basically knew that someone was standing right behind him. But before he was able to turn around, the very person made himself noticeable.

»Mr Myles, I beg your pardon in disturbing you,« the voice said; the voice of an actor.

Now Darren turned around, smiling at the young man, putting his duster aside that he had just been using.

»Mr Fitzpatrick, you’re not disturbing me at all,« Darren said but those words instantly sounded strange to him. Because they sounded so familiar, and Darren almost felt like he was used by an alien entity.

»So, you already know my name; that’s impressive. But, please, call me Ronnie,« the young man said and didn’t seem to find anything strange about their conversation at all.

»I do know the names of everyone here,« Darren lied and didn’t want to because he still felt that someone just put those words into his mind and there was no other option for him but to spit them out. But despite knowing all this, he added, »That’s my job.«

»I see. It’s still nice to know and makes me feel welcome,« Ronnie said smiling – this horribly beautiful smile that made Darren into a robot, reliving this nightmare and didn’t enjoy anything about it any more.

»You are welcome, Ronnie. And, please, call me Darren,« he now said without thinking.

»Thank you, Darren,« Ronnie said, trying to get eye contact with the man who seemed clearly uncomfortable in his presence. So, initially, Ronnie had been rather confident with his plan. But he grew more and more suspicious about it, wondering if he just had the wrong impression at first sight.

But just before the silence between them could become really awkward, he simply went on with what he wanted with walking over to Darren.

»I’ve got a problem, Darren, and I thought maybe you could be of some help for me,« the young man indicated and was finally met with a shy glance.

»At your service, Ronnie,« Darren said while his eyes were already gone again.

And this was the moment when he felt Ronnie touching his shoulder. He wanted to move backwards but there was the wall and his control panel. So, the only thing he was able to do was looking at the young man, hoping that he was somehow able to read his thoughts. Because he couldn’t tell him that he already experienced that just happened now, his nightmare and how it ended. He just wasn’t able to tell him because there was clearly something wrong with him – some barrier in his mind blocked him from talking and explaining right now. Darren wanted to fight against it, he wanted to form those words, wanted to speak out what was possible, even if it sounded ridiculous. But he couldn’t. He was only able to stand there, looking at Ronnie like he was a ghost.

Fortunately enough, Ronnie stepped backwards himself but with a look in his eyes that Darren wasn’t able to read. He wasn’t looking away this time but something had changed.

»I hope, you don’t have a problem with me, Darren,« Ronnie half asked and seemed glad when Darren shook his head.

»No, not at all. I was just… a little…« Darren started and he knew about the next words that already formed inside of his mouth. But this time he was able to swallow them down. He desperately needed to cut off this nightmare of a storyline – there needed to be another path they both could go, without this final destination that only Ronnie was heading towards. So, Darren tried to find this different route: »See, Ronnie, I know why you’re here. I actually had a nightmare about it. Not what you think – a real one. And it didn’t end well. What do you want to talk about, I don’t really want to in here. It’s… too crowded, you know? So, if you are really interested, then… please wait for me until I’m finished with my work, so we can both go to my favourite place. There we can talk – if you still want to.«

For a moment, Ronnie seemed to be confused now and didn’t seem to know what to make of Darren’s words. He somehow sounded trustworthy and he looked like this as well. His first impression of him didn’t fool Ronnie. And now, that he had finally found the courage to go and talk to the man, he wouldn’t let slip this opportunity like that. So, he finally smiled.

»I’ll wait for you, Darren. Hopefully you’ve got a nice place to go,« he said.

»I won’t disappoint you, I hope,« Darren replied.

But what they got when they were standing on the edge of the cliff, was pouring rain from heavy clouds and a dark sea that had nothing to reflect – there was no moon or even a few stars. There was just darkness and the beginning of a heavy flood.

»I really thought this was a good idea. It was so beautiful last night,« Darren said, sitting on the driver’s seat of his car, until he realized that he had just dreamed of the beauty. And he turned to Ronnie who was sitting right next to him. »Of course, this wasn’t real. It was just this nightmare I had.«

»Your dream was about a dry and delightful view to the sea and you call it a nightmare?« Ronnie wanted to know.

»Believe me, it was,« Darren hastened to say and looked back straight forward. »For whatever reason I sent you to another guy, then you had an accident that same night and then I went here. But it was so beautiful – the whole sunset – I couldn’t stand it.«

»I see,« Ronnie said, believing he knew the details in between that Darren withheld. »But it was just a dream, a nightmare. And obviously, you learned something from it.«

Darren looked at the young man. He didn’t understand initially, so Ronnie added: »You didn’t send me away.«

»Yes, you’re right,« Darren understood. »But maybe we should go away. Otherwise this rain could possibly sweep us down the cliff.«

»That certainly wouldn’t be a pleasant experience,« Ronnie agreed and smiled this wonderful smile that Darren could die for.

THE END, PART TWO

#suspense #relationship #paranormal