The Curse Conduit
Chapter 22

Kimberley found herself running to Elizabeth’s room as she heard her call out. She shook her lightly. “Lizzie wake up, wake up Lizzie.”

Elizabeth shouted and sat bolt upright “Derek!” her eyes were wild and frantic as they bounced around the room until they landed on Kimberly’s face. Her tears started as she realised where she was. “Oh god Kimber. He was so badly hurt.”

“Who? Declan, Danny?”

“Declan, no it was Derek, I swear it was Derek and he was mumbling about Uri being captured.”

At least with Elizabeth speaking Uri’s name Kimberly knew which dream she had been in. She sat on the edge of the bed. “So he did not die in your arms this time?”

Elizabeth shook her head and dried her eyes. “No, this was different, something I have not seen before. He was a mess Kimber, a mess. He was all cut up. He’d been beaten. Some of the men brought him back to the castle. They found him wandering back to the camp.”

“He said something about Uri, what was it?”

“Uri saved him. Got him out of the enemy camp he got captured. He was frantic about it. He wanted to go back and find him but he was so bad Kimber he could hardly move. My uncle.” Elizabeth stopped as she heard her words and Kimberly gave her a worried look.

Elizabeth continued. “The King sent others back to find Uri once he understood that Declan had not given them any information.”

Elizabeth got hold of her friend’s hands; she was cold and still shaking. “Kimberly it was so real. I can still feel all the emotion running through my body. How can I keep going like this? I can feel her love and torment as if it were my own.”

Kimberly took a deep breath. “I am so sorry Lizzie, I really wish there was something I could do but there is one good thing. We know that Uri survived. Remember what the others told us, he lived. You have seen him yourself when….” She didn’t finish, they both knew when she meant.

“Come on have a cup of tea with me?”

Elizabeth nodded and followed Kimberly out into the kitchen picking up her mobile phone as she did.

“Who are you calling at this hour?”

Elizabeth began to text. “I just need to leave Derek a message. I need to make sure he is alright.”

As Derek and Uriah entered the lounge room they found Simian and Casta waiting. They had let Uriah check on Derek and stood expectantly as they came out of his room headed for the door. Uriah gave them a sideways glance and kept moving. “Going to the bar.”

“That bad?” Simian was looking at Derek not Uriah and all Derek did was nod.

Casta and Simian fell into step and they all made their way to the lift and down to the bar.

On the ride down Derek had explained what had transpired in his room so by the time they did get to the bar all four of them were ready for a drink.

They were thankful that it was quiet when Derek’s phone rang. “It’s from Lizzie. She wants to know if I am alright.”

Uriah flashed him a look he could not read as he emptied his glass and ordered another drink. “You gave her your number?”

Derek shrugged his shoulders. “Seemed like the right thing to do. She’s caught up in all this as well.”

He was about to text her back when Casta put his hand on his arm. “If you call her back now, no matter what you say she will know you are not alright. Wait until a decent hour and then call.”

Derek thought about his friend’s advice and decided to follow it putting the phone back in his pocket and emptying his own glass.

Kimberly smiled at her friend. “See, you are worried about nothing. If he had been awake he would have called back. He’s okay. We can go and check later in the morning if you like.”

Elizabeth nodded over her cup of tea. “I would like that.”

By the time Simian and Casta had convinced the other two that they’d, had enough to drink they’d had far too much to drink. It was almost six in the morning so they moved from the bar to the restaurant and ordered breakfast. It took some doing but they did manage to get Uriah and Derek to eat and consume several cups of strong black coffee each. Unfortunately it was not enough. Both men needed to be helped back to the lift.

Casta was not pleased. “And how are we supposed to keep you awake now?”

Uriah hugged him a little too hard. “Don’t worry. I’m so drunk I couldn’t dream even if I wanted to and I don’t but if I did I won’t remember anything anyway it will be okay. If this works I might have to stay drunk.”

Simian and Casta looked at each other as they helped their friends to their room. The thought of having two drunken friends to cope with was not a happy thought.

Derek’s phone rang and he struggled to get to it, almost falling over in the process so Casta took it off him getting a puppy dog hurt look form Derek which he ignored.

“It’s Elizabeth.”

It was not Derek that lunged for the phone but Uriah and he did manage to sprawl himself on the floor. Simian struggled to get him back on his feet. “Don’t care if you dream or not you’re going to bed.”

Completely forgetting about the phone call Uriah draped his arm over Simian’s shoulder giving him a stupid look. “Okay Buddy.”

As Casta moved Derek towards his own room he began to complain and reach for the phone. “But Lizzie what did she say.”

“She’s fine Derek. We will call her later.”

“Okay dad.” Was all he said before he laughed and Casta placed him on the bed.

Casta and Simian regrouped in the lounge. Casta sending a message back to Elizabeth. “She wants to meet us for breakfast.” He looked at Simian. “I know we said we would not leave those two alone but I think we should meet her. We can have a civilized coffee while they have breakfast. Find out why she called so early this morning. Something must have spooked her. ”

Simian nodded in agreement.

It was not long before Elizabeth and Kimberly joined Casta and Simian in the hotel restaurant. The women ordered breakfast while Casta explained what had happened over night. Elizabeth’s hand trembled a little as she drank her orange juice. Casta looked at Simian and then back to Elizabeth. “Are you okay?”

“Just a little shocked that we would be dreaming of the very same thing. Derek is alright isn’t he?”

It was Simian’s turn to speak. “He is a bit battered and bruised but I think he will be suffering more from a hangover than anything else when he does wake up. Uriah as well. I have never seen him drink so much.”

Kimberly was feeling a little guilty and ashamed. “When I told him to take a sleeping pill that’s not what I meant.” She looked at the men. “Do you think they will be alright? I mean, left alone.”

Casta shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure, but we are not very far away if anything does happen. Would you like to see Derek after breakfast?”

Both women nodded just as the waiter arrived with their food.

Back in the hotel room Derek and Uriah had gone to sleep and they had not dreamt. Technically they did dream but it was not like the dreams they were used to. These dreams were malevolent, dark with a tinge of horror to them. Images flashed across their minds, images of Declan and Uri, Danny and Urian, Beth-Elena and Bethie, even themselves. But the images were sinister and evil, cloaked in oppression, terrifying visions of all their friends being tortured and dying in the most gruesome of ways. Derek and Uriah each struggled in their slumber, fighting to ward off the demons that followed them, always unseen but felt. As they watched their friends die they knew their turn was getting closer, like a bear breathing down your neck they could feel it getting closer. A dark figure closing in, grabbing at them, tearing their flesh.

Derek struggled so much with the bed clothes that he fell to the floor with a thud, this is what woke him. For a few moments he was disorientated, scared, pulling at his clothes to make sure he was still in one piece. Calming down, his hands went to his head and he groaned. Derek might not remember a lot about the night before but he did remember that he drank too much, way too much.

Uriah’s dreams had been similar but unlike Derek he did not fall out of bed. The images had been so bloody, so brutal it was the shock that woke him. Uriah cried out as he woke, he was covered in sweat, breathing hard like he had been running. Which he had been, running to his friends to try and save them but the faster he ran the further away they got. Then a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back and the feeling of cold steel as it sliced through his stomach. Uriah pulled at his shirt so he could see his stomach, nothing, not even a bruise. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat with his head down regulating his breathing, his whole body shaking, tears appearing. Uriah had never felt so scared in all his life and it had been a dream. His head hurt but curiously he was not suffering from a hangover, it had been scared out of him. Uriah tried to stand, sitting back down as his legs gave way and holding on to the edge of the bed. “This has to end.”

Uriah heard Casta and Simian return, there was a gentle knock on his door and Simian stuck his head in the room surprised to see that Uriah was up. “Are you okay Uriah?”

Simian gasped as Uriah lifted his head. He could tell that he had been crying and looked deathly pale. “Uriah! Do you want me to call the doctor?”

Uriah shook his head and smiled unconvincingly. “No.” his voice hushed. “Just a bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

At Simian’s suggestion images flashed through Uriah’s mind making him shiver. “No.”

Simian was at a loss as to what to do. “Elizabeth and Kimberly are here if you want to come out.”

Uriah ran his hand through his hair as he looked at Simian. “Give me a minute.”

Simian gave his friend an assuring smile and left him to his thoughts.

Back out in the lounge Derek had joined them happy to be getting a ribbing from Kimberly for getting drunk. Her teasing brought a light back into his thoughts chasing away the foreboding feeling his dream had left him with.

Elizabeth hugged him putting her hands around his middle and resting her head on his chest. “I was so worried about you.”

Derek wrapped is arm around her, it felt so natural, so right. “Apart from a blinding headache I am okay.”

Casta had been on the phone ordering coffee from room service when Uriah joined them. Everyone was stunned at how he looked. With his hands shoved in his jeans pocket and shoulders slightly slumped he looked like a man defeated.

The crushed man that stood before her shattered Kimberly’s heart. She bit her bottom lip to stop her tears. Standing in front of Uriah she pulled one of his hands out of his pockets, Uriah did not resist just looking into her eyes. “Don’t give up yet Uriah.” She lent in and kissed him on the cheek.

Uriah closed his eyes as she did letting her gentle touch soak through him.

“Don’t give up Uriah; you are much stronger than you know. We might not be able to stop your dreams but we are all here for you. You know that don’t you?”

Uriah looked around the room at the others then back at Kimberley. “I do.”

Instinctively Derek knew that Uriah and he had been having the same dream and as frightening as it has been he seemed to have been able to shake it off a little better than his friend. “Don’t fold on me now Uriah; I can’t do this without you. You are much stronger than me.” Derek stood next to Kimberly who still had hold of Uriah’s hand. “Uriah, I would have gone crazy long before now if not for you. I need you.”

Uriah felt Kimberly squeeze his hand “We all need you.” Again she lent in and gave him a kiss, this time gently on the lips and whispered. “I need you.” And her cheeks coloured just a little.

Uriah looked into her eyes, did this mean she had feelings for him and he had not noticed because of his own feelings towards Elizabeth. He was not sure how he felt about her but it was nice to know that someone did actually have feelings for him. He smiled back at her and sighed. All he could think to say was “Thank you.”

The other three men smiled seeing the transaction between the two. Elizabeth hugged her friend when she came back to stand next to her. She was happy that she had let Uriah know how she felt. It had been a long time since Kimberly had let anyone into her life. Elizabeth liked Uriah; he would be good for her. She smiled at her own thoughts. Uriah would be good for anyone. Her own feelings towards Uriah did not so much trouble her but bemused her. If she had not met Derek then maybe Kimberly would have had competition for Uriah’s affection.

As Derek kissed her on the top of the head all thoughts of Uriah were lost and her heart sang its song for Derek.

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