Oblivion || n.h

One

 “Niall..”

Her voice so sweet calls to me far off in the distance. I'm on a beach again, and the sound of her voice guides me to the edge of the water.

“Over here!” She giggles, and I can't help but revel in the sound of it, better than any symphony ever created.

I look to my right – my left – and then I see her, standing just a few yards away ankle deep in the water. I shield the sun from my eyes with my hand to get a clearer image of her, but it's no use – I have to get closer.

“Niall” she sings, as I approach her, her smile warm and inviting, I can't look away without seeing her face clearly. Who is she? Why am I so intrigued by this stranger with the voice of an angel?

“Wait” She laughs slightly complete with a hand gesture to stop me.

I come to a halt only a few feet from her. The reverberation of the ocean and whistling of the breeze replaces the sound of her voice for several minutes.

I blink a thousand times per second trying to clear my vision and make out her features, I even go about rubbing my eyes, but when I look back up it's night and the sweet song of her voice turns into a hellish scream.

“Niall!” she screams, and I can't see her anymore. I whisk my head around trying to locate her, but i'm met with only a trail in the sand – a clear indication that she's been dragged away.

I run, following the trace of her abduction until I reach and empty lot.

“Where are you?!” I call out, my voice echoing through the vast area. I'm responded by the silence of the night until:

“Niall” my name is called but the voice is different, “Niall” the ground begins to shake and my vision begins to fade in and out.

“Niall wake up!” I jolt upright, disoriented as I look around my bedroom and find Belinda's warm blue eyes filled with worry, and her slender arms wrapped around my shoulders.

Fuck. It happened again...

“Jesus – your drenched in sweat” she sighs, her worrisome eyes scanning my half naked body. “Was it the same dream?”

I sigh and blink away the drowsiness, rubbing my face with my hands I let Bel's arms drop from around my body.

God. Why am I cursed with these vivid dreams? They drain every bit of peace from my nights, and part of my mornings. I've had them for as long as I can remember – I think they started around the time I got married to Belinda. And for a second I almost thought she was the cause but that's just stupid – even more so when I put that theory to the test, the night I purposely slept at the office and the dreams still resurfaced.

“Babe, you know i'll never leave you” Belinda coos, moving behind me on the bed and massaging my shoulders. I shudder as my sweat covered body reacts to the AC on in the house.

“I know” my tongue is heavy and my mind clouded as the memory of once telling Belinda what the dreams were about, invades my thoughts. I explained it to her the best I could but couldn't just say I dreamt of losing a strange woman, whose bitter abduction made me feel as if a part of me was missing. A woman whose face is still a blur to me, no matter how many times I try to decipher her in my dream state. So I told Bel I dreamt I was losing her..

“Thanks baby” I sigh, taking one of her hands in mine over my shoulder.

“I love you” she wraps her other arm around me from behind, her strawberry blonde hair tickling my face.