Meet Keely and Xavier: Keely Morgan pulled into the parking lot behind the bar. A single white light stood on a pole in the middle of the graveled lot. Gooseflesh skittered up her spine. This was a bad idea. She’d never been here before, had never even seen it before, yet she’d inexplicably known it was here and exactly how to find it.

Her mind hadn’t been her own in days. Her dreams were filled with dark, smoky confusion; her days filled with images of green fields and unusual skies. Why come to a strange place, a bar no less. And alone? She wanted to start the engine and drive straight home but a force stronger than her will was at work here.

She got out, locked the car and followed the broken concrete sidewalk to the front. A battered sign identifying the place as the Wandering Minstrel Tavern swayed slightly in a sudden gust of wind. She briskly rubbed at the ripples of goose flesh along her skin before reaching out for the brass-plated doorknob.

She pulled open the barrier and entered the room. Never having been a bar person to begin with the smell of thick smoke and stale beer nearly choked her. She needed a good strong breath to steady her nerves, but inhaling such a conglomeration of odors wasn’t something she could handle.

Keely kept a hand hovering near her nose while she made her way from the door to the bar stool nearest the exit.

The bartender, a man in his fifties, had bushy gray eyebrows arching over dark brown eyes. He flashed her a yellow smile. “What can I get you?”

“Just a Coke, please.”

“Sure thing.”

There weren’t many people. A couple sat at a table against the far wall. They were obviously engrossed in a heavy conversation.

An older man sat a few stools away. He was a heavyset man. His dark hair fell to his collar; a large mustache completely concealed his upper lip. He wore large metal-framed glasses, and when he looked her way, his gaze roamed down and then back up her body.

She quickly looked away and in her nervous state almost knocked over the glass she hadn’t even notice the bartender set in front of her. Her hand trembled as she lifted the Coke to her lips and sipped at it. The hair on the back of her neck prickled. She felt the invisible weight of someone watching. Using the mirror that ran the length of the wall she scanned the room.

There, in the back of the room. A pair of golden orbs were studying her. Golden? She couldn’t resist the pull that dragged her off the stool. She walked past table after table—drawn on an invisible string.

She closed the space between her and the eyes. As she plowed through the smoke, his image cleared. Those eyes belonged to a handsome man with dark coloring. He appeared to be in his early thirties.

His eyes were actually a deep shade of emerald green. A strange golden cast circled his irises then the odd shade started to glow. It was ridiculous. She was only imagining things. Sure, it looked like his eyes were glowing. It wasn’t possible. Lack of sleep. Mental decline. It was merely hallucination. Keely stiffened her backbone and gave a mental shake. She forced her gaze to lock on his. “May I sit down?”

He merely nodded. His dark hair lay on his shoulders in a sleek line. His jaw tightened and loosed, then a slow smile worked its way across his lips. “Well?”

She sat across the table from him and swallowed hard. “Why am I here?”

He studied her face. “That is a question philosophers have debated for all ages.”

“Please don’t mock me. I’m serious, I need to know why I am here.”

He stared holes into her very core. “Why ask me?”

She boldly returned his studying glare. “Because something inside me says you have the answer. For weeks, I haven’t been able to sleep or concentrate. Then tonight, I felt myself pulled to this bar, to this very table—with you. Please tell me, why I am here.”

“What’s you’re name?”

“Keely. Keely Morgan.”

He inhaled sharply. His eyes widened; in a matter of seconds he’d recovered and his insolent attitude returned. “I have no idea who you are, or why you’re here.”

“You’re lying!” she hissed. “I saw it in your face!” Keely leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temple with the heel of her palm. “What’s the matter with me?”

“Maybe you need to sleep it off. I’ll bid you goodnight.” With that he pushed up from the table and sauntered away.

Keely watched him disappear through the hazy room. The world spun. Senseless word-like sounds echoed in her brain. That strange out of control sensation swamped her. She grabbed her purse and hurried after him. His long legged stride made it hard for her to catch up. Finally, out in the lot, she reached his side. “Please. I’m so confused I need your help.”

He paused to peer down at her. “Listen Keely, go home. Sleep off the drink. Call your doctor and tell him of your difficulties, your confusion. You’re obviously out of your world here.”

She couldn’t move away, couldn’t tear her eyes from his. Suddenly there was hot searing pain in her head. “Be gone,” a voice roared in her brain. The intense throbbing made her dizzy and she jerked away. She turned and ran, not looking back, never stopping until her car was parked out front of her apartment building. She ran inside her, slammed the door shut, secured the locks and threw herself on the sofa. What was happening? Maybe she really was losing her mind.

It wasn’t until the wee hours, as the pink light of dawn punched between the blinds, that she finally slept.

Her alarm blared from the other room and she pushed off the sofa trying to work out the painful kinks from a fitful night on it.

She showered and dressed then went back to the living room. She hadn’t been late for work a day since her first job, but this last week she’d twice overslept and been tempted to call in sick.

Today the temptation was more than she could bear. After phoning in the message she sat back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

In seconds a vision filled her mind: a little girl with silver blond waist-length hair stood on the soft grassy edge of a crystal clear creek. Lavender and gold ribbons threaded through the hem and hung from the sleeves of her white gauze dress. Overhead a pale periwinkle sky made everything seem to glow. Standing in the water before her, a white unicorn, a single crimson fleck on its flank.

The girl pulled a jeweled dirk from her waist belt and carefully removed a large thorn from the unicorn’s flank. She reached into the pocket of the dress and drew out a handful of strange orange-green leaves. After crushing them, she dipped the mass into the water then applied them to the injury with gentle pressure. The unicorn dipped his head in a low bow. She lifted her hands and placed them on his golden horn.

Pain roared through Keely’s head. She bit her lips to hold back the cry that threatened to break free. She tried to sit up but the pain was too strong

Maybe she had some kind of mass in her brain. She’d seen shows where people with brain tumors had all kinds of weird visions and head pain. Once the dizziness passed, she’d call the doctor and schedule an appointment. She had to get her life back.

~ * ~

Xavier Blake paced the living room. When Keely appeared, he’d seen his own confusion whirling in her eyes. Something about her name triggered a latent memory but as quickly as it danced on the edges of his brain, it disappeared.

She’d been so beautiful, her skin as pale as that of a white rose. Her eyes were a strange shade—purple—he’d swear to it. When she looked at him, he felt his soul stripped bare. What memories did she stir in him?

Xavier moved to the sofa and lay back on the cushions. He let his eyes slide closed. In minutes the smell of sulphur filled his nostrils, the room became dark and the walls shimmered into the texture of a cavern: it was hot, miserably hot. Perspiration pooled all over his body. A sound drew his eyes to the darkest corner of the cave. Shuffling and rasping sounds drew closer. Suddenly the room was filled with a huge black dragon, his gold trimmed green eyes studied every inch of the room.

It inhaled long and deep then blew out a massive orange flame. Sounds of shrieking filled the chamber and the entire room exploded with brilliant white light. Then all was dark. The dragon was left as nothing more than a burnt husk on the bottom of the cave floor.

Pain filled Xavier’s chest and head at the same time. He was consumed with heartache at a profound loss. It weighed on him, burying him beneath its load.