Chapter 144Artist Mirage 4

My eyes quickly looked at Nuru and back to the cup. The intonation of her words carried a much heavier message than the words themselves. My whole body felt as if it was being pressed together evenly. An odd feeling as if I was diving way too deep and the water was crushing me slowly. Yet, it didn't hurt, just the constant feeling of pressure.

I wanted to reply to Nuru, ask her what she saw before. But movements were tough. Like being suspended in a sludge, everything felt as if it moved only in slow-motion. So it felt.

My thoughts must have been racing in my mind in speeds I wasn't used to. And all so clear.

Something had to be done.

"Nuru, what did you do last time?"

She looked up sharply, fear in her eyes, she looked so small. "There was nothing I could do, everything just started moving!"

Something nagged at my mind, but I couldn't get hold of it. "It's only just beginning, maybe we can calm her."

Nuru looked surprised. "But she sleeps very deeply..."

From out of nowhere some knowledge came to me. We are not insensitive when we sleep. THe outside world still affects us. A hug can calm us, a kiss can douse our fears. The state of the body can affect the state of the mind...

I hoped.

My hands moved the cup to the middle of the desk automatically, no clue why, and I walked back to the bed. She wasn't moving, but there was the illusion of movement around her. If she would have started to wildly flay her arms and legs around her, it wouldn't come as a surprise. The tension was tangible.

My hand reached out to touch her face and retracted instantly. "She's burning up."

Again I reached out for her, this time prepared for the heat and the intensity of her presence. Still, it was like being bitten once and putting your hand back in the jaws. It hurt. I felt her nightmares like ghosts through my soul. My body tensed and shivered with the many sensations that passed through it. What was she dreaming?

There were no clear images or feelings. Just sharp emotions that hurt me like needles or knives cutting and scratching my skin. Somehow it felt as if she was in another world. A world build up out of fragments of her passed, glued together into those nightmares that hurt us beyond explanation.

But nothing happened to me.

I leaned over, my face nearing hers, noticing now that her expression appeared one of pain. The nightmare rocked her again without moving, the bite once more. It was strange, it hurt like nothing else while it didn't.

Like a shock with no trace.

I moved around her, to the front of her face with mine. Fascinated I looked at her. All this happened in mere seconds but it felt an eternity already had passed.

The storm was brewing.

It had to stop.

It had to cease.

The storm needed rest.

I kissed her.

My body had moved before I could even stop it. I kissed her lovingly, my hands holding her face to mine as my lips pressed themselves lovingly against hers. Her lips replied. They moved to kiss me back automatically.

Our lips were locked together for a moment, my fingers pressed against her neck and I felt her fingers in mine.

A kiss.

All the danger, all the knives and needles, the tremors and vibes were washed away by a simple kiss.

It was only then I realized something that had been nagging at me all this time. The kiss telling me a tale that was so obvious I felt like a fool not realizing it. The paintings, the dreams, the connection. I missed her so much.

But more importantly...

I loved her.