Dreamer - Chapter 25

I watched as he pulled out of the long driveway before glancing out at the trees surrounding the little house I now call home. Each tree had been set apart so differently; half looked as if they were strong soldiers, while the others looked to be weak and frail. Almost like they were representing myself according to most in this small, new town. Among the trees, I kept seeing a sad, broken-hearted little girl.. crying over the lifeless body that was splattered all over the ground in front of her.

"Why do you like Ace so damn much?"

"Excuse me?"

"Ace. That dude who may also be my friend. Why do you like him so much?"

I turned my head so I was facing his side profile, "Trust me when I say this.. I don't like him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," I let out a slow and steady breath, "I am sure."

"Lex."

"What's up, Rev?'

"I know you like him."

"I just told you I didn't."

"Prove it."

"How the hell would I prove to you that my feelings for Ace just don't exist?" I asked. I knew he had been right, but that wasn't about to stop me from continuing this little charade I put up about not liking Ace at all. If he can pretend to be someone he wasn't, so can I.

"Kiss me."

"I blushed at his words, "Wait.. what?"

I was pulled out of the trance to the sound of a phone ringing.

"Who's that?" Rev turned his head slightly to face me. My cheeks were still bright red after the scene that just played in my mind. Oh god, please tell me he won't notice them.

I slid my phone out of my pocket to check, "It's nobody."

"Is it a boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend." I felt my cheeks grow hot as I spoke those words.

The phone continued to ring.

"Answer it," Rev said to me, "It's fucking annoying."

I slid my thumb across the screen before placing the phone up to my ear. I was expecting Rev to demand the call go on speaker, just like Ace had done, but he didn't. Huh. What a gentleman he is.. for someone who held me at gunpoint the first night we met.

"Hi Michael." a smile crept across my face.

"Hi Lex. Did I call at a good time?"

"I guess so. I'm not home at the moment but-"

"Where are you?"

Crap. Why did I say that? "Nowhere special. I just felt like getting some fresh air."

"Are you with him, 'Lexis?" He asked me.

'Lexis. I smiled at that nickname. Only he ever knew about that nickname.. hell, he came up with it one random night at 3am. "Don't worry, Michael. I'm not."

"If you're not with him, how about you tell me exactly where you are?"

"I don't have to tell you about every little detail about my life, Michael."

"We used to share everything with each other, Lex. You used to be able to confide in me for everything. I was your diary. Before you moved away, you never even thought about lying to me. You never even thought twice before sharing your crazy stories with me."

Yes, but that was before you went and got pissed off about who I was hanging out with. "I still do." I told him. I wasn't lying. I know lately I've lied more to him than I ever had, and maybe I have been keeping more stuff from him since moving, but.. I still want Michael to know all about my crazy stories. He's the one person who always sits back and actually listens to me.. no matter how dumb I sounded. I'll never stop telling him the stories of my crazy life.

"Don't you still trust me?"

"I always have."

"It never seems like it, anymore."

"Michael." My voice cracked as I held back a tear.

Rev pulled the car towards the side of the road, leaning into a ditch, and grabbed the phone from my hand. I went to grab it back, but he held my wrist using a single fist.

"Rev-" I went to say but he interrupted me.

"I'm on the phone, babe. Wait a second." He placed a finger to his lips. I let out a small sigh. I wasn't even going to bother with saying how it was my phone call he just butted into. I just wanted to hear what he was trying to tell Michael.

He put my phone up to his ear before letting the sentences flow off his tongue, "Hey.. Michael, is it? I can promise you that Lex is safe. I would never let anything happen to her, so there's no need to go and get all worried about nothing." With those words said, he hung up before handing the phone back to me.

"Why'd you do that?" I asked, slipping my phone back into my pocket.

"So he wouldn't worry about you so much."

"He doesn't even know who you are. Not recognizing your voice, he'll probably just worry even more."

"At least you'll be safe."

"How would I know you'd even keep me safe? You could just be saying that to him just to get him to stop freaking out."

"Lex," He responded, "if I didn't keep you safe, Ace would actually kill me." I was shocked by his words. Was he actually scared of Ace?

"You probably have the better chance at killing him before he even had the chance to point the gun at your head."

"So you do know me." He chuckled.

"Did you forget that I actually saw you shoot him? Did you forget that I was standing right there when-"

"Still. Did you just admit that I was tougher than Ace?"

"You probably are," I smiled, "Why are you doing this for me?"

"I felt as if you were ready to learn a bit more about who it was that I really am."

I stared out the car window, expected to see mountains and trees for miles like at my house, but instead all I could see were empty fields. A few houses had been spread out in far distances from the other. It seemed so peaceful here.

"Where are we?" I asked, taking in the scenery around me.

It really was beautiful here. This place reminded me of the place my mom used to tell me that she wanted to move to one day. She thought that an empty field would have been the key to a happy family life; a place where her and dad could just sit on the porch as they watched me run through the fields catching butterflies or rabbits. Maybe she finally found a place like that.. but instead of sitting with dad, she's just sitting on that porch watching the choices I made through life.

"It's just some place," He responded, "I wanted you to get a chance to see what Saturday will be like.. so you wouldn't freak as much."

"Why would I freak?" I clutched the handle of the door, "What are we doing?" My mind began to race and my heart began to pump a thousand beats per second.

"Nothing too big," He said in a calming voice, "It's just a small sample of what's to come."

"You're a jerk."

"How?" He asked, taking a sharp turn past a fence into an empty field of grass.

"You're tricking me."

"I didn't trick you." He put the truck into park and shifted his body to face me, "I told you I wanted you to finally learn more about who I am.. about who I represent."

"If I had known that this was what you meant I would've-"

"-stayed home." He finished the sentence before I had the chance.

"Exactly!" I shouted back.

"That's why I didn't straight out tell you what I was planning."

"Are you going to tell me now.. now that we're here?"

He opened his door, stepping out before staring into the emptiness. I did the same, careful not to slam his door hard, "Rev."

He stood at the front of the truck now, "I'm showing you an activity that is probably one of the easiest that anyone in the circle has had to learn. You're going to learn how to do a raid today, Lex."

"You're showing me what?" I asked him hoping he said something completely different and I just misheard him.

"A raid doesn't need much detail for you to know what it is.. it's self explanatory," He placed his finger to his lip, "Just don't tell Ace that I took you here."

"Maybe I just mi-" I went to tease him but another car pulled up next to us and a brown haired boy hopped out. He was wearing a black t-shirt with extremely tight jeans that showed off the bulge in his pants in quite a form. He was wearing a pair of dark shades and held a pack of beer in his hand. I should've just assumed there would be drinking allowed at whatever this thing was.

"Mace! You actually came! I'm actually surprised," Rev grabbed the beer out of his hand, "and look at that.. you also brought me a present!"

"Hey man." Mace slapped his hand against Rev's back. Now there's a gesture I never thought Rev would ever be into.. but Rev just slapped his hand on Mace's back in return. Although I did notice a bit of force when Rev slapped him back; I guess he wasn't too keen on that whole gesture.

"Were you planning a party?" I asked sarcastically with a lighthearted chuckle.

"I see you brought the sexy," Mace smirked towards my direction before pressing his torso against mine. He managed to curl his fingers in my hair before I got the chance to step away. Mace was rubbing me the wrong way. Who even was this guy? How many of these guys did Rev know? Does he just somehow have a secret underground lair where he creates all of them or something?

"That's Lex," Rev said to him, giving him a slight back off eye contact, "Careful bro. She already belongs to Ace."

"I don't belong to anyone." I said putting emphasis on the word belong. Mace may have made me feel uncomfortable but I didn't want him thinking I had belonged to anyone.. especially Ace.

"If Ace owns her.. does he realize that you brought her here?" Mace asked him, ignoring what I said before.

"He does not," sad Rev, "and don't you dare go running down to tell him either."

"I'm not scared of that bitch." Mace laughed. Rev didn't really have a response to say to Mace, and I sure as hell didn't. I just stood back and watched as Rev pulled a beer out of the pack Mace brought and used his keychain to pop off the top before handing a bottle out the Mace to do the same.

"Take one." Rev said to me before chugging his bottle.

"Why would I?"

"It tastes amazing, for starters." Mace replied.

"I don't drink." I quickly stated. I probably sounded like such a priss saying those words but it was true. I don't drink. I've never drank. I don't ever see myself every trying a drink.

"Have you ever tried it?" Mace asked before taking another swig.

I rolled my eyes, "How would I have tried beer if I just told you I didn't drink?"

"Why would your refuse a drink if you never even tasted it first?" Mace was mocking my tone as he asked, almost as if he was attempting to piss me off. He took off his shades and hung them over his shirt, revealing the gorgeous jade colored eyes underneath.

"I just don't want to," I responded, "I'm not even the legal age."

"Just try a little bit," Rev said to me, his tone of voice a little harsher than it was before.

"I'm not about to be forced to take a drink." I responded back harshly.

Rev grabbed my hand and slid a bottle into my palm, "Just do it."

"Why do you want me to drink so bad?"

"Raids are way better when you're already drunk." Mace answered before Rev had a chance to open his mouth.

My eyes widened, "Excuse me?"

Mace whispered something into Rev's ear, causing him to snicker. "Are you always this bitchy?" Mace asked me.

"Yes," I leaned back against the hood of the truck, "I am always this bitchy. You got me."

Mace looked over at Rev, then to me, then back at Rev, "She reminds me so much of how you used to be."

Rev smirked, "Besides my attitude clearly being a lot cooler than hers."

"Not really," Mace said, "It can still be the most annoying attitude.. if we're being honest."

"So I started off as sexy and now I'm just plain annoying?" I asked him.

"Whatever."

"Let's just get started," Rev spoke out, "before she actually changes her mind."

"I'm still not drinking." I tossed the bottle off to the side, but Mace managed to catch it before it shattered to the ground, opening it and taking another swig of the bottle. I'm pretty positive my dad never treated me as careful as that boy treated his bottle of beer. It's just beer. What's so important about a plain old bottle of beer? So I didn't want to drink beer. Lots of people choose not to do it.. it doesn't mean I'm such a bad person. I just want to try and make good choices for myself.. even when my previous choices haven't been the best decisions for me lately.

I had to run to catch back up with them two, getting out of breath quickly, "Could you guys just maybe.. slow it down just a tad?"

"If we slowed it down, we risk actually being seen." Mace answered.

I sighed, "Do you always answer for Rev?"

"Sometimes."

"No." Rev answered, "He doesn't always answer for me." I noticed Rev give Mace a look, "He just doesn't know when to shut his fucking mouth."

"Sorry." Mace responded, "I didn't mean for your girlfriend to get all upset.. oh wait, that's right. That was you."

"Shut up." Rev said to him.

"Why should I? Do you not want to face the fact that you are actually changing her?" Mace pestered him again.

"Shut the fuck up."

"Why should I?"

"Lex, turn around for a second."

I shot him a weird look. "Wha- Why?"

"Just turn around and face the other way for a second," He made a twirling movement with his finger. I did as I was told, peering over my shoulder when he wasn't looking but still unable to see much. All I did see was Rev grabbing Mace around the throat and pinning him against the ground. I really do need to remember just how strong Rev is for the next time I decide to pick a fight with him.

"Did I not tell you to shut the fuck up?" Rev growled, placing his knee in the one place a guy wouldn't want to have a knee, "Don't you ever dare mention her again.. not around Lex.. not around anyone.. not ever." Once Rev got up again, Mace keeled over holding his groin as he let out a painful groan.

"Are you ready to do this?" He asked, "Or should I just leave you stranded out here?"

I turned back around to catch Mace get a swift kick to the stomach. "Rev!" I shoved him away, "Stop!" I held my hand out to help Mace stand back up. He looked so fragile. He definitely did not look like the same guy I saw just before. Did Rev seriously have that sort of power to those who seem below him? Although once Mace was standing up again, he bounced back to his usual self yet again.. so I probably shouldn't feel too bad for him. He's still a douche. To be fair.. if Rev just pinned me down and kicked me in the gut, I'd probably be feeling pretty fragile as well. "Are you okay?" I found myself asking Mace.

"Yes." He stood up and straightened out his shirt, "I didn't need any help."

"I just figured that you-"

"Stop being so nice to everyone, you're supposed to be a bitch."

I silently gasped at his comment, "Maybe I'd want to be more of a nice person than a cold-hearted person from time to time."

"Well maybe I only like girls who act like a bitch all of the time." He replied back in a tone almost mocking my own.

"Let's go, princess." Rev walked back over to us. I did notice Mace take a step backwards as Rev grabbed ahold of my forearm.

"Let go of-" I stopped myself as he pulled me towards pebblestones that lead up to a small, abandoned cottage. The cottage wasn't that big; the windows had been boarded up and the door was missing from the hinges. Someone probably came by and destroyed it at some time. A small mouse darted across the lawn and ran into the dried up bushes in front of the structure, causing me to gain a little jump in my step. I heard a snicker come from Rev, but I ignored it.

Mace handed Rev a white bottle that read 'fluid' across the center and a small lighter before taking a few steps back.

"What is that?" I asked him.

"Step back." Rev whispered to me.

Before I had a chance to question him, Mace yanked me backward. I watched as Rev poured the fluid all over the cottage before letting the flame of the lighter ignite as he chucked it into the doorway before he began to run back in the direction we came. "Now. Run!" He shouted at the both of us.

Mace darted for the fence, and I got stuck behind the both of them. By the time I made it back, they were both waiting by the fence; leaning up against it as if it had been years since I started running.. pretending to look bored as hell.

"What the fuck was that!?"