IT WAS only a dream, a bad dream, and nothing else.
The man in Vidal’s dream was stalking a woman, spying on her from the shadows, following her down a dark alley as she sought refuge from a downpour. The woman was vaguely familiar to Vidal, though he was too far away to recognize her features, blurred anyway by the swirl of rain and fog, but there was something in how she pressed her body forward, how the hand rose to her hair to toss it defiantly back, something in her voice even if in the dream she was voiceless and unaware of the danger looming behind her, the man who wanted to do her some sort of harm, something worse than just harm.
Vidal had to intervene, knew that he should, that he was responsible in a mysterious way for the fate—or perhaps merely the plight—of that woman, Vidal knew that unless he said a word, stepped into the picture, interjected himself between that strangely familiar woman and that totally unknown man, she would die, yes, the man in the shadows intended to kill her unless Gabriel Vidal acted now, right now.
He did nothing, he could not, somebody by his side—or behind him, a pair of sweet lips behind him, whispering in his ears like a demon—told Vidal that it was useless, the man would not be dissuaded, his drive incessant and merciless, the woman had been condemned and nothing that any spectator could do would alter that. And remember, the lips hushed into him, that you’re not well, the doctor said to take care during your convalescence, Vidal heard those words just as the man slipped something out of his pocket, it was a knife gleaming under the sudden light of a nearby window.
A relief, then, to wake up and realize that it had been no more than a nightmare. Just by opening his eyes, Vidal had foiled the man in his murderous attempt, his eyes like ice and his hands like claws had been unable to continue their assault on that woman, she was unscathed and had managed to escape, had—but wait, and here Vidal laughed to himself as he arduously edged out of bed, wait, there was no need to celebrate her
