out of the tightly packed road leaving the warm glowing lights and mellow music far behind in the distance. The smell of smoke and the chill from the sea clung to me, and I ached to take a long hot shower. Whether it was to wash away the fumes or the tingling feeling Ressler had left me with, was most definitely up for debate.
Falling Awake
I lay in bed and fell almost immediately into a deep sleep. I sat with Caleb on a smooth grey rock, at the entrance of a cove I had never been in before. I listened as the waves lapped up over the sides of the cove as the sea calmly rolled in, separating itself from the vast ocean.
The sun shone down brightly in the clear blue sky and I lay down on my back, dragging my hands through the cold sea as it rippled between my fingers. My hair spreading out around me, the ends dipping and spreading out into the water.
Caleb sat bent over me, topless and barefoot, wearing only a pair of low hanging black trousers. I reached my wet fingers up toward him and traced the shape of his eyes down toward his jaw line, then continued my search until I reached his smooth chest, then brushed my fingers over his tattoo.
“Are you real?” I asked him, feeling elated from his presence and my tranquil surroundings. He bent down brushing his lips against mine, and I shivered.
Too soon, he pulled away and stood up; blocking the sunlight that filtered in through the opening of the cove, warming my face and my soul with his powerful body that was built solely for a warrior.
He reached his hand around and into a leather sheath that he wore strapped over his chest. I stood up carefully, finding my footing on the rock, and a long white nightdress billowed out behind me in the gentle breeze. I reached out to touch whatever it was he grasped, but he quickly snapped it back into place before I got the chance. I looked at him sullenly.
“You’re not ready yet,” he said, smiling with only his magnificent green eyes. “Soon,” he promised. And I threw my arms across my face as a pair of iridescent wings enveloped outwards from behind his back, glowing brilliantly as they escaped to their full enormous size, blocking out all of the light, and cascading us into darkness.
When I felt the dazzling light begin to fade, I slowly dropped my arm to find the once glorious wings turned to the blackest colour of night, shredded and dripping blood profusely onto the rock pooling around my bare feet. Until one by one, each feather dropped to the ground, falling into the sea. The sky outside turned a dark shade of grey as the last of the sunlight flickered out and oily black clouds rolled in shrouding us in darkness.
***
Pria, you are not alone… there is someone in the house.
I slowly opened my eyes in response to the feminine voice.
Get up now, and listen to my voice! It commanded, and I tried my hardest to adjust my eyes to my hazy surroundings.
My dream had steadily turned into a nightmare, and I wasn’t sure if I was awake now, or still sleeping. I propped myself up and looked around my bedroom, but something wasn’t quite right.
I was looking at my own bedroom, but through some kind of grainy tunnel vision, and I rubbed my eyes to help me see clearer. When I reopened them, nothing seemed to have changed.
MOVE, the voice boomed more persistent, and I automatically sprung to my feet, fear propelling my body forward. My bedroom door slowly opened, and I automatically drifted over to it, hovering in the doorway.
Go to your father’s room, the voice instructed me, so I kept on walking, until I found myself entering his empty room.
I once again tried to rub away the graininess, but nothing shifted and I felt like I was in a badly made movie. I shut my eyes ferociously and reopened them hoping to wake myself up. But my body moved so real, as if I were already awake.
I heard a loud crashing noise coming from downstairs, and I jumped in response.
Get in the
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