I SQUEEZED MY tired eyes shut and opened them again, only I wasn’t buried in the warm sheets as I was before. Here we go. It took me a moment to realise that I wasn’t in my familiar clearing. Instead it was entirely urban; a long, grey-stone corridor but not run-down like the one attached to my room. Creepers latched themselves in-between the joints and hung in front of the windows, causing the moonlight to fall in disrupted streaks. I tried holding out a hand to inspect the climber’s purple flower but I couldn’t move. Dread set in again.
After what felt like a lifetime I shifted, though my hands weren’t…mine. Instead they were small; infantile and suddenly I realised why the hallway appeared so abnormally large. I couldn’t have been more than a few years old. My other-self reached up and picked one of the flowers before skipping to the other end of the corridor. The far door was a grand, beautiful thing, but a noise stopped me from reaching for the handle. A deep, echoing rumble vibrated around the passage. I blinked again and turned, watching my tight, chocolate braid lash against the force as I faced the opposite end of the corridor. Something was wrong.
Its figure was distorted in its mad haste as it burst into the passage. Its eyes were non-existent and its mouth hung wide in an unnatural swing. Within seconds the monster was close enough for me to see that its lips were pulled back in a deranged fashion, revealing its sharp, predatory teeth. I couldn’t make it out. Its body moved like smoke or shadow.
It pounced.
I threw my hands up at the same time as my other. Together we screamed until its noise had faded and mine had grown. The locket pressed against my windpipe and I coughed, trying to force air down as I rocked out of bed. I’d almost ripped the windows clean off their hinges as I pulled them open, welcoming in the freezing air. Deep breath – I slid down to the floor, clutching my knees – and another. Eventually I was panting heavily, but no longer gasping. My hands shook violently as adrenaline pulsed through my veins and I tried to push that new feeling away. I’d felt sick after a dream before but not like this. This one was different. I felt pale and sweaty, and hot and cold all at once. Footsteps sounded before two people burst in, their faces awash with concern.
“What in Gehn was that about?” Ethan demanded after seeing no immediate threat. He started toward me but Lavender blocked his path. I could have sworn she growled.
“Back off,” she hissed at him. She pushed past and knelt next to me, sweeping a piece of damp hair out of my eyes. “What happened?”
“It was…only a dream,” I said between breaths. The touch of Lavender’s hand caused me to look up. I needed to tell them about it – but I stopped. The feral point of their teeth, and the deep colour of their eyes, was unexpected and frightening. “It was just a dream,” I repeated. “Sorry for disturbing everyone.”
“It’s alright,” she said gently and squeezed my hand, sensing her dismissal. “Don’t ever hesitate to tell us when something’s wrong.”
Lavender stood and strode from the room, shooting Ethan a warning glare. He moved to follow but hovered in the doorway, torn between leaving and approaching me. “Don’t leave the window open when you go back to bed,” he said. “Tonight is not a good night to let air into the room.” Without another word he turned and closed the door, leaving me alone again.
What was going on? They couldn’t be normal people…Gnathians, they called it Gnathians didn’t look or act like that. Could this actually happen? To learn that creatures from legend and festival stories were actually real to some degree…they’d be telling me the Daeus were living a stone’s throw down the valley next.
I calmed my thoughts. After the events that had happened thus far to ignore Ethan’s warning would be foolish, so I pulled away from the window and shut it tight behind me. I rubbed a thumb against my temple as the beginnings of a headache steeped and I crawled back under the sheets. Slowly, I forced myself to close my eyes and drift back into the darkness of my nightmares.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE NIGHT SKY was flecked with morning blue and light had yet to creep through the forest when I woke. I could have had another hour’s sleep before the others got up but the faces of monsters kept haunting me. Fictitious or not, it was too much to ignore. So I swung my legs out of bed and shifted over to the cupboard, opening the doors wide. Inside, over three-quarters of the clothing was male, Ethan’s, with a small section dedicated to the two dresses I owned and a robe Lavender had lent me for chilly mornings. I pulled on the green dress again, though I eyed up Ethan’s shirts and trousers. If I was brave enough – or had a death wish – I would have changed into a set of them instead, despite the fact they would hang off me. My fingers slipped across the fine material of one of his better tunics. Somehow I couldn’t imagine him taking time out to attend occasions other than a good fight. Hastily, I slammed the doors shut, pulled on my old boots and strapped my dagger to its usual place beneath my skirt.
After my dreams had faded into nothing the previous night, I’d managed to fall asleep to the sound of snarling and howling. Goose-bumps rose on my skin at the thought of what else waited in the dark corners of the woods. My feet moved silently as I descended to the lower level and I stepped with great care past the closed doors of my sleeping hosts. When I reached the lounge, however, there were embers still burning in the hearth. Odd. I threw another log into the fire and blew, causing the old ash to coat my face and throat. Cinders popped and fizzled as I coughed away the worst of the dust and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
The moisture was wonderful against my dry throat but the iciness of it made my body feel even colder. I returned to the hearth and lay in front of it, pulling a few cushions onto the floor. The toes of my boots just about tucked into the bottom of my dress as I pulled my legs up and leant back against the sofa. The fire caught and danced from side to side, mesmerising me. It was only when I tried to blink that I realised my eyes were no longer open.