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“But sometimes it is.” I pulled my wrist away and shoved the door open. I half expected it to not budge, as usual.
My eyes took in the stone fireplace roaring with life. There was a tall man with dark hair and a woman with blonde hair. With their backs turned toward me, they didn’t notice me as I moved closer. Both of them wore expensive light blue and gold clothing.
“I can force Thea to do it.” The man's voice was confident.
“Then tell her whatever you need to. Just get this done with,” the woman said in a sharp whisper. The man and woman turned towards the door as it creaked open. I shuffled backward when I saw them, but my feet tangled in the rug below me, and I fell backward when I took in their missing faces. No eyes, no mouth, no nose, no…anything. It was as if my mind didn’t want to know who they were, so it blocked their identity from me. It was horrifying.
“Thea! Save us!” They started yelling, but this time their voices got louder and louder, more haunting as it went. I covered my ears as they slowly crept towards me, but it didn’t drown out their pleas. Why did they want my help when they were obviously planning something for me a moment ago?
I want to wake up. I want to wake up.
The mysterious man who waited in the shadows of my dreams wrapped his hand around mine, and he yanked me from the room and into the hallway while slamming the door shut. Both of us stumbled back onto the floor, but his hard body cushioned my fall. He let out a loud puff of air when I landed on him. I rolled off of him to the hard wooden floor next to him. We lay sprawled out, not saying anything.
What in the hell was that? That is what I waited all these years for?
“I told you some things are better left unknown,” he gruffed.
“Then why do I always have this same dream? And who are you anyway? You’re always lurking about.” I gave him a sidelong glance to see if anything about him was showing, but it wasn’t. His oversized hood obscured everything.
“A friend.”
I scoffed in his general direction. I wasn’t friends with dream stalkers. He chuckled softly as he stood up. The sound settled over me and I found myself smiling back at him despite myself.
“It’s time to wake up, Little Viper.”
Before I told him not to call me that ridiculous nickname I was sitting up quickly in my own bed.
My mind tried to put together the pieces of what I had seen. Was this just a dream or was it a memory? The couple in the room were going to have me do something, but what was it?
I needed to try to stay in the dream longer, even if it scared me. They couldn’t actually hurt me.
My mind shifted to the man who was always lurking. I had never seen his face, but he called himself a friend. I didn’t know what his intentions were, but I was not about to consider him a friend or anything of the sort.
As I stood up, I realized how quiet the house was. I couldn’t hear Sybil moving about in the kitchen or anyone outside the house. I was never the first one up, and Sybil did not know the meaning of being quiet while I was still sleeping. Taking a hesitant step forward, I reached my door and cracked it open, knowing that something wasn't right.
I didn’t hear anything as I opened the door and headed to Sybil’s room.
It was empty.
My heart pounded in my chest as I entered the shared living space. It was trashed like someone had ransacked it. Sybil’s dried herbs were scattered over the floor. The broken vials crunched under my boots as I stepped forward to assess the damage. All the food I had gathered was thrown on the floor and ruined. Our furniture lay in broken heaps. This would have awoken me. Why hadn't I heard anything?
I looked for any sign of Sybil, but she wasn’t there. Dread filled me as I slipped on my cloak and grabbed my dagger and bow. When I stepped out of the house, no one walked the path. There wasn’t a fae anywhere in sight. Exile was dead silent, too silent, which had my stomach churning with uneasiness. I hurried up the dirt path and into the town center where the stage was. My heavy breathing was all that was heard. Something was very wrong.
My chest tightened as I ran through Exile, not once seeing any sign of life. My legs were heavy as I got to the living quarters where Kai and Kaz lived. It was empty, too. How had hundreds of fae disappeared without a trace?
“Little Viper.” His voice startled me, and I aimed my bow at him. The golden-eyed man stood in the shadows where I couldn't make out anything about his face. He held up his hands up to show me he wasn’t a threat.
“How are you here?” I demanded.
“This is still a dream,” he explained, but his tone was curious. “But something is odd about it. You brought me here with you instead of waking up.” His golden eyes darted around nervously at the worn-down building.
“I’ve never had a dream like this. Where is everyone?”
“Where are we? I’ve never seen a town like this before.”
Realization hit me in that moment that he may in fact be a real man. I had always thought that dream stalkers were made up, something to scare children into behaving well. Apparently, they were a real thing, and maybe this one had found my dreams and never left them.
“I didn’t invite you to come with me.”
