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I couldn't do it. Couldn't tell him what I needed to say. Do what I needed to do. Damn me. Damn my selfishness and what it might cost him in the end. “It's not that, it's just—” I tried to find the words, my eyes falling to our hands. “I'm awkward, and weird, and...”
“I like that about you,” he said, a soft smile on his face as he glowed down at me, and my cheeks grew warm.
“I enjoyed it. Everything. Really,” I finally said.
He lifted my hand, pressing it to his lips as he kissed it tenderly. My chest swelled, air flooding my lungs. “Then maybe we can do it more often.” His expression changed suddenly, and he quickly spoke again. “The dates, I mean.” He clarified, and I fought the giggle that spilled from my lips.
“I'd like that.”
11
My bare feet smacked against the cracked pavement as I ran. I didn’t know what I was running from, but the fear that filled me was enough for me not to question it. The cold air stung my nose and throat as I gasped for air. Trash cans and other rubble crashed against the asphalt and brick walls behind me as they were knocked over or sent flying by whatever pursued me. I choked on the air in a panic, running faster as the sound grew closer.
The street lamps glowed dimly in the distance, lighting a flickering hope that I might make it to safety. The dense shroud of darkness loomed around me as I ran, and the lights were still so far away. The sounds of whatever hunted me grew closer and closer. I didn’t dare look over my shoulder to see what was chasing me. Tears welled in my eyes, my vision blurring.
I shook my head, trying to wake myself up, and I chanted under my breath. “It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. Wake up, Cassie.” It was no use, though. I was still on a seemingly endless stretch of street, still running for my life.
Snarls and the sound of jaws snapping echoed behind me, growing louder by the moment, closer. Little air remained in my lungs. I think I screamed. If I did, it wasn’t very loud.
A tall, hooded figure came into view, rounding the corner near the streetlight that I was so desperate to get to. He took a step forward, recognizing me immediately and lunged into a sprint toward me. “Cassie!”
If I weren’t running for my life, I would’ve smiled. A sense of relief washed over me at the sound of Damien’s voice, and it was nice just to know that I wasn’t alone.
“Damien!”
My knees buckled, and I crashed forward onto the asphalt. I grimaced as I slid to a stop, and I looked down where I’d tripped over something. My knees burned where asphalt had shredded the skin, and I gasped for air, my heart hammering as if it were threatening to burst.
I looked around, aware of the sudden silence that loomed around me. My eyes danced in every direction, searching the darkness. Slowly, they adjusted.
An eerie clicking sound echoed around me from the shadows, the sounds making my skin crawl. I could barely make out the figures that loomed in the inky blackness. They inched slowly closer, creeping up on me now that I was down, like wolves closing in on the kill. Their long claws met the ground, dragging ever so slightly as they stalked toward me. I looked up to where the shadows barely concealed more of them, climbing toward me along the brick walls of the buildings surrounding us.
I pushed myself up, desperate to get to my feet. My legs wouldn't obey me, though, and my lungs burned.
Damien slid to a stop in front of me, taking a defensive stance. I barely saw light reflecting off the blade of the dagger he gripped tightly as he stared at the creatures. “Are you ok? Can you stand?”
I couldn't answer him, couldn't peel my eyes from the demons surrounding us. The temperature dropped, and my breath left my lips in puffs of white mist. Their features were the same as the ones I saw in my other dream: gray skin, so thin that it revealed the black veins stretching out just under the surface, those hollow black eyes that were like looking into a bottomless abyss, waiting to suck you in with no way of returning. I pushed myself up to try to stand, but only made it to my knees.
One grew closer, crouching. I watched, holding my breath. It let out a snarl, lunging into the air toward me. I closed my eyes, shielding my face as I braced myself. The creature let out a horrible screech, and its body hit the ground beside me. I opened my eyes to find Damien still standing, the creature's body disintegrating into dust.
It seemed like they feared him, only a few having the courage to attack.
I forced myself to my feet, and the wall was cold against my shoulder as I stumbled, stabilizing myself. I took a step, but my knees shook so badly, I couldn't support myself. How long had I been running for? My heart pounded, faint inklings of pain rippling through my chest.
A warning.
I couldn’t suffer an attack now, not now. But If I couldn't push through this to run, I was dead. I gritted my teeth. There was no time for exhaustion, no time for fear.
Damien glanced back at me for a split second before turning back as another grabbed a hold of his shoulder.
“Get your fucking claws off me!” he yelled through gritted teeth, punching the demon square in the face before throwing it back into the others, buying some time as they recovered.
Damien turned to rush to my side. In a matter of seconds, he had me off the ground and in his arms, carrying me as if I weighed nothing.
“Are you alright?” he asked as he ran. The cold winds whipped through my hair as he turned into another alley suddenly before we could reach the lights. Our pace quickened.
Why did he turn? Why didn’t he go into the street?
I clung to him. “'I'm okay.” I focused on breathing through the terror overtaking me. I peered over his shoulder as he ran.
