Chapter 36
OLLY
Adeep, cold fog has me shivering, my limbs locking as I desperately seek the warmth my body craves. I know I'm not awake, after all, the nightmare starts the same way it always does, and we've become old friends, it and I, companions trapped in misery and despair for years.
Fuck, where am I? Who's chasing me? I'm running through the woods, with sharp branches clawing at my arms and legs, my throat closing tightly with the demand for air, and I can't tell if the forest is real, or just another shadow wearing a face I've tried so hard to forget.
The trees bend inward like spindly ribs of some monstrous cage, as the darkness behind me pulses with footsteps that don't belong to any human rhythm.
I hear them, not quite voices, not quite echoes, more than one coming after me.
My heart pounds with dread, each step echoing my growing panic, as I feel the suffocating weight of fear pressing down on me like quicksand.
Damon, River, and Cross, my mind supplies, but their tones meld together until I can't tell one from the other.
The sounds are taunting, coaxing, as if they're hunting prey.
A shadowy silhouette bursts between the trees, its form grotesque and distorted.
It's somehow too tall, and wrong in size and shape to be humanoid, and then it splits into three, then six, then nine, their shapes peeling away like shadows dripping off of a juicy bone, the air thick with a sickening, oily scent that makes my stomach churn.
"What the fuck is happening here?" I hear my breathy words, but my lips never move, as my pulse slams inside my skull, pounding in my ears like a war drum.
I can't breathe.
I can't run.
I need to wake up.
WAKE UP!
A hot breath grazes the back of my neck, causing my skin to instantly pebble with goose bumps.
"Found you," someone murmurs, the voice distorted as if underwater.
I scream and spin around, my feet feeling like two blocks of thick, heavy cement, but the macabre shadows lunge first, collapsing over me like a tidal wave.
"NO! Let me go!" I scream, but it's no use; I'm trapped.
Heat, pressure, and weight assault all my senses.
No forest leaves, or sounds are now present, no windy chill fills the air, nor do any claws rip me apart as I surge from the gloomy murkiness.
Something is tightly woven around me, restricting my movements, and sending panic rising within me.
Arms. Strong ones. They're wrapped around me so firmly my ribs ache with their steady hold, and it's challenging to get a deep breath in.
My chest tightens painfully, and my heart races wildly, threatening to burst from my body.
I attempt to crack an eyelid open, but my long eyelashes are crusty, and stick together, causing me pain.
Through the tiny, blurry slit, I realize my legs are tangled in sheets, and against bare, hairy legs, and that heavy blankets weigh me down.
My cheek is pressed into a soft pillow, and the back of my head is against a warm chest that rises and falls with slow, steady breaths.
I allow myself a quick, discreet sniff of whoever is in this bed with me, trying desperately to determine if I know them.
The enticing scent of smoke and sandalwood greets me, almost causing a moan to flee my lips, and stirring a confusing mix of comfort and dread.
Thoughts jumble through my mind at a rapid speed, as I try to organize my thoughts.
I'm not running anymore, nor in the woods, but I'm not safe either.
Fuck, whose body is pressed against mine right now?
Grogginess and exhaustion tear at my mind, urging it to go back into unconsciousness, but I refuse its tantalizing lure.
Suddenly, my awareness slams against the world like it's made of glass, shattering any pretense of attempting to continue sleeping in this warm cocoon.
The nightmare hasn't finished releasing me.
It's still trying to cling to me with sharp talons, sticking to my skin like thick sap.
I try to lift my head, but everything spins, causing nausea and sour bile to rise up the back of my throat.
"Ugh." I try to clear my sore throat, and run my tongue across my dehydrated lips, only to realize they are not only dry but split and sore, and I can taste the hint of copper on them.
My teeth feel grimy as I slide my tongue over them, as if I didn't brush them before bed, but that's not something I'd ever willingly neglect to do.
Panic rips through me at the realization that I might be naked, and I slide my trembling hand down my chest until I feel loose, soft fabric, and I release a relieved breath.
Something urgent is pushing at my mind, trying to force its way through, and it's almost breaking apart the thick fog that is plaguing me.
I endeavor to put distance between me and the body that smells heavenly, but an instant later, a low sound vibrates near my ear.
A husky combination of a groan and a warning, as if whoever this is is now displeased with my attempted movements.
The body behind me shifts, tightening its hold as if it thinks I might disappear, and heat flushes down my spine.
My skin feels too hot and sensitive, like I've been lying under the sun, and it's burnt my flesh.
For one disoriented heartbeat, the embrace feels protective, familiar even.
A place I could melt into, somewhere I'm safe, and Sim's image immediately rises in my mind.
I almost utter his name in question, but then the wrongness hits, a creeping sensation of terror begins deep in my chest, and rises to my throat, closing my airway.
My skin crawls with revulsion, and I know with a certainty I can't explain that this is not Sim in this bed with me.
What happened to me? Flashes of myself running through the woods naked appear in my mind, causing my heart to pound rapidly in my chest. Where am I?
Who the fuck is touching me? Why can I still hear their voices whispering through the cracks of my skull, even though I’m no longer sleeping?
My throat locks, my body tenses, and my ingrained training settles in, as I run through possible ways to extract myself from this terrifying situation.
I try to pull away, but the arm across my waist pins me in place, heavy, possessive, anchoring me to a bed I don't remember climbing into.
My heart claws its way up my throat, beating so hard it hurts, and my bladder clenches, reminding me urgently that I need to pee.
An image of three bright LED masks chasing me through the darkness, and running for my life, hits me like a ton of jagged bricks, slicing me open.
All at once, I smell them, the forest, and the acrid stench of my fear, mixed with the faint trace of something intoxicating and dangerous, but it's not in a dream.
It's in the present, in the here and now, and I'm trapped once again.
It drags me back into myself all at once, and my blood goes icy cold.
The nightmare didn't end; it just changed shape and location. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
The large chest at my back expands with a slow inhale, and the person holding me shifts again, nuzzling closer, as if I'm something they have the right to claim in their sleep.
Get out of here now! I force both my eyes open, swallowing the pained cry that would alert whoever this is that I'm now fully awake, and I finally understand why every instinct in my body is screaming with alarm.
The room is dark, shrouded in shadows, but parts of it are familiar.
I'm pretty sure this is my bed, and I'm in my room in the massive mansion I now live in with my mom, new stepfather, and asshole stepbrother.
Oh my fucking God, please don't let it be him, don't let it be Cross.
I don't know why that thought alone sets off louder alarm bells, but it does.
A flash of cruel hazel eyes drenched in madness enters my mind, and I get a quick recap of Damon fucking my mouth savagely, near a cliff I almost fell to my death from.
The phantom salty, sour taste of his cum filling my mouth, and coating my throat, threatens my gag reflex, and I have to swallow the bile that rushes up to greet it.
Damon. Fuck, that might actually be worse than Cross being in this bed with me.
My breath stutters, and I push against the tight limbs now circling me like a boa constrictor, refusing to free me.
I don't know where to run. I don't even know if I can, with all the aches and pains now awakening in my body.
I only know the nightmare has followed me into the waking world, and it's wrapped around my body, as if it doesn't intend to let go.
"Sleep, Hellstorm, it's too early to be awake," the words are thickly mumbled, and drenched with sleep.
Hellstorm? Fuck, which one of them calls me that?
I don't heed the command. Instead, I dig my nails into the forearm that's constraining me, and use the sole of my foot to kick at his shin.
"FUCK, LIVY! That fucking hurts!" The growl is instantly followed by my body being shoved hard onto my back, and under a much larger one that crushes me into the soft, plush mattress.
I yelp, but it only brings an amused chuckle from the massive male above me.
My eyes meet bright green globes filled with sleepiness, and from there they expand to take in a golden complexion, light blond hair, and defined classical features that resemble an Italian High Renaissance painting by Raphael, of an ethereal angel.
River's so beautiful to look at that it momentarily stuns me, and I cease trying to get away.
"Morning, beautiful. How are you feeling? "