Chapter 149 The nightmare that looked too real
Chapter 149
RAVENNA
Darius looked like someone had pulled the floor from under him.
I had never seen that expression on his face before. Not in all the time we had been on the ice, in class, in arguments.
His face was replaced by something unguarded. Horrified, almost. His eyes stayed fixed on the window overlooking the speaker mounted outside like it might take the announcement back.
Dorian came out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a towel. He looked at Darius, and something passed between them in that single glance that I could not read.
Sam turned to me with her eyes bright. "Your wish came true. You get to attend the moon ceremony without even trying."
I managed a smile. "I suppose so." But even as I said it, I still wasn't sure. "It still feels strange though. Inviting humans to something that sacred."
"I think it is because of everything happening in the school," Sam said, dropping her voice slightly. "This might be their way of keeping everyone in one place where they can be watched."
I thought about that for a moment. It made sense, in a practical way. "It is not a bad idea," I admitted. "But it still does not feel right to me. That ceremony means something to wolves. Having humans there just to fill a room feels off."
Dinner was quiet.
Dorian had cooked and it was good, but I barely tasted it.
Afterwards, Sam claimed one side of Dorian's bed without asking, and I took a side of Darius bed.
I closed my eyes and sleep came faster than I expected.
The moon was full.
It hung directly above me, enormous and white, flooding everything with cold silver light.
I was standing in the middle of woods. Thick trees stood tall in from every side, their branches tangled so densely overhead that I should not have been able to see the sky at all.
But I could see the moon perfectly. It seemed to sit just above the tree line, watching.
I had no idea how I had got here.
I turned slowly, trying to get my bearings, and that was when I heard a growl.
It was low and very deep, the kind that vibrated in your chest before your brain fully processed the sound. I spun around to see a wolf
It was massive. Not like any wolf I had ever seen on academy grounds. Even bigger than Darius's
This one was enormous, its fur a strange pale silver that seemed to absorb the moonlight rather than reflect it. Its eyes were blazing green, fixed entirely on me.
It growled again, and my body moved before my mind gave it permission.
I ran.
Branches whipped at my face and arms. My feet hit the uneven ground and I stumbled twice but kept moving, my lungs already burning.
I could hear it behind me, closing in faster than made any sense.
Sam. The thought hit me suddenly.
Where could she be? Was she here somewhere?
I screamed her name. My voice came out ragged and too loud in the stillness of the woods.
"Sam! SAMMMMMM!"
No response came back. Just my own echo and the relentless sound of the wolf gaining on me.
"Dorian!" My throat was tearing. "DARIUSSSSSSS!"
Why weren't they answering me? They ought to here somewhere. We had all been together right?
Ohhh fuck me! What's all this?
I looked back to search the woods for any signs of struggle but instead looked into the eyes of the wolf. It was twenty inches away from me. That was my mistake. I shouldn't have done that. When I turned forward again, my foot caught on a tree root that jutted from the ground.
I went down hard.
The impact knocked the air clean out of me. I hit the earth with my hands and knees and immediately tried to push back up, but my legs would not cooperate.
My palms were bleeding. The ground was cold and damp and I could not get up, I kept trying and I could not get up.
"Please," I whispered, and I was not even sure who I was talking to. "Moon goddess, if you are listening, please. I will be better. I swear I will fix everything. Just please get me out of this."
The wolf stopped in front of me.
It lowered its head, eyes burning straight into mine, and opened its mouth.
I closed my eyes waiting for it to finish me up but something ice cold hit my face.
I came up gasping, arms swinging.
"Whoa, whoa—"
"She's awake—"
"Ravenna, stop—"
I blinked. Water was dripping from my face and hair. Sam, Dorian, and Darius were all leaning over me, three pairs of wide eyes staring down like they had genuinely not expected me to wake up.
"What happened?" My voice came out wrecked.
"You tell us," Dorian said carefully. "You started screaming in your sleep. We tried waking you for almost twenty minutes. You were fighting us off, you caught Sam in the jaw at one point—"
"I'm fine," Sam said quickly, though she was rubbing the side of her face.
"We had to use ice water," Darius said, his jaw was tight. "Are you alright?"
I sat up slowly. My hands were shaking terribly.
"The dream was..." I stopped and swallowed. What was I going to tell them? I had a dream about a huge wolf chasing me in a strange wood? "It was very terrifying. That is all. I am fine."
Sam did not wait for more. She pulled me into her arms and held on, and I let her, gripping the back of her shirt until the shaking settled slightly.
"You are fine," she murmured. "You are right here."
I nodded against her shoulder.
Darius watched me for a moment longer than the others before he looked away.
I did not tell them what the dr
eam was. Something about it felt too strange to say out loud. It was too real in a way that normal nightmares were not.
I pushed it down and kept it there.
Sam stayed curled beside me for the rest of the night, and I did not argue.