Chapter 3: Fear

Monsters are real. Ghosts are real too. They live inside us and sometimes, they win. - Stephen King

Sapphire’s POV

The wind behind me picks up as my body rustles against the long grass. I feel something beneath my feet crunch loudly. I turn around swiftly, unsure what I am running away from. And then I hear it. The loud, sickening howl rings through the trees.

I don't know what the creature was, but I knew I had to get away from it as fast as I could. I can feel my energy draining away from me. But I refuse to stand down and let it get to me. I hide behind a tree in the forest when I hear its low growls in the distance.

I close my eyes shut tightly as I silently pray that it goes away soon enough. I hear silence behind me, and I furrow my eyes in confusion, wondering what had happened. I know it was stupid and a wild risk, but I peeked my head out from behind the tree to see why it had stopped. I scream out loud as I am met with the sight of glowing yellow eyes.

He snaps loudly, only inches away from my face, and I am quickly able to pull out of my thoughts as I am brought back to reality.

I continue to run, unsure of where I am going or heading. I can feel his breath tickling my neck, but I don't let that stop me as I move forward and continue moving. I know I can't stop.

All of a sudden, I trip, and I feel myself falling to the ground, causing me to land on my elbow.

I watch as the wolf approaches me stealthily like a predator and cower away as I scurry and try to hide my body against the tree behind me. I flinch when my back makes contact with it.

I scan my eyes around frantically and feel my heart sink as I come to the realization that I have nowhere to run to and that there is nowhere to hide.

I gulp, and I brace myself. My memories were muddled, and I don’t have anyone to feel sad for me when I am gone. I feel his foul breath on my neck and close my eyes shot as I wait for the inevitable to happen.

Just as a drop of drool fell on my collarbone and his foul breath fans my face, I felt him being pulled away from me. I opened my eyes as I glanced over the scene in front of me.

I looked up to see a man pulling the beast away as they growled loudly at each other. They fight for several moments, and the man is able to overpower him. He reaches his hand around him and snaps his neck, killing him instantly. He turns towards me and approaches me slowly, and I can't see him at first, but as he comes closer into the light, I am able to get a better view of his face.

He has shoulder-length brown hair and beautiful green eyes, and I feel myself gasp at the sight of him. He was the most beautiful person that I have ever seen in my life. He steps closer to me and offers me his hand. "Need some help?" He asks.

I take his hand hesitantly, and he pulls me to my feet effortlessly. "You are even more beautiful than I imagined." He spoke, and I furrowed my eyebrows at him, not understanding what he meant.

"My beautiful mate. I have finally found you." He whispered in my ear.

He pulled away from me, and he was only inches away from my face. I closed my eyes as I anticipated the moment he would press his lips against mine. But it never came.

He growled loudly as I shot my eyes open. I looked at him with fright as his eyes glowed yellow. I quickly pulled away from him as he groaned in pain. I heard his thundering footsteps behind me, making my heartbeat quicken.

"Wait, stop. I can explain." He pleaded. But I wasn’t having any of it.

I ran as fast as I could through the woods. I could feel him panting loudly behind me, and I panicked when I reached a tree.

"I am not letting you get away from me." He said to me, seething. My heart beat frantically in my chest as I pressed my body further into the tree.

He approached me cautiously as his claws extended. He was about to reach me but only managed to rip away the necklace that was placed around my neck. He was pulled backward by a strong force, and I felt myself being pulled backward as well. I screamed out loud as my mind became heavy.

I heard a loud scream as I shot out of my bed. I realized then that the scream was coming for me. I was only able to relax slightly as I realized that it had simply been a dream.

My body was covered in sweat, and I struggled to realign my bearings. I placed my hand on my chest and reached out to touch the necklace that I used for comfort. But my eyes widened in shock as I realized that it wasn’t there.

I began to shake my head frantically. No, there has to be a reasonable explanation for this. There was no way that it had gone missing. In the dream, that man had pulled it off of me. But it was just a dream, right? So there was nothing for me to worry about. It was all going to be fine.

Surely I had just misplaced the necklace or kept it in my drawer. I looked out my window, and I realized that it was still very early in the morning. I was exhausted, and I needed to get some sleep.

I had recently gotten a job at a construction company, and I had to make a good impression. I couldn’t risk getting fired. My mum counted on me, and it was my duty to take care of her the same way she took care of me all the time.

My mother was one of the strongest women I knew, she had to work hard for everything she got. She realized early on in her life that even those you loved wouldn’t always be there for you. Her parents weren’t wealthy, and she had gotten pregnant with me in her last year of college.

My father wasn’t a topic that either of us liked to talk about. They had gotten married shortly after finding out that my mum was pregnant with me. He married her because he felt that he was obligated to do so. But in truth, he never really cared about her or loved her.

He was a decent father in the first few years and would read me bedtime stories and sing me to sleep. But after a while, we noticed him begin to slip away from us. My mother was devastated and blamed herself terribly for not being good enough.

One day we came home, and the house was empty, and his stuff was gone. All he had left behind was a note telling my mother he was sorry that he had failed. He was the primary breadwinner of the family, so we struggled to get by after he was gone.

We had to sell the house and move into a place that required a lot less maintenance. She had to get a second job to get us by. My mother never made me doubt her love for me and continued to show it to me endlessly.

I owed everything to her. And it was why I was so determined to get a better life for her. I pulled away from the window and decided to get myself a glass of water from the kitchen to clear my nerves and pull my mood away from everything that had happened.

I slipped out of my room, knowing my mum was a light sleeper, and made my way to get a glass. As I slipped back into bed. My head couldn’t help but keep wandering back to the green-eyed man and the vivid dream. I wondered who he was and why he had been in the dream. It felt as though I was drawn to him, and we shared a connection with one another. For some reason, I felt the need to see him again. Even if it was just for one last time.

I winced in pain as my elbow came down to touch the sheets. I lifted it up and realized that there was a huge bruise on my elbow. I furrowed my eyebrows at the sight initially as I wondered where the bruise had come from, and then it clicked in my mind. I had fallen in my dream. It was impossible that what had happened in the dream had happened in real life.

Was it a dream at all, or was it something else?

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Greyson's POV

I sat up abruptly in my bed. I was covered in sweat as I looked around. I had no explanation for what I had just seen. One moment I was fast asleep, and the next, I was running through the woods chasing after my mate.

I had seen her. I couldn’t believe that I was there. But then that wolf had clawed my back. I was so close to kissing her until it happened, and howled out in pain. My heart ached, remembering the look of fear in her eyes. I needed to see her again. Better yet, I needed to find her.

I felt something hard under my covers and lifted it up. I widened my eyes at the sight of her necklace sitting on my sheets.

That was no dream.