Chapter 17 DREAM SEQUENCE
(Adam's POV)
It was cold.
The kind of cold that crawled under your skin, sinking deep into your bones until even your heartbeat sounded distant.
I didn’t know where I was. The world around me was nothing but fog and shadow, everything blurring together like a water-stained photograph. Shapes moved in the mist, shifting, dissolving, reforming again.
And somewhere in that fog, voices whispered.
“Adam, you never listen… you forgot your medicine again.”
My mother’s voice. Soft. Almost kind — almost.
Then came my father’s. Rougher, edged with warning. “You know what happens when he doesn’t take them.”
My pulse spiked.
I turned, trying to find where the voices were coming from, but the mist only thickened. The air felt heavy, and my head pounded like someone was hammering from the inside.
Medicine.
Always the medicine.
I remembered the bitter taste. The way it made my chest feel hollow afterward.
“I don’t feel right,” my younger voice said from somewhere nearby; high-pitched, trembling. I blinked, and suddenly I wasn’t standing anymore.
I was watching.
A boy — me — maybe eight or nine, sat on the living room floor, clutching his head while his mother towered above him.
“Stop it!” she hissed. “Stop pretending to be sick! You’re not a monster, Adam. You’re not different!”
“I’m not pretending,” the boy whimpered, shaking. “It hurts—”
“Then maybe next time you’ll take your pills when I tell you to.”
A slap echoed through the air. My stomach turned as I saw the boy — myself — fall silent, tears streaming down his cheeks.
No.
No, this couldn’t be real.
I tried to move closer, but my body wouldn’t respond. My surroundings rippled like broken glass, and suddenly, I was somewhere else.
A dimly lit room.
My parents again, older now, standing across from a man I didn’t recognize.
He was tall, wearing a long coat, his face hidden in shadow. But his voice was smooth, cold, and measured.
“You said the suppressant is working?”
My mother nodded quickly. “Yes. Every morning and night. He still gets sick sometimes, but it keeps him… stable.”
“Good,” the man said, pacing slowly. “You must never let him skip a dose. If the suppressant wears off, the wolf inside him will awaken, and once that happens, there’ll be no taming it.”
My heart dropped.
The wolf inside him?
The words repeated in my head, over and over, until it hurt just to breathe.
Me.
They were talking about me.
But that made no sense. I didn’t have a wolf. I wasn’t like Kael. I was human… just human.
The memory, dream, whatever this was, began to crumble. The man’s face flickered, like static on a broken screen. For a split second, his eyes glowed faintly gold before everything shattered again.
Now I was outside. The night sky above me bled red instead of black. Trees surrounded me, their branches swaying violently even though there was no wind.
And I was running. Barefoot. My lungs burned, my legs heavy.
Someone was chasing me. I didn’t know who, but I could feel the presence at my back. Something massive, primal, hungry.
I tripped, fell onto my hands, and when I looked up and saw him.
A wolf.
Huge. White. Eyes like ice.
Kael.
But he didn’t look like Kael. Not the one who smiled softly when he offered me food, not the one who held me when I couldn’t breathe. This Kael was different — terrifyingly beautiful, radiating power and sorrow all at once.
His mouth moved, but no sound came out. I wanted to reach him, but my body wouldn’t move.
Then, a shadow burst from behind him; the same man from before, the one with the dark coat. He whispered something, and suddenly Kael fell to his knees, his body flickering like he was fading from existence.
“No!” I shouted, but my voice came out muffled, like yelling underwater.
The shadow turned toward me.
“Do you still think you’re human, boy?”
I stumbled back. The trees twisted. The sky seemed to split open, light bleeding through the cracks.
“I—I don’t understand…” I managed to say.
“Of course you don’t,” the man sneered. “They made sure of it. Years of suppressants, lies, and fear… You’re a cage, Adam. A cage built to hold something much older than you’ll ever be.”
He took a step forward. The air thickened. My chest felt tight again.
“What are you talking about?” I gasped.
He smiled. “You’ll remember soon enough.”
Before I could speak again, the sound of footsteps echoed; sharp, steady, purposeful.
The man frowned and turned his head slightly. “Ah. There he is.”
And through the haze, a voice cut through everything.
“Adam.”
Kael’s voice.
Clear this time. Real.
My heart lurched.
The mist started to glow, and with every step Kael took closer, the nightmare seemed to fall apart; the trees bending, the shadows retreating.
But the headache worsened. My temples throbbed so hard I thought my skull would split. I clutched my head, groaning. “Stop… it hurts—”
“Adam!” Kael’s voice came closer, desperate now. “Listen to me. It’s not real. You’re safe.”
Safe.
That word again.
But the shadow, the man, only laughed. “Safe? He’s never been safe. Not while you keep chasing him.”
Kael’s voice grew louder. Closer. “Adam, wake up. Please.”
I could see him faintly now, his silhouette breaking through the light. His hand reached for me.
The shadow lunged forward, but Kael’s figure shone brighter, forcing it back. The light grew unbearable.
I tried to reach him. My body felt heavy, like dragging through water, but I kept moving. His hand was right there…
“Kael!” I screamed.
“Wake up!”
The light exploded.
Everything went silent.
And then I was falling weightlessly through layers of sound and color. The whispers faded, the memories melted away.
For the first time in what felt like forever, there was warmth instead of cold. I could smell something faint and familiar: pine, smoke, and something else I couldn’t name.
Kael’s scent.
My heart slowed. The ache in my head dulled. I didn’t know if I was awake yet, but I could feel him near.
His voice came again, soft now, like a lullaby.
“I’ve got you, Adam. You’re safe with me.”
The world around me steadied. The colors faded to darkness, but not the terrifying kind; the gentle one that promised peace.
Maybe I was still dreaming. Maybe none of it made sense.
But as I drifted deeper, one truth sett
led heavy in my chest: Kael was there for me.
His voice…
It didn’t sound like someone calling me back.
It sounded like someone who never wanted to let me go.