Chapter 14 NIghtmares
Maddie Pov
The dream started the same way it always did. Soft. Warm. Safe.
I was standing in a forest. Moonlight filtering through the trees. The air smelled like pine and earth. Everything was quiet. Peaceful.
Then I heard footsteps behind me. Turned around. Calix was there. Walking toward me with this look on his face. This soft look I'd never seen in real life. Like he actually cared. Like I actually mattered.
"You came," I said. My voice sounded different in the dream. Lighter. Happier.
"Of course I came," Calix said. He stopped in front of me. Close enough to touch. "I'll always come for you."
He reached out. Brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers were warm against my skin. Gentle.
"I've been so scared," I whispered. "So alone."
"You're not alone anymore," Calix said. "I'm here. I'll keep you safe."
His arms wrapped around me. Pulled me close. I melted into him. Into the warmth. Into the safety. For the first time in forever I felt protected. Felt like maybe everything would be okay.
"I won't let anyone hurt you," Calix murmured against my hair. "I promise."
I believed him. In the dream I always believed him.
Then everything changed.
His body went stiff against mine. His breathing got harsh. Ragged. I pulled back to look at his face. His eyes were glowing. Bright gold. Wild.
"Calix?" I said. Fear crept into my voice. "What's wrong?"
He didn't answer. Just stared at me with those glowing eyes. His face started changing. Shifting. Bones cracking. Reshaping.
"Calix you're scaring me," I said. I tried to step back but his arms tightened. Held me in place.
His mouth opened. Fangs where his teeth should be. Long. Sharp. Dripping. A growl came from his throat. Low. Dangerous.
"Let me go," I said. I pushed against his chest. "Please let me go."
But he wouldn't. Couldn't. Whatever was happening to him had taken over. His face kept changing. Kept twisting. Becoming something else. Something not human. Not wolf. Something in between. Something wrong.
"Calix please," I begged. Tears streamed down my face. "Fight it. Come back."
He growled again. Louder. Then his claws came out. I watched them extend from his fingertips. Black. Curved. Deadly.
"No," I whispered. "No no no."
He raised his hand. I couldn't move. Couldn't run. Just stood there frozen as his claws came down. As they sliced through my chest. Through skin. Through muscle. Through bone.
Pain exploded. White hot. Blinding. I screamed. The sound echoed through the forest. Through my head. Through everything.
Blood poured from the wound. So much blood. It soaked my shirt. Dripped onto the ground. Pooled around my feet.
I looked up at Calix. His face was back to normal. Human again. But his eyes. His eyes were full of horror. Of regret. Of grief.
"I'm sorry," he said. His voice cracked. "I'm so sorry. I tried to warn you. I tried to stay away."
"Why," I gasped. Blood bubbled up in my throat. Made it hard to talk. "Why did you do this?"
"I love you," Calix said. Tears ran down his face. "That's why. Love is what triggers it. Love is what makes me a monster."
I fell to my knees. The world was spinning. Getting dark around the edges. Cold was spreading through my body. Starting from the wound. Moving outward.
"I told you to stay away," Calix said. He knelt next to me. Caught me as I fell. "I told you I was dangerous. But you wouldn't listen."
"I didn't know," I whispered. My voice was fading. Everything was fading. "I didn't understand."
"Now you do," Calix said. "Now you see what I really am."
The forest disappeared. His face disappeared. Everything went black.
I woke up screaming.
My sheets were soaked with sweat. Tangled around my legs. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Just kept feeling the ghost of claws tearing through my chest.
I pressed my hand to my chest. No wound. No blood. Just my racing heart under my palm.
It was a dream. Just a dream. Like every night for the past week. The same dream over and over. With small changes but always ending the same way. With him hurting me. With him killing me.
I sat up. Threw off the covers. My room was dark. Cold. The clock on my nightstand said three in the morning.
I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. Never could after the dream. Too scared it would start again. Too scared I'd see his face twist into that monster.
"It's a warning," Gory said quietly. She'd been silent for days. Barely talked to me. But now her voice was clear. Certain. "Your subconscious is trying to tell you something."
"I know what it's trying to tell me," I said. My voice was hoarse from screaming. "That Calix is dangerous. That I need to stay away from him."
"Exactly," Gory said. "So why haven't you?"
"I have," I protested. "I haven't talked to him. Haven't gone near him."
"But you think about him," Gory said. "Constantly. You look for him in hallways. In the dining hall. In classes. You're obsessed."
"I'm not obsessed," I said. But it was a lie. I was obsessed. Couldn't help it. The mate bond pulled at me every second. Made me hyperaware of where he was. What he was doing.
"The dreams are getting worse," Gory said. "More violent. More real. That means your subconscious is getting more desperate to warn you."
"I get it," I said. "I understand the warning."
"Then act on it," Gory said firmly. "Really stay away from him. Not just physically. Mentally too. Stop thinking about him. Stop looking for him. Stop hoping he'll talk to you."
My chest ached at the thought. Stop thinking about him? How was I supposed to do that when every part of me was drawn to him?
"I don't know how," I admitted quietly.
"You have to try," Gory said. "Because if you don't. If you let yourself get close to him. The dream will become real. He will hurt you. Maybe not on purpose. But he will."
I knew she was right. Had known it from the first time I had the dream. But knowing something and accepting it were different things.