May 1st, 2016
?...I?ve been waiting for you.?
Antonia awoke with a start, eyes snapping open and dry lips parting to draw in a ragged breath. It filled her aching lungs and caused her hollow chest to rise, fighting against the imaginary weight she felt crushing down on her ribs like a bag of bricks. Despite being surrounded by so much darkness, in the bedroom of her apartment in the middle of the night absent of light and sound, it felt like her senses were being overwhelmed in her sleepy confusion.
Her flesh felt clammy, wet, covered in a cold sweat that soaked her sheets and made the dark skin of the nearby drow stick to her. It was only a matter of mere moments, but it felt like those seconds dragged on forever as she tried to grasp uselessly at the dream that was already stubbornly escaping her. The cause of all her distress.
Or was it a nightmare? It would explain why she felt sick to her stomach. Lost and longing. The pieces were quickly falling away despite her best efforts, as dreams so often do. Tree branches scratching her skin, dirt beneath her fingernails, so much uncertainty. So much fear. Wood and fire and smoke and the haunting voice of a woman. Then it all went black.
The heels of her palms were roughly rubbed into the sunken sockets of her eyes. Antonia felt Cianan stirring beside her, positive he had been privy to the entirety of her sudden wake up call since the drow rarely slept. Her hand lowered, seeking out his to meet it palm to palm, to lace her fingers with his.
?You okay??
?I?m fine. Just a bad dream.? The puzzlement in Antonia?s tone at having to admit such a silly thing was mirrored in Cianan?s expression, now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she could make out his scarred and inked features. Antonia couldn?t remember the last time she had been the victim of a bad dream. It was practically something to brag about, the fact that she slept so peacefully night after night. Considering all she had faced in her short life, she wouldn?t have been shocked if she were haunted in her dreams the same way she was haunted while awake, but that had never been the case. This? This was out of the ordinary and going by the way Cianan was looking at her, he was just as aware.
?Honestly, I?m fine.? She said it again, aiming to assure him as well as herself. The Drow didn?t push. It wasn?t his style and she was always grateful for it, same as she was now. She slid herself closer to him, tugging his hand to coax him into draping his body halfway across her and he obliged. A shield from the night, the weight of the drow a much needed comfort. Antonia tried desperately to clear her mind, to shake off the lingering sense of discomfort that clung to her.
Little did she know, across town in his own bed, Jacob was recovering from the same bad dream.
?...I?ve been waiting for you.?
Antonia awoke with a start, eyes snapping open and dry lips parting to draw in a ragged breath. It filled her aching lungs and caused her hollow chest to rise, fighting against the imaginary weight she felt crushing down on her ribs like a bag of bricks. Despite being surrounded by so much darkness, in the bedroom of her apartment in the middle of the night absent of light and sound, it felt like her senses were being overwhelmed in her sleepy confusion.
Her flesh felt clammy, wet, covered in a cold sweat that soaked her sheets and made the dark skin of the nearby drow stick to her. It was only a matter of mere moments, but it felt like those seconds dragged on forever as she tried to grasp uselessly at the dream that was already stubbornly escaping her. The cause of all her distress.
Or was it a nightmare? It would explain why she felt sick to her stomach. Lost and longing. The pieces were quickly falling away despite her best efforts, as dreams so often do. Tree branches scratching her skin, dirt beneath her fingernails, so much uncertainty. So much fear. Wood and fire and smoke and the haunting voice of a woman. Then it all went black.
The heels of her palms were roughly rubbed into the sunken sockets of her eyes. Antonia felt Cianan stirring beside her, positive he had been privy to the entirety of her sudden wake up call since the drow rarely slept. Her hand lowered, seeking out his to meet it palm to palm, to lace her fingers with his.
?You okay??
?I?m fine. Just a bad dream.? The puzzlement in Antonia?s tone at having to admit such a silly thing was mirrored in Cianan?s expression, now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she could make out his scarred and inked features. Antonia couldn?t remember the last time she had been the victim of a bad dream. It was practically something to brag about, the fact that she slept so peacefully night after night. Considering all she had faced in her short life, she wouldn?t have been shocked if she were haunted in her dreams the same way she was haunted while awake, but that had never been the case. This? This was out of the ordinary and going by the way Cianan was looking at her, he was just as aware.
?Honestly, I?m fine.? She said it again, aiming to assure him as well as herself. The Drow didn?t push. It wasn?t his style and she was always grateful for it, same as she was now. She slid herself closer to him, tugging his hand to coax him into draping his body halfway across her and he obliged. A shield from the night, the weight of the drow a much needed comfort. Antonia tried desperately to clear her mind, to shake off the lingering sense of discomfort that clung to her.
Little did she know, across town in his own bed, Jacob was recovering from the same bad dream.