Page 200 of Midnights
Above me, the sky stretches like an endless canvas. Inky black streaks with swirling ribbons of deep purples and blues, shift and pulse like the sky itself is alive. Like it’s breathing.
A chill prickles on my skin and I can tell I’m not alone. I look around to see a wolf moving in the distance, and its eyes glow faintly in the strange light, fixed on mine. It stalks toward me, like it’s not in any hurry and its steps are silent against the damp earth.
The silence is suffocating.
“Hey there.” I whisper, but it feels impossibly loud against the quiet. “You sure are beautiful, aren’t you?”
The hair on my arms rises and the temperature drops. I can hear whispers threading through the air like an echo of a long-forgotten memory brushing the edges of my mind. I strain to catch it, to make sense of the words, but the harder I try the more they scatter.
Then, I hear a voice cutting through the silence.
“Raven.”
I whip my head around, searching for the source, only to find trees and more shadows.
I look around and the wolf hasn’t moved, its eyes still reflect the swirling lights above. It just stands there, staring. It’s almost like he’s waiting. But for what?
The whispers get louder, wrapping around me like a warning. My breath quickens, and my pulse hammers in my ears. I press my hands to my head,desperate to drown it out, but the sound isn’t coming from outside. They’re everywhere.
The wolf steps closer.
“You just stay right where you are, buddy.”
The wolf tilts its head, watching. The whispers rattle through my skull like a rising tide and heat like I’ve never felt flares in my palms, spreading through my whole body. Light flickers from my hands, glowing brighter with each erratic thud of my heartbeat. It radiates outward, forming a glow around me.
The whispers are still there, just not as loud.
The wolf hesitates. Its glowing eyes go wide as the air starts to pulse—symbols sparking and twisting, alive in an ever-changing pattern.
A shudder rips through me, not knowing what's happening. “What do you want?”
The wolf tilts its head and I feel the answer more than I hear it. A single, unspoken command pressing into my thoughts.
Watch.
“Watch what?”
The whispers call my name again, closer this time. My blood turns to ice as I whirl around, heart in my throat, expecting to see someone looming over me. But there’s nothing. The only thing I can see are the shadows moving in the trees.
The symbols start to ripple faster, shifting and changing faster than I can track.
The wolf takes another step, its gaze locked on the glow. Its ears twitch, listening to something I can’t hear, then its eyes lift back to mine, and it starts to turn away.
“Wait,” I call. It pauses and looks back over its shoulder, meeting my stare. Then, with a small nod, it disappears into the shadows.
The whispers retreat with it, fading into silence.
I turn in a frantic circle, searching, but my movements feel sluggish. My body feels all wrong, like I’m wading through thick mud. And without warning, the ground shifts beneath me.
I fall forward, and my stomach twists as if the world has been ripped from under my feet and dizziness crashes over me, disorienting and violent. The sky distorts, warping like a shattered mirror.
And then I hear a familiar voice, “Princess.”
I blink up at him, dazed. My heart hammers as I register the face above me. His usual confidence is there, but there’s something different about him. Something sharper.
“What are you doing on the ground?” His brow furrows, and his head tilts like he’s trying to decide if I’m worth the trouble.
My mouth opens, but before I can say anything, the dizziness surges again, pulling me under.
