Page 157 of Lost in the Dark

“Do you not fear?” The creature's voice makes my ears want to bleed. It’s like nails on a chalkboard.Or maybe I just hate everyone equally.

“Fear is for the weak, and I’ve been weak too long to bring myself back to that place again.”

Shadowed wings explode from his back, and I tilt my head, observing the sheer size of him. Standing nearly six feet tall, the creature towers a whole two heads above my own. Each time his wings beat down, hot air is thrown at my face, mixed with dust from the room we’re standing in.

“Right-o, I guess you can save your posturing for someone who cares. If you’re going to take me, then at least make it quick, yeah?”

I watch as he gets on all fours and circles me like a beast waiting for the pounce. Finally, things are moving along.

“Your essence fascinates me.” His body expands and contracts, the wisps of shadowed spikes extruding and retracting.

“Yeah? Well, I was taking a nice nap until you came along.” Where is this conversation going? What is the purpose of it all?

Suddenly, his body envelopes mine, and his voice comes from behind my neck. “There’s a taint that follows you. It’s as sweet as sprite’s blood, filled with fear.”

What is a sprite?

A very wet tongue trails around my neck, licking up the column of it, and goosebumps spring forth on my skin. “The only problem with sprites is that you’d need to devour alegionof them to even whet my appetite.”

His warm breath heats up my neck and I want to twitch but I force myself to stay as still as possible.

“But you, you would keep me full for days.”

Days…

From heat against my back to heat inside of my body, it feels as if the dark entity is taking me over like a flesh suit, possessing me. I lift my hands and make a fist, opening and closing them a few times to make sure this is all real. But it can’t be real, because this is a dream.

Right?

Something scratches inside my mind and a chittering sound pricks my ears. I slap the side of my head to be rid of it, but it does nothing.

The being steps forth outside of my body and turns. Something runs up the back of my leg and when I look down, I see that it is his tail—solidified, looking like a long, slimy, black leech without eyes. The end sucks on my pants, pulling it away every so often as if to taste me.

Chuckling, I close my eyes in this dreamscape. Of all the bizarre things my messed-up childhood can think up, a leechwouldbe it, wouldn’t it?

The creature tilts its head, and it reminds me so much of myself that my chuckles get louder. “Do you have a name? Or are you a reflection of myself on the inside?”

It opens its mouth into an unnatural wide smile, and I’m convinced I’m talking to myself. I smile back.

Its eyes flicker with something before the shadows that make up his body turns into black liquid and melts to the ground, leaving nothing but a skeleton in its wake. The smile seems ominous now, what I thought were wings look to be extensions of bones from its spine spread out like weapons.

“Astar,” it whispers.

I don’t understand what’s happening. I’m mesmerized by the unnatural way his body moves. “What?”

He leaps on top of me, his skeletal feet landing on my shoulders. His hands grab my head, and he opens his mouth as if to devour my skull …and then he does.

The last thing I hear before the darkness encompasses my world is that name again.

Astar.

Iawake with a start. My heart pounds against my chest and there’s an ache in my face, as if it was held roughly and sliced. My hands creep up until I can feel my unmarred flesh, and I sigh with relief. The coolness of the room actually makes me shiver, reminding me that I'm back.

That has to be one of the strangest nightmares I’ve ever slept through. My eyes narrow at the window behind me. The sun only kisses the horizon, and I wonder how long my body has been left to lie on this bed without anyone checking on me.

Not that it matters. What would they do? Drag me out of bed? That’s not done here, not among the half-dead. It would create a calamity even the orderlies can’t deal with.

Rolling my neck, it sticks in places, and I stop. My hands touch the flesh there to find a stringy, clear ooze, and my mind supplies me with images of the creature’s tongue. I’m still unsure how I feel about it speaking of my demise so easily, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

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