Page 118 of Resistant

“No, I choke. NO!”

He grabs my chin and holds me firmly.

“Angel, who do you belong to?” His voice is deep and heady, and I can’t suppress the shudder that passes through my body.

“Me, I belong to me.” I wail. “But my heart belongs to you.”

He makes a guttural noise in his throat and closes his eyes tightly. He smiles, and it is beautiful and victorious.

“Mine.” He breathes.

The Visitor

Declan

A terrified shriek threatens to rip from my throat, and I bolt upright in bed. Sweat drips from my forehead, and I can’t catch my breath. I glance down and it’s too dark to see Brynn next to me, but a quick brush of my hand reassures me that she’s still asleep beside me.

Fuck, did I just scream like a girl?Thankfully I didn’t wake her up. I climb out of bed and quietly inch my way to the door.

It’s cold outside, the sweat is evaporating quickly off my chest. I shiver on the steps as images from my dream turned nightmare roll in my mind like an eight-millimeter film.

I breathe deep as the dream slides over my psyche; I’m standing on the sandy shore alongside Brynn, the sun casting a gentle glow on her flower-adorned hair and simple cotton dress. My thumb presses into a wedding band on my left ring finger and I feel euphoric. Her angelic smile is aimed at me, and my heart is at peace.

I turn my head away from my bride to look at the water, the waves pounding at the sand in an easy steady rhythm.

My elation turns to shock as an enormous beast emerges from the depths, long tentacles reaching skyward. As each tentacle emerges, a grotesque slimy offspring detaches itself and makes its way to shore, paddling over the surf. I watch one of the monstrosities as it rips a man from his fishing boat, drains him of blood and eats his head like a grape.

Suddenly, an enormous man wearing long robes strides with determination onto the beach, his presence commanding attention. Towering at seven and a half feet tall, his golden hair is slicked back, and his pale blue eyes radiating intensity. His gaze settles on me briefly and I’ve never been so scared in my fucking life. Thousands of people are gathered behind him. He waves his staff, and the people are gone, and I’m awestruck to find all of those people standing behind me.

A little girl climbs up my back like a monkey and grips the hair at my forehead. I feel some of my hair come out by the roots and I reach up to force her fingers free from my scalp and steady her on my shoulders. Then, I look down at a boy, who is wearing sparkly glasses like Rick the Dick’s, he’s pulling on my shirt hem and saying.

“We have to go; you are supposed to lead us out.”

“What?”

“The giant said so.” And he points to the man with the staff who has now faced the beast, and he’s shining a light towards all the little beast fuckers trying to make it on the beach. When the light hits them, the beastly babies retreat to the mama monster, but it’s only moments before they scurry back out of the water leaping toward the sand.

The giant of a man says something, but his voice so loud I can’t understand him, I feel the vibrations of it shake through my chest and my belly. His eyes meet mine again and I understand I’m supposed to help him somehow.

The little Ricky the dicky bastard kid tugs on my shirt again, his sparkly glasses askew and I turn and look at the thousands of people behind me. I’m immediately overwhelmed with the responsibility of all these people.

As my gaze travels over them, I see a dark opening, a cave and instinctively know that’s where we are supposed to go. Fucking hell. I grab Brynn’s hand and hold on to the leg of the monkey on my shoulders and we all walk toward the cave. Little Ricky dicky smiles up at me and holds on to the hem of my shirt in his chubby fist.

I feel and hear the presence of one of the grotesque beasts behind me, right behind me. Razor-like fingernails scratch from my shoulder to my lower back, the welts swelling immediately and oozing under my shirt. The monkey on my back screams in my ear, and a ringing blasts through my brain.

I feel a sharp prick on my shoulder that burns furiously before my arm goes numb. I let go of Brynn to reach for it. I pull my fingers away to see a smashed bug between my fingers, a metal bug. My blood is smeared across my palm. My heart thuds out of my chest and I’m blinded by a white light.

I wake in the cabin, my back aching and my arm numb.

Breathing deeply, I try and steady myself and calm the fuck down. I haven’t had a nightmare like that for years and this one is worse than any other I can remember.

I shake my head to try and dispel the figures of horror from my mind. I close my eyes, gripping my knees praying for our safety, but mostly for Brynn. I cannot lose her again. I’ll die before I let her go.

I sit quietly breathing, listening for noises in the forest, and the terror slowly eases off. My heart is still beating like crazy in my chest and I pad back further into the cabin, grab some shoes and decide to go for a run.

I’ve been gone a few hours; the light has eased its way through the trees and my feet crunch over dry needles and dead vegetation on the ground. I’m hurrying as much as I can because I’ve left Brynn alone too long, she’s surely awake by now.

I’m a sweaty mess, and I feel like I was hit by a car, but at least my mind is clear. I climb into a trough big enough for both of us to bathe in together that’s filled with rainwater and soap off.

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