Tempted | Kai Parker

sixty: strong

Sleep had invaded my body quickly tonight.

I didn't even remember being particularly tired. All I could recall was Kai and I slipping between the sheets, and almost the exact minute he drew me into his body, I was out.

I'd never fell into such a deep slumber this quickly before. It was almost as if I had been drugged. Like I was helpless to stop my consciousness slipping away from me.

And it was dreamless. Pitch black. It was just a void.

A stretch of time later, which honestly could have been a few hours or a few minutes, something started to change. The darkness was still the same, but I began to feel myself slowly being tugged back into a state of awareness. Like my brain was firing back up again. The cogs and wheels were spinning, my senses were starting to become more vivid, I was practically conscious. But for some reason, I felt like I was trapped somewhere in the drift between asleep and awake.

I remembered the thoughts whirring around my brain. What time was it? That was one of my first thoughts. Go back to sleep. That was my next. But something didn't seem right. It was almost as if I knew no matter how hard I tried, my body wasn't going to let me let go of this awareness. My brain was battling to stay alert. Like it was a fight or flight response.

Giving in, I let my eyes open. I felt them pry apart, felt myself blink a few times - but there was nothing there. Just completely consuming darkness. Not even so much as a silhouette in the sea of jet black which enveloped me.

And the darkness terrified me. Because it wasn't just dark - it was unnaturally black. It was like thick paint, coating everything around me. I let my eyes dart all around, I couldn't quite make sense of which way was which, but there was no end to it. It was just emptiness.

You're not awake, I thought. You wouldn't have been able to form that thought if you were asleep, a more stubborn voice argued back.

Making head or tail of anything in what seemed to be infinite nothingness was tricky, but I could almost have sworn I was moving. I had been propped up on what I thought was my bed prior, but then I suddenly felt like my body was tilting upwards. Like I was being carefully pulled upright by some invisible force.

Then just as I felt my weight transfer onto the soles of my feet, I saw a small burst of light in my peripheral vision. The tiny flicker came and went extraordinarily quickly, but in contrast to my inky surroundings it was almost blinding.

I quickly snapped my head to the side, fixing my gaze on where the light had been, but in its place was someone who looked almost as confused as me.

Even though the place was dark, I could see him perfectly. Like he had his own light source. I could make out the messy tufts of his brunette hair, and the flecks of different shades of blue dashed across his iris'. Just the sight of him automatically allowed me to take a small breath.

"Andie?" Kai almost whispered.

"Kai." I sputtered, stumbling over to him. "You're here - you're in my dream." I said, almost trying to convince myself that this was a dream. That this had to be a dream.

His fingertips brushed down the sides of my arms, as he slightly shook his head, brows pulling together.

"What are you talking about?" He quizzed. "You're in my head. This is my dream."

The brief serenity that Kai's presence had granted me was immediately swiped away. He was far too real for this to have been a dream. The details on his face, the sound of his voice - I knew it wasn't a dream.

What I couldn't figure out was what was going on. How could it be possible that we were both in each other's heads?

"Do you feel weird?" I quizzed. "Like you're awake, but you're not really awake?"