They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 3: The Monster From Churchwell

Stella's POV

My heart raced in my chest as I backed up against a stone wall. In front of me was the large shadow creature and took a step closer to me. Its arms dragged on the ground as its black eyes looked into me. Silently, it took slow steps closer to me with a blank expression on its face.

"What do you want?" I begged it for an answer as I flattened myself against the wall.

The creature stared at me silently before vanishing into nothingness.

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With a gasp, I shot up in my bed covered in sweat. I kicked the sheets off my body and choked out a cough as I tried to take deep breaths.

"That same damn dream. It's just a dream," I muttered as I rubbed my face. I got up from my hot, suffocating bed and shuffled to the bathroom.

As I turned on the light in the small bathroom, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked tired. It wasn't healthy for me to continue to have the same dream over again. This was the fourth time this week, and the image of the shadow haunted my mind even as I stood here.

The monster had to be from Churchwell. I was sure of that. But what I didn't understand was why I continued to have the same dream. It always chased me, silently, however I didn't know what it wanted from me. All I knew was that I needed to get away, to protect myself. But how dangerous was it?

My phone showed the last text message I sent to Gray, begging for him to text me back. There were so many questions that he could answer. I needed him. I missed everything about him; his laugh, the way he bit his lip as he wrote in his notebook. I just wondered if he missed me just as much. He probably didn't because if he did, he would have contacted me.

"Gray, please just answer," I mumbled with a sigh. Although I knew it was halfhearted. It had been a month and a half since I returned from Churchwell. If he hadn't contacted me yet, he wouldn't contact me. That much, I was sure of.

I washed my face as my mind drifted back to the night of the battle at Churchwell. As unwelcome as the memory was, it still popped into my mind like a door-to-door salesperson.

Graywick took me up to that castle room and showed me to the royal family. In that room with all four of them staring at me, he wanted to prove that anyone could be royal like them. Surviving the Darkling scratch was proof that I could be a half blood, whatever that really meant. He tried to tell them that because of their rules; they were killing people. He wanted to see change, but they casted a spell around me. They told him I had to die.

I took another deep breath as I gripped the sink as my heart raced. I never would have the chance to tell Gray what they wanted to do to me. They told me I was a danger because I lived. There was so much I wish I could have said to him before I left. Instead, I said little to him. The more I thought about it, the more frustration bubbled within me.

As much as I wanted to fall back to sleep, I knew I wouldn't be able to. All these emotions caused me to remain on edge, unable to calm myself down.

In the night's silence, I heard shuffling upstairs and anxiety hit me. With the darkness blanketing the room, it gave me some sense that it was too early to wake up. But as I checked my phone, I realized that in just a mere 30 minutes, my alarm would go off. I drew conclusions that the shuffling upstairs was just dad, getting ready for his day at the office.

With a sigh, I changed into my outfit for the day and walked up the stairs to see Bec making a pot of tea.

"Hey, want a cup?" Bec asked with a smile as I sat on a seat on the island.