Fleeing the clutches of her disreputable relatives, Sera Livingston has made her escape to Australia's Outback. Disguised as a boy, sharp-tongued Sera searches for her sister but is attacked by bushrangers. Thievery becomes her only chance at surviv...
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It was a nightmare within a nightmare and Sera was consciously aware of it, despite being sound asleep. She was in a parlor, staring out a window iced over from the winter's cold chill. No lights were on, and the only source of light came from the moonlight splintering in from the frosty, geometrically ruled window. The stark lines created long dark blue shadows, almost like limbs reaching out and osculating the sitting room. They stretched over furniture, along the rug, slithering over the wood and up the wallpapered walls.
Desperation pumped through Sera's blood, begging her body to wake up, to move, to scream, do... anything. Her eyes moved rapidly, heart beating, lungs working overtime, but she wasn't breathing. She was suffocating as the feared settled into her clenching stomach.
The cobalt limbs rose from the ground, elegantly stretching their way to Sera until they wrapped around parts of her body. The touch was too intimate that it was violating. A prickling festered, biting the skin of her neck. Sharp, painful panic quaked through her as Sera begun to lose more oxygen as her lungs started to collapse.
She could feel it.
Something was behind her.
Just... standing there.
Sera couldn't peer behind her shoulder, or even twitch her finger as the sensation creeped...
Closer.
And closer.
A hard object striking the ground resounded and ripped Sera out of the parlor as if an invisible rope had been wrapped around her and then yanked her out. Unfortunately, sleep paralysis had its claws dug deep into her, rendering her immobile. This time, darkness shrouded her, and nothing made sense. There were strange, thudding noises echoing all around and hidden from her sight, images of strange faces filtering in front of her, and a steady beat of what sounded like a cane hitting the floor.
Realization dawned on Sera as the thing behind her, was now standing in front of her. It had been walking around her the moment she was plunged into the darkness. And now, it was before her. She didn't know if it was him, if it was even human. Sera's mind was discombobulated, her brain a mess of shuffled cards that didn't make sense as she lost grip on nightmare or reality.
She couldn't grasp a single thought.
Another loud thud echoed but this time it was right next to her foot. The cane positioned right next to the bony ball on the side by her pinky toe. Her eyes widened, throat constricted as a cool, terrifying breath hit her nose and caressed her cheeks, reaching her ringing ears as if trying to invade her, enter her.
Then... his face appeared, parting the darkness. Shadows distorted the handsomeness, clinging under his cheekbones, narrowing along his long nose, surrounding his dark eyes, and outlining his furrowed brow. He reached out, his hand grasping her neck, thumb pressing against the delicate dip in her throat the pulsed in terror.
