Dead Dreams

Twenty five

You. I am afraid of you. My frozen limbs scream this out for me, as I can't bring myself to open my mouth. My glare is pinned to the bottom half of his face, which has the same grotesque smile I saw last time. Escape isn't an option, as he has me by my upper arms. I only have one opinion, but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it. I'll have to scream for help.

"Go ahead, try it." I flinch lightly at his words, more of an amused taunt than a threat. "I'm sure he'll come running to save you. But...do you really have that much confidence in him?" shivers wrack my body as I try to reason myself into believing that Iris would win against this thing, but I can't. I've never seen Iris fight. Just by comparing the builds of the two, this monster would win by a landslide. He has to be at least a foot taller than Iris, and the way the moon man was taken out...he has to be a few times faster than a regular human too.

"We seem to be at an agreement. I might kill the poor boy by accident, and that wouldn't be very fun for you would it?"

"Don't you dare." The resurgence of my voice surprises me. I knew where it came from though. There's some part of me that's close to boiling over at the thought of Iris dying because I did something stupid.

"Oh?" He lets go of one of my arms, squishing my cheeks between his two fingers. His nails lightly graze my face as he tilts it further upwards, so my eyes are in his line of sight. The action doesn't hurt, so I keep my eyes lowered. "My mistake, I seem to have taken you for a coward...when you're really just an idiot."

"Wh-" In half of a second he has me swung over his shoulder as he walks off in whatever direction he pleases. Sadly for me, it's the wrong direction from the girls tent. I don't speak up about it. I tested him once, and don't have it in me to do it again. I do however trace the areas that we leave and the new ones we go into. I'll at least know where to go if I escape...

Which I probably won't.

It's about a five minute walk to our destination, which I'm thankful for. It's a small clearing, similar to the one Iris took me to in order to see the wheeps. This one however, is much smaller. I'm stiffer than a board as he puts me down.

I'm left to stand there as he leans on a nearby tree, saying nothing. He's close enough to where I can't see him, but far enough to where his face is shaded. I can't help but glare at him despite my fear, glancing away occasionally. There are so many directions I could run right now seeing as I'm in the middle of the clearing. It gets on my nerves that I can't do anything but stand still. I'm sure I'd be dead in seconds if I took a step though.

"You must have been raised by rabbits."

My eyes flick back to him in an instant. I'm not paying much attention to his words, rather watching to see if he stays put.

"The way you're always calculating what to do...where to run or hide...You have ingrained prey instincts."

When he doesn't move, I focus more on his words. I don't say anything back, but I feel a rise of heat in my head and chest. I quickly bury the feeling, and he continues. .

"It's not particularly bad, even fun sometimes."

I tense up the second he pulls up off the tree, passing me and circling around like he's examining me for something. I follow his every movement, ready for anything he could do.

"But it's so predictable...that fear. What's more fun is when you go against my expectations...humans never stand up to me after all."

I jump slightly as he leans down from beside me, averting my eyes so as not to make contact with his. Our faces are close, and even without looking I know he's still there. Despite how warm it feels with him close, chills wrack my body. I just want him to go back to where he was standing. I muster up a sentence despite my discomfort.