Hybrid

TWO

⫷ ARIA ⫸

I know I'm dreaming when my gaze falls upon blood red eyes. They're watching me, studying me, waiting for me to make the first move. Like ice, I remain in place with no intentions of hiding the fear that rushes blood to my delirious head.

This dream is peculiar, to say the least, and I've been faced with it on more than several occasions. All I see are the eyes. The body is hidden beneath the shadows of the night. Hunger roars from this shadow, an echoing cry that rattles me from my head to my toes. Those eyes are a haunted movie, how they spread fear by merely existing.

Then, like a flash of lightning, I'm pulled away from the dream by the sound of voices.

"So let me get this straight," a male's voice speaks calmly, and I'm immediately conscious of my surroundings. "You sensed her in the woods, followed that to her house, found her inside, and knocked her out?"

With eyes gently closed, I do everything I can to remain impassive to the situation. One flinch and they'll know I'm awake. It doesn't help when a gentle breeze tickles my skin, urging me to shiver. Or giggle. I'm a hysterical when tickled.

Acting is literally my life. Well, most of it. So that, and my consistency in showing up to all those yoga lessons, allows me to settle with a steady heart and a sleeping face. Oh, yeah. Oscar worthy performance, baby.

Despite the ever so taunting hysteria that my brain is experiencing, there's also this jittery sensation that my body is experiencing. The type of jitters I get whenever I'm about to perform a dance number in front of a crowd or belt out the last, and most important, song of a school musical. The same type of jitters I get whenever I'm about to kiss a cute boy and realize that I ate onions for lunch.

Why the hell am I feeling this now, of all times?

"Yeah, that's basically it." Had one simple voice ever satisfied me as much as that one? Nope. Never. Listening to that voice, I nearly let out a guttural sigh of relief. Did that make sense?

Absolutely not.

"Okay... Do you have any idea what you're going to tell her when she wakes up? Alpha, do you even know her name?"

The second guy with the dreamy voice lets out a throaty chuckle, nearly forcing me to peel my eyes open then and there. My once calm heart begins to thud relentlessly and I feel a slow warmth creep on my cheeks.

Guy number one, AKA the guy with the plain, non-dreamy voice takes his time in replying, whilst emitting a heavy sigh. "Good luck. You're going to need it."

Dreamy-voice lets out a warning snarl. The kind of snarl you'd hear from a vicious dog that someone stepped too close to. Not what you'd expect to hear from a human being. "Thanks for the encouragement, Caleb."

My ears perk at the sound of shuffling, then I relax at the sound of a door clicking shut. Fluttering my eyes open, I'm met with a bland white ceiling above me with a fan spinning slowly. Glancing from side to side, I immediately realize I've been placed on a ridiculously huge bed, covered in maroon blankets and accompanied by a dozen or so pillows. Not just any pillows, but those ones that probably cost my life savings but also feel like cotton candy.

How many pillows does one person need?

Partly encouraged to test of the fluffy pillows, I, instead, decide to roll off of the inviting surface. Speaking of cotton candy fluffiness, my toes immediately sink into a black and white carpet.

To my left, I notice a glass door that leads to a balcony. In front of me is a door swung inward, displaying a walk-in closet and a bathroom beside. To my right is, assuming, the door to the rest of the house. It's the same door that the two kidnappers left through.