My Werewolf Girlfriend

Chapter 8

-Alex-

Cold sweat poured down my face as I stared into the shadows, my heartbeat practically deafening me in the silence of the night. My body was stiff and shivering as it ignored the heated air of my room, trying to relax. I was confused at first, grasping at the sheets that tangled my legs in a desperate effort to get free until I had fully awoken.

Another one. I hadn't had that nightmare in months. Possibly years.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up. The darkness in my room began to fade as the moon poked out from the clouds, it's low light filtering in through the blinds. It was eerie, considering how it reminded me of the heart-pounding dream that I had just come from. The clock read some godly hour in the morning, and I figured I still had at least four more hours until I needed to get up. I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes for a moment, a quiet and frustrated sight leaving me, then stood and walked into the bathroom. Turning on the blinding light, I flipped on the faucet and took a moment to try to get my breathing under control. I kept telling myself it was nothing more than a dream. A bad one, one that seemed as real as could be, but a dream nonetheless.

When I was little, these dreams varied from losing my parents to never being able to find someone I was looking for -- only to be killed at the end. They were dark, especially for a seven-year-old. I would only be awakened from them by my mom shaking me awake, trying to calm me down. At one point they started to become so frequent, my parents dragged me into some psychiatrist's office in hopes of finding out what was up. He said the same thing the pediatrician and the brain doctor said: "There's nothing wrong, I have no idea what the issue would be."

Eventually, they became rare, making everyone assume I just grew out of them. I had figured the same. They were nothing more than small issues I had as I was growing up. Nothing that really made me grow up weird or have any problems.

Even if they did somehow find their way back to haunt me every other blue moon. This one felt a bit different though. More real. More like a memory than a bad dream. Unlike other dreams I'd had in the past, everything was clear.

I splashed cold water on my face, gritting my teeth against the bitter shock, forcing myself to give it a rest. "It was only another bad dream," I told myself.

I towel dried my face and turned out the light, returning to my bedroom. I had just stepped out when I ran into my dad who didn't appear to have been asleep.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice a bit gruff sounding.

"Yeah. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I've been tossing and turning for the past few hours," he replied with a sigh. "Care to join me?"

I couldn't help but smile. Normally he'd sit outside on the patio when he had trouble sleeping. I never bothered asking what kept him up, as I was sure there was always something in his head. I knew he didn't want to wake my mom either, as I'm sure it would only make her worry.

I nodded and let him lead the way downstairs.

The night wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either. The summer crickets were still chirping as if to tell that the warmer weather was going to stick around for a while. A few stars could be seen, but the light pollution from the city was still drowning out a good amount. The waxing moon was only but a sliver in the sky, providing little other light except from the night lights we had outside. The neighborhood we'd moved into never bothered getting street lights in all the years we'd lived on the street.

I looked over at my dad as he gave a tired sigh, letting himself fall into the wicker chair we kept on the front porch. Still feeling a tad restless from my abrupt awakening, I opted to lean against the wooden door frame.