Mated to Morpheus

MTM.25

lucky? are you sure?

To interrupt the peace would be incredibly rude, but upon seeing the traumatizing gore of the forest, a deafening scream had slipped effortlessly past my lips and began echoing through the cracks of the trees.

It was a horror movie come to life.

Acting and feeling just like a racehorse, as though a command had just fired off, my legs jammed in and out of the dirt that was being pulled up with each dig of my already sore heels. Rocks, grass, moss, all of it came flying up. The only thing that stopped me was when my back finally slammed against a nearby tree as I had scooted as far as I could away from the bloody scene, a pain shot up my spine at the contact, but I quickly reassured myself of one thing, that it could be worse.

Questions, explanations, and ideas ran rampant around my mind, stomping on my brain until it was a muddled mess of confusion and growing panic. There was no way that I could keep my thoughts to myself, but then again, I didn't think anyone was listening. "Wha-What is that?" Slowly, I lifted up my hands to be able to see them clearly, or at least clear enough to be able to make out the important bits. They shook violently, there was no stopping them, and I knew that. The dark fluid dripped down the side of my left wrist until it turned too thin and started to dry, and crack. Thick and sticky blood had already smudged out across my palm and paired itself up with the remnants of the forest floor.

The voice that answered the question was sickeningly sweet, silky like milk, and oozed enthusiasm like an excited child, "Something necessary to live." The owner of the voice slithered their ice-cold fingers up my elbow with an agonizing light touch that tickled, and sent shocks straight through to my core. The tone of their voice was deep, but high pitched at the same time, leading me to become more confused and frightened with each word they spoke. They continued with their strange riddle, "Something you have, and something I need."

I seeked comfort in the stability of the tree that I was currently digging my back into, the hard surface kept me upright. It felt oddly like déjà vu, except this time it was more dramatic and a little less heartbreaking. But, it was not the same, it was completely different. This, was happening to me. As ignorant as my first thought was, there seemed to be only one sane explanation that I could possibly conjure up, werewolves.

Soon, I would come to regret it.

No words were coming out, I was as quiet as a silent film, only showing facial reactions and no talking. The trees whistled as the wind began picking up. I couldn't face whoever it was, there was no looking back at them, only staring forward into the night. My teeth clinked together with every staggered breath. I begged myself to scream. Scream, scream, scream.

Suddenly, their hand clasped my arm in a strong grip and pulled my stiff body to the side, stealing a gasp from me as I tumbled towards them. Unlike Morpheus, this thing had no underlying softness. My shoulder hit the middle of their chest, and it was only then did I snap my neck to catch a look at them. The surprise on my face must have been very evident, noticable, because as soon as he noticed the way my face twisted in fear his lips tugged up to reveal a pointy smile that had fangs for canines. He was nothing like I've ever seen before.

His face was deathly pale, enough to see blue and purple veins shine under his skin like a map, and his eyes that were buried back into their deep sockets were an unhealthily bright colour compared to his skin tone that was the definition of barely breathing. They were a paralyzing blue, glossy and captivating, but they were flashy like neon lights which started to make me feel dizzy the longer I gawked at them. My stomach jumped at the sight. The pupils in the middle of their azure hue grew bigger once his freakish eyes latched onto the fresh blood that covered my hand, and then I realized what was dripping down from the side of his cherry smeared lips.

Blood. Again.

His cheeks sunk in as his smile grew wider, and he let out a low chuckle that reminded me of a scary movie and a creepy clown. Already, his face was too thin to be considered normal, almost like he hadn't eaten in years. Euphoria was written all over his long face, he loves this, as though this was the greatest thing to happen to him in a while. A real dream come true moment, however, the feeling wasn't mutual. This was a nightmare.

His voice turned to a mere whisper as he leaned in, his lips gently floating over the top of my ear as I felt his touch sharpening, "I've been waiting a long time to be like this again."

The words tumbled down my lips as my anxiety grew into a bubble that was about to pop at any given moment, "Like what?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and straightened myself up, which wasn't much as I was practically pressed against his cold, frail body. If I hadn't known any better I would have thought that I was stronger than him, that even putting a bit of pressure on him would have his body crumbling underneath mine like a cookie. He ignored me, maybe he didn't hear me, or maybe he was too lost in his own twisted thoughts.

"Two in one night?" He laughed, a rumble in his chest and a cough to his giggle, "How did I get so lucky?"

He took my silence as an invitation to continue. "Gone for how long? I can't seem to remember, all I had to tell me the time of day was feeding hour. But, that didn't come very often, and when it did it was never fair. Always fighting, always yelling," his tone turned sour with a sigh. But, instantly he perked up, "But, it was me! This time it was me to get not one, but two!"

Both of his hands grabbed the sides of my face, squeezing my cheeks between them and shoving my line of sight to the side. I winced at the sudden move and my hand planted itself into the tree next to me. The trees grew taller and thicker as they got closer to the sky, and the light of the moon was blocked. There was just darkness in my way, and I could only make out the shape of objects, not see them in detail.

"Do you see her?" He whispered. A mad man, a real, mad man, right in front of me.

I shook my head slowly, and it ached to turn my neck. There was only a lump flat against the ground.

"Look closely," he egged, pulling my face forward to be hovering at an uncomfortable angle. I felt like a doll, a useless ragdoll that he could toss around. I had no power, no control. "They said we could only take whatever came to us, whatever came into the forest."

I could see it now. The lump was not a branch, not a fallen tree, not a large rock, but a body. I could see her now. Her back was to me, her head twisted in a way that could only be broken, past the point of being fixable, snapped, killed. I wasn't even able to see her eyes, the colour, the shape, the look. Was she frightened? Did she know what was going to happen? Why was she out so late? Now, she was just a corpse, drained completely of life, and blood.

To the right of me was a rustle, barely detectable. The trees danced in silence as something ran through it, tearing down nature with every step that hit the ground. It was quiet, yet so loud.

Out of all the things I thought I would never say, let alone think, I was glad to have been followed.

W O R D C O U N T : 1439

So, so sorry for the lack of updates.

I've been so busy lately, getting back into my routine after the summer!

I'm trying my hardest to keep up with my updates, and I hope everyone likes them!