Phantom Love

Chapter 5

        I wake up to murmuring voices and try to remember where the fuck I am. I haven't slept in 40 years and the fact that I'm waking up right now confuses the hell out of me. After a few deep breaths it starts coming back to me as a slow trickle.

        I hold my hand up and start counting off my fingers, "Guys took fuck all too much time to get ready per usual, went to a club, weird guy walked through me, people in cages? Am I remembering that right? Yeah I totally am, people were defintely in cages. I remember a purple light?"

        Then the main event of the evening hit me full force.

       "Holy shit!" I squeak, sitting up, then immediately regret it, "Ah, Nyx's tits!"

        I'm definitely still corporeal but there's a lot of not great sensations coursing through me right now. I feel like a piece of meat after it's been tenderized.

       "This gravity thing is totally making me her bitch right now." I mumble.

       "What the hell is she goin' on about?" I hear Kieran say beside me.

       "I have no idea brother." I hear a deep slightly accented voice say, definitely Leandre.

       I turn to see both of them leaning up against the basement wall, watching me as I sit on the floor. Reminder to Raven, people can hear you now, stop voicing every thought. That's when the reality of my situation really hits me. I'm corporeal, they can see me, and I can talk to them. Without thinking about it I stand up and try to go to them but fail miserably. The minute I stand my legs go all wobbly and I just about topple over right away. Luckily I'm able to get myself stabilized but the minute I take my first step I go down like a rock.

        "I swear to Nyx!" I grit out through my teeth before trying again, "How do you guys make this look so easy? This is so hard."

        It takes a few attempts but I'm finally able to walk a few steps without completely falling over or colliding with anything so I smile and reach around me to pat myself on the back.

        "Fuck why does everything have to hurt?" I ask no one in particular.

       "Did she just pat herself on the back?" Leandre asks.

       "Aye, I think she did." Kieran answers, a smile stretched across his face.

       I finally get over to them and the first thing I do is reach towards Kieran. His smile disappears and he goes stock still, his hand on a dagger I know he has hidden at his thigh. I take a deep breath and filling my lungs with his scent. He smells like the ocean and I love it. Before they can do something they'll most definitely regret later I bury my fingers is Kieran's hair. It's not the most graceful move in the world and I'm definitely having to lean on him a bit for support since he's at least a head taller than me.

       "I knew it!" I squeal.

       Both Kieran and Leandre look at me like I've lost all my marbles before they both ask at the same time, "What?"

       "Your hair is like a fucking cloud." I say before awkwardly stumbling over to Leandre and putting my hands on his beard, "It's scratchy." I say, "Why is it all scratchy?"

       Leandre just blinks a few times, "Well beards are generally pretty coarse."

       My eyes widen, "Really? I wouldn't have guessed. That explains why girls get all hot and bothered when a guy with a beard is getting ready to give oral. That scratchy sensation on the inside of one's thigh has got to be something. I want to feel that!" I say, "But first chocolate." I turn to Kieran, "Where can a woman find some chocolate?"