wasn’t giving up on returning either. She continued to read through the book, even as Pani argued with her. It was in the early hours of the morning when the woman finally left. She had wanted Balthazar to return to her house, but there was no way he was going to leave Alex.
“You don’t trust her,” Alex said to him after Pani was gone.
“No,” Balthazar said simply. He didn’t care to elaborate, didn’t feel he had to. He could tell the feeling was mutual.
“I’m gonna go find Sam,” Alex said, stretching her arms over her head, to try and wake herself up. She yawned widely and rubbed at her sore eyes. They had been up the entire night, and although she knew she had to sleep, she really didn’t want to.
“Get some rest,” Balthazar said softly, coming up bes ide her. He wrapped his muscled arms around her, making her feel so tiny. He was so warm. She could have spent all day in his arms.
“I will continue the search,” he said, pulling away to look down at her. “If there is a way back written in this scroll, I shall find it.”
“Ok,” Alex said, staring into his smoky blue eyes and nearly getting lost. “There’s food in the kitchen if you get hungry.”
“I will be fine,” Balthazar said with a small smirk. Even if he was hungry, he didn’t want to admit that he had never in his whole life had to prepare a meal for himself. He wouldn’t know the first place to start. In any case, he was not human, and could easily go a couple days without needing to eat or drink. And if the food Sam had brought in earlier was any indication of what he would find in the kitchen, he didn’t want to try it anyway. Humans ate the most peculiar of foods, highly processed with almost no real nutritional value, and wrapped up in the strangest materials. He made a mental note that he would inquire about the nature of their food at a more prudent time.
When Alex got no answer from knocking on Sam’s bedroom door, she poked her head into the darkened room. The rays of morning light were beginning to spill through the open curtains, letting in just enough light for her to see Sam sleeping peacefully in his bed. Relief filled her at the sight. Sam had never told her, but she knew he had been having nonstop nightmares since they had returned. It was good that he was finally getting some rest, and she didn’t want to disturb him. She quietly closed the door behind her and went to her own bedroom, falling quickly asleep.
#
Darkness surrounded her. She stretched out her hands, spreading her fingers, trying to touch something, trying to feel where she was. A heavy coldness bit through her skin, finding its way to her bones. Her body shook violently, shivering, trying to warm itself up. She tried to move her feet, but she was rooted to the spot. She tried to call out into the blackness, but she couldn’t find her voice.
Her heart rate began to rise rapidly, her fear increasing at her sudden incapacitation. Again, she tried to call out. Her voice was barely more than a harsh whisper, and the breath was slowly forced from her lungs. She found it harder and harder to breath. She fought against the unseen attacker, trying to call out, trying to move. Her arms became heavier, until she could do nothing but let them hang at her sides. Her mind raced, tryi ng to figure out where she was or what was causing this sudden paralysis.
“Alex,” she heard Sam’s voice through the darkness, urgent and terrified. Everything shook violently. Her eyes snapped open. Pain flooded her entire body. Her head pounded with the sudden onslaught of a migraine. She could feel the bile rising in her throat and she forced it back down.
“Sam?” Alex choked out as she blinked away the sleep from her eyes. Her heart was thumping erratically in her chest, and she tried to calm herself as she realized it was all a dream.
“Are you ok?” Sam
Gretchen Galway, Lucy Riot