In Her Heat - Ainsley's Story

In Her Heat - Chapter One

Okay, so this is the first chapter. It's six pages... is it too long? Answer in comments, please. Enjoy ! 

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I took a long pull of my tea, draining it of its last drops. I set my mug on my counter, turning it around and around. As I studied the floral design painted on it, I thought about the day I'd had.

I'd had an early morning working the breakfast shift at Isabelle's, a well-known all day diner in the heart of my town. I remembered watching the morning news, hearing a report of two missing women from the nearby city. Women were disappearing left and right these days, but no one seemed to be able to figure out why. No bodies had been found and the disappearances had started a month ago.

After my morning shift, I'd driven the two hour drive to Queens, the university I was attending. I was late, of course. I really couldn't remember any times when I wasn't. Five hours later, I'd been back in the diner, working the late lunch and dinner shift. Now, it was eleven and I needed to sleep if I wanted to get to Isabelle's on time tomorrow. Wishful thinking, I know.

I was stalling sleep by drinking my tea. It wasn't that I didn't want to go to sleep. Oh no, I loved sleep. Before university I'd spent more hours asleep than awake. But ever since I'd moved into my small apartment, I'd begun having strange dreams.

It was always dark in these dreams, so dark I could barely see anything. If that wasn't bad enough, I couldn't move or make any sound. Then panic would set in. Soon after the panic, these shimmering forms would appear. A dark coal gray, they were the only shapes I could make out, and even then they danced in and out of my line of vision. They were always changing form. One minute they'd look like a person, then, some kind of animal. And the animal always changed. Some were easy to make out, like a snake or a bird, but the others weren't as easily identifiable. 

It was because of these dreams I stalled sleeping every night. No matter what I did, five out of seven nights I would have the dream. And it was seriously beginning to freak me out.

The same time I'd begun getting the dreams, I'd started to feel weird small tingling. It wasn't necessarily annoying, but it was there and I had no clue what it was. My skin felt too tight and was overly sensitive now.

If that didn't weird me out enough, I was getting the feeling I was being watched, tracked. It had started two weeks ago, when I was in the diner. I was grabbing the tray of plates for table four, when I felt eyes on the back of my neck. I'd ignored it, but when the feeling continued to plague me throughout my shift, I'd begun to get jumpy. Sharla, my manager had suggested I go home early. I'd been happy until I remembered I hadn't had the dream yet.

I had it that night, worse than ever.

I was losing major sleep over this, and it was not making me happy. With a sigh, I put the mug into my sink and turned for my bedroom. I made my way through the tiny living room I'd only just started decorating. My apartment was small, but it was cozy and had a doorman, so I figured that would help keep the crazies out.

I entered my bedroom. It wasn't as spacious as I would have liked, but it was pretty good for the money I brought home every month. I'd done it in a vibrant purple, with gray accents. I looked sadly at my bed. It was the one thing I'd splurged on. It was queen sized, with a springy, five hundred count purple sheets with soft feather-filled purple and gray pillows. Even though it was incredibly comfortable I hadn't had a decent sleep in it since the dreams had started.

With a sigh, I moved to my closet to find something to sleep in. The summer was reaching its peak and so was the heat. I was sweating a lot which disgusted me to no end. My raven black hair was pulled up into a high ponytail where it couldn't brush against my neck and bother. But with its massive volume, it was still a burden. Even nights were uncomfortably stifling, so I wore as little clothing as possible. I pulled out a clean bra and panty set. They were electric blue which went well against my alabaster skin. The bra and panty were lacy and made me feel extremely sexy. Maybe I'll have an erotic dream tonight, I thought with a giggle. Again, wishful thinking on my part, but a girl can dream right? Well, as long as that dream doesn't creep her out.