Raptio: The Ritual Abductions of Humans by Werewolves

Chapter 38

Amalia POV

Maya was already walking down through the clearing. I followed her, leaving the growling Grayson behind in the pond. 

'I don't understand,' I said, trying to keep up with Maya. 'Why are you in my head?'

'Just keep walking a bit more and I'll tell you as much as a can.'

'What does that even mean?' I said, exasperated. Why was Maya, Grayson and I, all in my head. In the woods, with a pond that Grayson couldn't leave but Maya could move because she was actually in my head with me, while Grayson wasn't really. 'None of this makes sense.'

'Okay, you're dreaming. Does that make more sense? This is your dream, in your head.'

'Then how are you here?'

'That's a better question.' Maya smiled. 'Projection, with the little help from a witch.

'There's a witch. Where is she then?'

'HE is in the real world, keeping the connection open between you and I.'

'Okay, so now why are we in my head? Why am I not in the real world?'

Maya stopped. 'Because you're not ready yet.'

'Because I can't remember.'

'It's not that you can't. It's that you won't. Which has kept you safe, but you can't keep it buried forever.' Maya sighed. 'We need to find the wolf.'

'Why?'

'She is going to show us both how she was born.' Maya pointed to another pond. It was dirty and uninteresting. I thought Maya had gone mad.

'Grayson isn't in that pond.'

'A pond?' Maya laughed. 'Look closer, Amalia. Not everything is as it seems, especially in your dreams.'

I got closer to the edge and squinted my eyes to look closer. It was a pond. It was brown, murky and had twigs and leaves drifting in the water. There was nothing else except.....

I gasped when I saw my reflection, except it wasn't me. It was 6 year old me. I recognised the pig tails and the blue cotton dress. My mother had stitched it by hand, from a dress she had once owned. It had been my favourite. 

Whispers echoed from the pond, calling out to me, drawing me closer. I realised it was the same song that had been playing in my head. Maya pulled me back.

'While this may be your dream, I know how these things work, believe me. You're not suppossed to be in the ''pond''.

'This doesn't make any sense.'

'Yes it does. Water reflects everything. I think we might find the wolf near one of these.' 

I looked up, and sure enough, there was dozens of ponds spread out among the clearing. I went towards the next one, eager to see what was inside of it.

It showed me a man, with dark hair and blue eyes, sitting in a diner with a coffee in his large hand. He looked determined and terrifying. The image morphed, and suddenly he had his arms wrapped around the body of an image of me. I looked scared, my hands outstretched and my mouth in an open scream. 

Eric!

It all came flooding back. Eric. The kidnapping. The ritual. Raptio. 

I moved to the next pond. It showed me in a training session. There were several males. One attempted to hit me, as I dodged it. The others faces were laughing and cheerful. I knew these males. They were my friends. They were werewolves.