My Boss is Felix: Alternative Miraculous Ladybug Tale

Ch23: Bad Dream

She slowly turned to face me for the first time.

My lungs emptied in horror.

She had no face.

No eyes. No mouth. No lips. Just a blank canvas - empty white skin. She tilted her head at me, as she stood to her feet and strode towards me with graceful steps - her hand reaching towards me.

I had to go! I needed to getaway! It was just a dream! Just a bad dream!

It didn't matter if this was a dream. The fear and terror I felt were real.

Suddenly, my foot was snagged by a root and I tumbled to the ground, landing on my knees. I let out a yelp of pain.

My entire body trembled as I tried to move. No, no, no. I couldn't move! Not that kind of dream!

The woman was now standing over me, her blank face glancing down at me. Her yellow sundress was drizzled with blood droplets down the front, and I could now see a necklace dangling from her chest. It was silver - but too small for me to clearly see the emblem in the center.

"If only you would have been enough," A soft voice whispered. Was it the woman? No, she didn't have a mouth. Who said that?

In one last-ditch effort, I tried to get up to run, but my body was still in a state of paralysis.

The woman inched closer and closer until her cold fingers clutched my temples. I felt a warm liquid dripping down my jaw and cheeks.

Her sharp nails penetrated my skull.

              ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

My eyes shot open as I jerked my head off my desk. My entire body was shaking and my stomach was turning. I gasped for air as I tried to calm my heart rate (hopefully, I wasn't gasping too loudly as I didn't want my 'neighbor' in the cubicle right next to me to think I was a weirdo).

Not again.

This had been my fourth time falling asleep at Agreste Inc.

Breathe. Think about something else, I told myself. Something happy. Food. Dessert. Macaroons. Burgers. Kittens. Puppies. Beaches. Felix at the beach. With me.

Felix.

Felix.

Felix.

I imagined myself being held in his arms, tightly fastened to his chest as we stared at a Hawaiian sunset- that was enough to calm my trembling body.

But I had to stop thinking about him before it turned me all mushy.

So, now I was back to thinking about burgers.

After I'd calmed down as much as I could, I straightened my back and stretched my arms into the perfumed air as I attempted to stifle a yawn. My neck was sore from the unusual sleeping position.

How long had I been asleep? Who had walked past my desk while I was out? Hopefully not the VP of Compliance.

All the coffee and tea in the world couldn't remove my exhaustion. I simply couldn't focus on all those letters and numbers on my computer screen. I didn't have it in me to read emails or do any sort of data entry. All I wanted to do was sleep...except I couldn't...or at least I couldn't have quality sleep.

Ever since Felix and I were akumatized last week, I'd been having nightmares - all of which ended with me somehow dying.

I couldn't sleep at night - even then I would dose off before being wakened by a terrifying dream. It had been so severe that I tried leaving the lights on while I slept. It didn't help.