Starfall (BOOK 1)

Chapter 14

NYRA

"This is for your own good."

Red eyes bore down through the twisted void. One of the Masks stepped forward, and tucked between his fore and middle fingers, a large needle. It dripped with an unknown liquid. Unseen restraints strapped her against the arms of the void, unable to free herself. Unable to fight or push the figure away. Rage boiled the world, and none of her kicking or screaming released her bonds.

"Is it?" Nyra tugged on her wrists until they bled. Each drip echoed with the needle as the monster drew closer. Her heart exploded against her ribcages and gave sustenance to palpable fear. "Is it for my own good? You say that, but keep me locked down?"

"You don't understand the gravity of our situation."

It was difficult to tell if it was the mask talking, or her own mind. This is a nightmare. This is a nightmare. An irrelevant nightmare she had many times before. Tears fell down her cheeks and she thrashed against the restraints. "Let me go if you really mean to do good!" She kicked at the creeping tendrils. "But you don't! You treated us like dirt! You didn't actually care about our wellbeing! All you wanted was to find the Insurgents hiding in the orphanage!"

Several pairs of red orbs blinked in unison.

"Stop!" Nyra choked. "Stop! We're not Insurgents! No one is here!"

It's for your own good. It's for your own good. It's for your own good—

"Nyra."

Stop! Leave me alone! Let go of me!

"Nyra!"

Nyra gasped when someone tapped her cheek hard. Her head smashed into someone else's when she snapped out of her bed to flee from the remnants of her nightmare. Keren jolted backwards, almost into her desk. "Black holes, Nyra! It's me!"

Her brow seared with fire, and she rubbed her palm against it to chase it away. "Keren?" Hand on the pillow, she peered at him through a half-closed world. "What?" Another flash of pain coiled up her elbow, and she drew it closer to her chest, touching the bandage Aelius wrapped around her bite. "Sorry... rough sleep." One breath out, she leaned back down onto the mattress. "So, what's going on?"

"Aelius sent me to check whether you were awake or not," Keren explained as Nyra sat up again. "He wants to make sure you've healed nicely — and apologize for the duress he put you under."

Nyra swung her legs out with a groan, and Keren stepped back to give her space. "He doesn't have to apologize for that." Released from her comfortable shackles, she stretched and then grabbed her restcoat to wrap it around her shoulders. Back in the warmth of her home instead of the chilly space her dreams left her with, she grinned at Keren. "Next time, poke me from a distance so you can avoid me hitting you with my head."

"I'll keep that in mind next time you're asleep and I need to wake you up," Keren said loftily as they headed out of her room. "Oh, and also, we're having a small meeting. Apparently Evelyn picked up something interesting, though I don't know what it is."

"Is it about what we found out on Eteran?" Nyra studied his expression, but it never fell back into the primal panic of before. "... not that I know. I've been bedridden as per 'doctor's orders'." Tongue out, she huffed and folded her arms.

"How terrible to be bedridden," Keren bit back with a wry grin as they wound their way through the halls which sent the sense of safety back into her bones. It made it easier to relax when the red eyes hunted her. "Be sure to voice your complaint to Aelius, I'm sure he'll agree with you. You know the look he has..."