"Reks!" My voice broke as my knees smacked wet pavement.
One second I was reaching out to save the stranger and the next, I was in the middle of a dark street in a heavy downpour.
I unclenched my sore fist, which gripped onto nothing. My body tingled while staring down at my empty palm. Where did that name come from? Did it belong to that man?
I suppressed a shiver when goosebumps raced from my head, down my drenched body, and all the way to my bare feet.
How did I...
A low rumble of thunder rolled overhead. I blinked at the shrouding rain, unable to see past a few feet in front of me. I pushed myself up to my feet, legs trembling.
"No..." I whispered, turning around in a daze. No. That wasn't just a dream. It felt so real — it still feels so real. The snake felt so real. He felt so real.
Why am I standing in the middle of the road?
My mind swirled in equivalence to getting drunk the first time. Thoughts and images linked together in a way my brain couldn't make sense of.
What was I even saying? Of course it was a dream. Vivid and creepy, sure. But it was over now. Gone.
Pull yourself together.
"Okay, don't panic." I worked on calming my breathing and tried to come up with a rational explanation. I stayed up too late reading that crazy good chapter about monster hunters, which likely lead to my bizarre dreams, then maybe went as far as coercing me into sleepwalking. Or something like that.
A logical and totally believable explanation.
Gravel stuck uncomfortably against the soles of my feet. They weren't hurting too bad though, so that probably meant I didn't get too far away from the house. Problem was, however, I couldn't tell which direction to go. The midnight storm masked everything. I knew the surrounding area like the back of my hand... when I could freakin' see.
I shoved soaked blonde locks away from my face, then the muscles on the right side of my neck seized up from a sharp pain. I gasped, stumbling back a step. My heel caught a crack in the pavement, sending my ass down to smack the road. A short pain zinged up my back, but I hardly took notice. Not when my neck hurt exactly where that cobra had bitten me.
My throat tightened, hand flying up to feel the side of my neck — terrified to find puncture marks. My breath shook as my fingers slid across slick, unmarred skin. Just to be sure, I pulled my fingers in front of my eyes to make sure blood didn't paint the tips.
Lightning flashed, exposing not blood but something else entirely. In that brief flash of light, my reflection became visible against a puddle of water in the pothole I tripped over.
My pupils glowed an iridescent white, just like the cobra's had.
I screamed, smacking the water just as another flash lit up the area. This time, my pupils looked normal.
"Holy hell..." my lips parted, suddenly breathless.
Blood pumped against my eardrums. It was as if the lingering nightmare and storm were teaming up against me. Unsportsmanlike conduct at its finest, kicking me while I'm down.
Even still, the side of my neck felt sore to the touch. Like the cobra's fangs somehow embedded phantom venom through the dreamscape. The images it tattooed on my mind whipped through my head like a bullet train.
~Save him, save you, find Sio.~ The message twisted around me, growing tighter and tighter with each repeat. It refused to be ignored. Refused to end as a nightmare as it leaked its way into my reality.
YOU ARE READING
The Moon's Fangs | 1
Fantasy{star-crossed romance/forced proximity/18+} Normally, intergalactic drama doesn't reach into any place as backwater as the Milky Way Galaxy, let alone a planet as primitive as Earth. But an exception is made in Amelia's case. She is thrown into a d...
