Shadow Thief

37 - We Cling and Clutch

I was in oblivion.

My body was weightless, floating in a starless sky. I twisted and turned, but I wasn't sure I was actually moving. My feet weren't touching ground, but I didn't know if I was floating. I was just...there.

Sensing my boredom, my body started to drop. I felt like I was falling, but I wasn't scared. As if it was possible, I fell into a darkness deeper than black but it didn't scare me. I just kept falling into nothing, and I accepted it, liked it maybe.

When I thought I was ready to hit the bottom of this darkness, I stopped. My body stopped falling, but I hadn't hit anything. My eyes, which I hadn't known had closed, slowly opened. In front of me, was a small floating ball of sun.

It was a funny little thing, flipping and falling, but it always got back up. Slowly but surely it came closer to me. It danced around me, making me laugh. When it reached out towards me, I flinched back. The little ball of sun stopped moving, a nonexistent face showing confusion.  

And then, it started moving away. I called out to it, and it stopped. It waited for me. Carefully, I took a scared step forward. And then another, and another. I took more and more steps until I was besides the sunny little ball. It started moving again, but stopped every once and a while for me to catch up.

"Hold on," I half laughed.

It obeyed, coming to a complete stop. I reached my hand to it and carefully touched the top of its glowing light. And everything lit up. The room around me was no longer black and oblivious, but full of colors and depth. Of course, there was still black in the mix, but there was also blue and red and white and green and purple and indescribable colors. Shapes began to form around me and I-

I started falling again. All the light and colors hung above me, away from me. And, again, everything I saw was nothing but a dark and endless shadow.

---

I woke calmly, though there were sweat bead on my forehead.

"You okay?" Theo's groggy voice said.

He was still laying on my arm, which was going slightly numb.

"Yeah, I think I had a nightmare but I-I don't remember."

He looked at me for a second, tired eyes unconvinced. "You know what? You can't lie to me anymore. I don't know if I'm just picking up on it more or if it's a you thing, but I can tell."

"Just go back to sleep."

He didn't try, so I scowled at him. In response, he started lifting me until I was laying on top of him, my body crushed against his. Strong arms were wrapped around my back, holding me firmly down.

"What're you doing?" I asked, a bit alarmed.

"I'm going to sleep. Now stop wiggling, it's distracting."

I glared at him, but did as he asked anyways. I brought my arms up so they rested on either side of him and let his heartbeat lull me to sleep.

---

"Lena," a smooth, coaxing voice said. "Time to wake up."

"Fuck off," I mumbled. "I'm still tired."

"But it's almost noon."

"Why hasn't Theo come to wake me up yet?"

"I am Theo."

I peeked my eyes open to be momentarily blinded by light. When my vision cleared up, I could make out Theo standing over me, arms crossed and a lopsided smile playing on his lips.