REAPING INNOCENCE ◦ STILINSKI [3]

xxvi.

xxvi. CONDITIONAL TERMINAL

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CARTER HAD THE sense that she'd been asleep for a very long time—her body was stiff, like she hadn't moved once through all that time, either. Her mind was dazed and slow; strange, colorful dreams—dreams and nightmares—swirled dizzily around the inside of her head. They were so vivid. The horrible and the heavenly, all mixed together into a bizarre jumble. There was sharp impatience and fear, both part of that frustrating dream where your feet can't move fast enough...And there were plenty of monsters, red-eyed fiends that were all the more ghastly. The dream was still strong.

The dream did not want to be shoved away into the vault of dreams she refused to visit. She struggled with it as her mind became more alert, focusing on reality. She couldn't remember what day of the week it was, but she was sure school or something was waiting for her. She inhaled deeply, wondering how to face another day.

Something warm touched her forehead with the softest pressure.

She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut. She was still dreaming, it seemed, and it felt abnormally real. She was so close to waking...any second now, and it would be gone.

But she realized that it felt too real, too real to be good for her. With a resigned sigh, she wrenched back her eyelids to dispel the illusion.

"Did I scare you?" His low voice was anxious.

She blinked twice, desperately trying to remember the last few moments before she fell asleep. Stiles was there, and she wondered if he had really been there at all, or if that was all in her head. If she'd fallen asleep with Stiles in the guest bedroom, then how did she end up here?

"How did I get in here?" She croaked. Her throat was thick with sleeping.

"You don't remember?"

She frowned at him unhappily.

"I did it again, didn't I?" She moaned. "I don't even know how or why I end up in here every night when I clearly remember falling asleep in the guest room. I think I'm going crazy. Again."

Scott frowned, too. "You're not going crazy, Carter."

"Then why do I awake up in your bed every night?" She challenged, raising her eyebrows.

Scott shook his head. "I honestly don't know. All I know is that every night, around two in the morning, I feel the bed dip beside me and when I roll over you're just lying there."

"And I'm asleep?"

"Dead asleep." Scott grinned. "It's like you never moved at all. Do you think that maybe you're having a hard time adjusting? Or something like that?"

Carter sighed.

Her head was getting clearer. Her eyes flickered away from his face for one second, to the bright, open window, and then back to him. Blinking harshly to try and get her eyes to stop stinging from the sunlight. She started to remember details...and she felt a faint, unfamiliar blush warm the skin over her cheekbones as she slowly realized why she kept ending up in Scott's bedroom.

"No, I just have a hard time sleeping alone." Carter whispered, embarrassed. "I've only slept alone a few times in the past six months because Malakai is always there—"

Scott frowned again. "Why is that?"

"Because of the nightmares." It was all coming clear now. "I've been having really bad nightmares and they only happen when I sleep alone. Did Stiles leave in the middle of the night last night?"