Culling

Part I • Chapter XII

I wanted to cry at the scene, as a bystander even I could feel the sorrow that these two carried and it felt like my heart was breaking. What was going on with these children? Where were we? Were they in danger? Did they need help?

"Be brave, you aren't alone." He reached his other hand through the bars and pet the girl on the head. "We will always be here for you." 

He freed his arm from the girl, who hadn't wanted to let him go. The girl was crying freely now and was trying to reach her tiny arms through the bars to touch him as he stepped away.

"I'll see you again. I promise." He backed out of the room, tears falling from his eyes, and quickly turned and left, headed back towards the sounds of the fighting. 

The girl had collapsed onto her mattress, and with every sob I felt my heart bleed for the two of them even more. I had to help them!

  ☜♡☞  

I was still crying when I realized that I was now standing in the middle of a forest.

It was still nighttime - moonless and cloudy. The forest didn't appear to be a friendly sort of environment either, but more like something from one of the horror novels I had read. The children were temporarily forgotten in the face of this new development. 

I stepped forward before I realized that I could move again. What was happening now?

"Hello?" I called, hoping that someone was nearby because nothing about this place was recognizable. "Is anyone here?"

I heard a movement to my right but when I spun to look at it there was nothing. Another movement came on my left side, closer now. I saw darkness and little else. I was scared. Worried. However, I was not entirely fearful of my life anymore.

As many times I had died in my past dreams, not once had I actually stayed dead.

Because it was now painfully obvious that I was having another one of my nightmares.

Suddenly a dark shape jumped out from the woods and smacked into me. The force of it knocked me to the ground and unto my butt. I gasped as I realized that I had landed on my healing hand, the same one that I had fallen onto when I first met Kota.

I caught a glimpse of golden fur before the shape took off in the opposite direction. I grimaced. My hand actually hurt, and I hadn't woken up. 

"What's going on?" I asked aloud, knowing that there was no one around to answer me.

"What, are you stupid?" A snappish voice proved me wrong. 

A blinding light flashed and in its wake a girl, who could have been a female version of Derrick, stood before me. "Oh my god, you are like a thousand times dumber than I expected. How can you even be related to him?"

"Um... pardon?" This was new. 

I never before had a strange woman come out and insult me in my dreams. Normally I was just being poisoned, chased, shot at, or drowned. You know, the usual. 

"Who are you? Why are you in my dream?"

"You're not dreaming. God, didn't they teach you anything? You are like a failure or something." She haughtily tossed her head back and looked down her nose at me, which made me realize that I was still sitting on the ground. 

This was the weirdest nightmare I have ever had in my life.

Then it dawned on me. I think I knew who she could be, all the books talked about this. If I was right then this was the coolest thing to ever have happened to me to date. She was glowing, wearing a frilly (albeit short) dress, and was young and beautiful.