Beast Beloved

Chapter Nine

Eli woke and was instantly alert. His heart was racing. He could feel sweat beaded along his brow and the unpleasant stickiness of his clothes clinging to his skin. He kept his breathing slow, feigning sleep. He didn't know what woke him. He didn't know where the feeling came from. The feeling that he was being watched. That someone else was in the room. Someone who shouldn't be there.

Every horror movie he'd ever watched started racing through his mind. Kidnappers, murders, ghosts. Ghosts is what he settled on. That's what always freaked him out. Eli told himself over and over that there was nothing there, that he was in his room and the only sound was of himself breathing. Everyone was sleeping just down the hallway, and there was nothing in the room. Nothing aside from what his imagination was conjuring up.

Eli slowly opened his eyes.

Someone was standing in the doorway. They were a black shape against the light in the hallway, a black shape that was as tall as the door. Impossibly tall. Taller than his dad, taller than Noah – even taller than Jackson.

The outline of its head moved. Eli squeezed his eyes shut.

It's just a dream.

He knew from the erratic beating of his heart, and painfully heightened awareness of everything around himself that it wasn't. Something was in his room.

The floorboard next to his bed creaked.

Eli's mind filled with white noise. He wanted to scream, but suddenly he wasn't able. He couldn't move, and even breathing was hard. It felt like something was pressing down on his chest, making it impossible to inhale. Each hot breath down the back of his neck filled his body with unbearable heat, and made it feel like he was boiling alive.

The pressure on his chest disappeared. With a cry Eli jerked up, away from the edge of his bed and into the corner. His eyes flew open as he moved away, and his back collided harshly with the wall as his arms shot up to defend himself. There was nothing there. Eli panted, and looked wildly around the room.

Nothing.

He bit his lip, and stared out into the hallway.

It was the same nightmare again. The one where he could never tell was a nightmare until the moment where he woke up, and even then, it felt to real to dismiss from his mind. Eli could only stay on the bed for another second before dashing off it. He refused to look either way down the hall as he raced into the nearest room. He turned on the light as he firmly shut the door behind himself.

Noah groaned. He rolled over in the bed, and put his arm over his eyes. "It is not time to get up"

Eli took in a few calming breaths. Seeing Noah, hearing him speak, helped Eli feel like he was out of the nightmare. "I..." Now that he had to say it he felt a wave of embarrassment rising. "I had a ... do you mind if I sleep in here?"

"Why?" Noah squinted towards him, but immediately put his arm back over his eyes with a groan.

"I had a nightmare" Eli felt like a child. A tiny, tiny kid.

Noah didn't seem to know how to respond. It took a few seconds before he spoke, and when he did his voice was thick with sleep. "I don't mind. Do you want the light left on?"

The urge to cry welled up. He did.

"It's okay, lights on" Noah scooted over in the bed, "come on"

Eli clicked the lock into place before crossing the room. He crawled under the covers, and lay facing the door. It was a double bed, so there was plenty of room for them both. Noah didn't say anything, but pulled the covers up over his head. Eli pulled them tightly around himself. The layer of sweat he'd had waking up started to cool off.