The Wolf

Ch. 54: Nyx's Story

~Alex~

It hurts. It hurts. Is the chant that keeps repeating through my mind on a loop. My legs burn from exertion and my lungs heave from lack of oxygen. I swear I hear footsteps chasing after me, but it's hard to tell with my pounding pulse in my ears. 

It took a while, but I was finally able to escape from Nyx's Cinema of Despair, where she loved to play each of Nico's memories on repeat. And after she was done with that, she decided she would dive a little deeper into my psyche and make me relive my worst moments. Just thinking of it sends shivers down my spine. Behind my eyelids, the images are burnt into my retinas. 

My head is spinning with exhaustion, swirling round and round. I've been running forever. But if I stop now, I may be caught again and forced back into chains. There's no way that I can risk it. I have to find Sol and come up with a plan to get out of here. I can do it. It's my body after all. 

Right now, my mind is one long hallway with hundreds of doors leading off to different memories. I can open one door and be at my fifth birthday party, or I can open another and see glimpses of nature. Things I thought I've forgotten lie behind every door. It's both surprising and terrifying at the same time. What if I stumble onto something I've purposely forgotten?

My pace slows down and I come to a gradual stop. Desperately, I lean against the wall, gasping for air. A few feet away, light is peeking out from underneath a birch-white door. Curious, I creep closer. I wonder what could lie behind this one... My fingers tremble with nerves as I twist the gilded handle slowly. Squinting my eyes, I push the door open. 

Honey-colored sunlight embraces me in its warm glow. My jaw drops at the beauty of the scene. The light shines in between a million branches, casting glittery drops of sun across the forest floor. It mingles with the vivid reds and vibrant yellow leaves that cling to the trees and fall serenely to the ground. 

I'm sitting high in a tree, swinging my feet. Nico is sitting beside me, watching the sun move across the sky toward the horizon. I look over at him, wondering why he's so quiet, but every thought leaves my head when I see him. The light is in his hair and glinting off of his eyes and he's encased completely in gold. He looks like an angel. 

Nico turns his inquiring blue eyes to me. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asks, looking away. He bites the inside of his cheeks and peeks up at me questioningly. 

I gasp and quickly look away, embarrassed. "I, ah, you, just," I look at him stupidly for a couple of heartbeats, trying to gather a few usable words. 

Nico giggles. "Why're you so nervous?" 

I laugh awkwardly and scratch the back of my head. "I was just thinking you looked really pretty in the light just then. Like an angel." 

Nico's face flushes red. The same red as the leaves. "T-Thanks." 

I smile cheekily at him and turn to look back at the sunset. I realize that we're in the hidden spot that Nico discovered a long time ago. This memory must have been from just before he left to stay at his evil relative's place. 

"Alex?" Nico asks softly after a long stretch of silence. The sun has already mostly set and we're on our way home.

"Yes?" I ask. 

"I can't wait to go to school with you again. You promise you'll still talk to me, right?" Nico's sapphire eyes are pools of worry.

I squeeze his hand. "I already promised you, didn't I? We're always going to be together. No matter what. I won't abandon you."