~ ☾~
✦ ZACH ✦
I shot up, my heart shooting up to my throat and nearly flying out of my mouth and I seemed to suck it back in with a loud gasp for air.
I couldn't remember what I had been dreaming about but I had a hard time snapping out of it, the lines between reality and fiction awfully blurred.
Running a hand down my face, I took a moment to catch my breath, my heart pounding so fast that it left my body shaking.
Riley didn't even stir.
She was still fast asleep right next to me; lying on her side, her arms tugged underneath her head, her chest rising and falling with each steady breath.
Looking at her peaceful features, I instantly felt myself calm down.
Before I could even consider that it might wake her up I had already reached out to brush the strands of hair out of her face.
I frowned, repeating the movement once more.
It didn't hurt. I didn't remember feeling any pain while sitting up either.
I touched my right hand to my left shoulder, rolled my arm back a little. Expecting to be punished for it with a fresh wave of pain, imagine my surprise when there was nothing but a faint stinging and a strain in my muscles.
I carefully slipped from under the covers, my bare feet making contact with the soft carpet as I flung my legs over the rim.
I slowly pushed myself up; testing, waiting once again for the pain to hit out of nowhere as I pushed my own limits —remembering very well what it had felt like to get shot and how much it had hurt to put even a little bit of weight on that leg, barely eight hours ago.
But it was nearly fine now.
I walked to the other side of the room without even limping and I didn't realise I was holding my breath until I halted in front of the mirror attached to the closet door and saw myself.
I didn't look as much a disaster as I had expected. Meaning; I didn't look nearly as terrible as I felt.
But then again, damage is never just physical.
Staring myself in the eyes, I already felt like I was falling behind. Like the quick recovery of my body was pushing me to move on even before I had got time to process what happened.
I swallowed. Glancing back over my shoulder, I found myself checking if Riley still was asleep without even knowing why. Then I lifted the hem of my shirt up, revealing the bandages that were wrapped around my torso like a second layer of skin.
I couldn't figure out where they ended or how to untangle them, so I just pushed them aside a little, staring at my own reflection to grasp a sliver of the truth that laid underneath. That was covered up.
That was fading already.
Unsure wether I didn't trust the mirror or my own eyes, I glanced down at my abdomen, searching through the strips of white — and red — fabric for something that I knew was disappearing before my eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Changing You ✦ The Sequel
Fanfiction𝑰𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉; She's forced to change him against his own will. "There's no way he's going to survive this as a human." I knew how much he feared losing his humanity. His eyes begged me to let him go. But I couldn't watch him die. I couldn't lose...