Holt Wraith | Minotaur x Reader

1: Confrontation

You bolt up from bed, gripping your sheets as your eyes dart around your dark room. Then, your eyes trail to your right hand, your palm facing you as you flex your fingers open.

The feeling of thick fur lingers on your palm, but when you close your hand into a fist and squeeze, the feeling fades away.

Just a dream.

You rub your stinging eyes, yawning as you stretch out your back. As you swing your legs over the side of your bed, you hear a woman talking outside of your window, sounding distressed about something.

You tiptoe to the window to listen, leaning close while cupping your hand around your ear.

"You don't think he knows, do you? She can protect herself if she needs to, right?"

You hear a deeper voice hush her before her voice cracks from overwhelming emotions. She sounds like she's on the verge of tears, but the voice might have just been muffled.

Your eyebrows furrow as you back away and you shake your head, looking from the window to the full length mirror propped up by your wall.

Your right (e/c) eye and half green-yellow hazel and (e/c) left eye shine back, with the green-yellow hazel being around the left side of your pupil and splitting down the middle of your eye. It looks like two eyes were welded together to become one. You see the worry swimming within them, but you quickly look away.

Your eyes land on your bed, and you gasp. A small child, you, to be exact, lays curled up in the bed, sleeping without a care in the world. You take one step towards her, but then back away.

That is you, you're sure of that, but when you look down at your hands, you're sure this body is you as well. Your eyes trail back to the mirror as if to double check that you're you, and as you scan the 17 year old's face and white nightgown, you know that you're you.

Astral projection, you conclude. Because there's no other explanation.

You shake your head and stare at the floor, focusing back on the woman's words. You know her voice; it's on the tip of your tongue, and you're sure you've heard her before.

She's been like this ever since you were born, always worrying about something but never telling you what she's worried about. She confides in Lily and Lofty.

Lofty. Your mind pauses at the name. Who's Lofty?

The guardian of the forest, if you remember correctly. He is a tall, wooden creature with a buck skull covered in bark as his head, and wooden vines that make up the rest of his body.

You laugh at yourself, knowing there's no way a creature like that really exists. Your child brain must've made that up.

Your mind wanders back to the woman. She never confides in you, no matter what she's worried about. It's as if your entire life is cloaked in mystery, and it seems it will be that way forever.

You look up, glancing back in the mirror, and you gasp at the sight. A tall, shadowy creature stands behind you, looking just like the horned creature in your dream. You spin around to face the being, but it isn't behind you when you look back.

You hear a huff from behind, and a gust of cold air blows on the top of your head and flings your hair all over the place. After sucking in a sharp breath, you spin around, facing the black creature and staring up into his white eyes.

"Who are you?"

Your voice comes as a trembling whisper, and you sound more frightened than you wanted. You ball your hands into fists as you impatiently wait for a response.

A low, ominous growl emits from the being as he takes a step closer, causing you to shutter from his deep sound and step back in response. Something about his voice causes goosebumps to scatter atop your skin, which is a reaction you didn't think you'd have.

He leans his face down to yours, and you see how sharp his canines are, and the sight makes you tense up. He could easily crush your skull with his powerful jaws, and that thought causes you to gulp.

Your wide orbs trail up to his. His white, glowing eyes caress your very soul, making you release a quivering breath. His ear flicks and nose scrunches when your warm breath ghosts his face.

You squint as he blows air into your face through his flared nostrils. Then, you hear a low, gravelly voice come from the being as he answers your question.

"I. Am. Caligo."

(789 words)