Sea Of Dreams

Chapter Six

"Am I dead, or am I just dreaming?" She whispered with trembling lips. Her body shivered uncontrollably as she looked at him with huge eyes.

...Well done, Loris.

He had momentarily forgotten for a shattering moment what he was to her, what she was to him. He looked down at her with a stony expression.

There was no more time to slink back into the water. He was perched on the ledge of the cavern ground with his tail in full view. She was taking it all in, every inch of his willowy form.

He thought about responding to her question, lingered on her voice and nearly answered back, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to form any words. So, he sat there, looming over her as the gears turned maddeningly inside his mind.

She winced and her hand came up to feel the bandage around her head. Loris followed every movement with his eyes.

She looked back at him in fear and confusion. Her lower lip shook as she stared, waiting for him to do something, anything.

"W-where am I? Who are you?" She asked him shakily, "What do you want from me?"

Now this was a question he knew how to answer. He tilted his chin up slightly, his gaze unwavering as he simply replied,

"Everything."

The velvet timbre of his voice startled her and she began to draw away from underneath him, terror in her eyes. A familiar reaction that easily brought him cascading back into reality.

His eyes faded from blue to black as his first nature came flooding back into his veins. His breathing quickened and she retracted until her back hit against the wall of the cavern.

"Stay away from me!" She cried, even as her hand went back to touch the cloth around her head.

He wanted to consume her, devour the eyes that looked back at him in such quivering fear. He could feel the sensation underneath his fingertips that yearned to rip apart flesh, shred her body to pieces, but a small part of him recoiled against the urge.

He had just saved her...saved her.

With a hiss, he tore his black gaze away from Victoria, focusing instead on the water. After countless seconds, he turned his eyes back towards her. Breathing deeply, he slowly lifted one hand, extending it out to her.
His black gaze bore into her as he spoke.

"Come here."

Her fear seemed to vanish with those words, replaced by a flare of anger in her eyes, that quickly dissipated as well.

"Why?" She asked in a breathy voice. Her body was still shaking like a string of seaweed in a storm, but her eyes were clear now, focused intently on the creature in front of her.

"Because you'll die without me." He immediately answered.

Her mouth parted slightly at his words as she instinctively felt the pull of the bandage around her head. She looked away from him then, down at her tattered dress, noticing the tear in the hem. Her eyes shot up as she turned her head from side to side, taking in the small cavernous space.

"What happened to me? What are you? Why am I here? What is going on?!" Her adrenaline was growing momentously, and she doubled over, vomiting onto the cavern floor.

Loris sat within an arm's reach away on the tiny, stone flooring. While she was momentarily distracted, he reached out and caught her in his grasp.

She screamed and thrashed. He held her against him tightly in an iron grip. Leaning down, he whispered into her ear as her hair pressed against the side of his face.