Rite of Submission - Rite 1

53: Sacrifice

                Everything about this just felt wrong. The meadow was the same. The trees surrounding the open space in the forest were the same. Even the full moon shining in the night sky was the same. But it was all so very wrong at the same time. Everything was deathly still and deafeningly silent. Even the sea of stars above refused to blink. A sense of dread was churning in my stomach as I turned in slow circles where I stood. I could feel that there was something or someone out there, but I couldn't see anything but grass and trees around me.

If this was a dream, his dream, where was he? Every dream we'd shared, he'd always been right there, either beside me or within eyesight. Why would he dream about me standing alone? The one other time I'd been pulled alone to this place, I could hear multiple wolves in the forest, and his wolf had immediately stepped out to meet me. So where was he now? I scanned the tree line again, searching for the blacker than black of his fur among the shadows.

The hair on the back of my neck rose, sending a shiver down my spine. This was all so wrong. I spun around, catching a blur of movement just out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't like a shadow moving. It had looked like a flash of light or a streak of silver in the moonlight. I wasn't alone, but it was not Dmitri stalking through the trees around me. I tried to yell out at him any way, tell him this wasn't funny and just to step out where I could see him already. No sound could escape my throat. I just screamed noiselessly.

Something was there; I could feel it watching me. Stalking around through the trees, staying just out of view, I felt like I was being hunted. Panic was slowly taking over, making my heart pound wildly in my chest as my lungs struggled to pull in air. Even the air around me was wrong, feeling thick and making my movements sluggish as I continued to try and find the thing circling me.

Suddenly, the ground opened beneath me and I found myself falling through an inky black void, flailing about, but finding nothing to grab onto.

I hit the floor of Sophia's bedroom with a soft thud, the plush white carpet absorbing most of the sound, as I fell out of the bed. I shrieked when her head popped over the edge of the bed. "Dear God! Are you alright," she sounded alarmed as she stared down at me.

I was covered in sweat, and my heart was racing, but other than the small pain I felt where I'd hit the floor hardest, I was fine. "I must've just rolled off the edge of the bed," I tried to explain lamely.

She frowned down at me. "You were tossing and turning pretty roughly," she frowned concerned. "I was getting ready to wake you up just before you fell; you looked like you were fighting for your life."

"Just a bad dream," I pulled myself up and tried a soft smile, "I didn't mean to wake you, I'm sorry."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She patted the bed beside her.

I shook my head, I really didn't. "I think the stress of the past few days just finally caught up with me," I hoped that was enough of an explanation for her. "But I don't think I'll be able to fall back asleep any time soon." I smiled at her, trying to convince both of us that I was really ok. "Think I'll just go take a shower and hang out in the other room for a while, maybe I'll look through some of the books you suggested."

She eyed me, fighting back a sleepy yawn. "I'll have some coffee brought up for us."

"No," I insisted, "I'm fine; I'll probably just look though a book or veg out with the tv." I straightened out the pillows and blankets on my side of the bed, "Besides, you had a pretty rough day and need your rest."