The Shadow's Grip • bxb [COMPLETED]

-23-

Felix's P.O.V.

I slowly open my eyes, expecting a nightmare again. I expect to be suffocating under the water again. Or that weird girl pulling me down, not letting me take a breath.

But I'm met with Dimitri's apartment's ceiling. His plain old ceiling, a boring beige color, with some cracks here and there.

I stand up confused and look around, but no matter in which way I analyze this, it's the room where I feel asleep. So I woke up.

But why does everything feel so fuzzy and weird? I look at my hands and see a blurry sixth finger on my right hand, appearing and disappearing. That's a sign I'm still dreaming. It must be a lucid dream.

That or I completely lost it already, having hallucinations that I have six fingers and not five like any other normal human being.

Dimitri isn't next to me how he should be. I'm a bit scared to move around since I don't know what to expect.

The room's door is wide open, but I can't see anything out of it, everything being completely black. Maybe in this dream my brain didn't had enough time to come up with the whole apartment and just thought the room is enough?

Ah, I really don't want to go there. I stroke my chin, almost as if I'm thinking even though I know damn well I'm not doing that. It isn't about making a decision right now. It's about staying alive.

And staying alive means staying here in this room, patiently waiting for whatever will happen next. Maybe I can pinch myself and wake up. I've never actually had the chance to make a choice in any of my previous nightmares.

It was always the same, and it was like I didn't had control over my own body, even though I knew I was dreaming. It was like the Shadow was controlling me like some kind of fucking puppet.

But now I can decide. For once in my life, I have a decision over what I can do.

So I stay in place. I stay there, not moving an inch. And I stare at the door, at the dark hallway, at whatever might come out of that tunnel that seems infinite.

Five minutes pass. Ten minutes pass. More time passes, and at this point I sit down on the bed, my feet hurting. Nothing happened. Not even sight of the shadow.

Maybe this isn't a nightmare after all, since it's not the usual setting, me drowning and all that shit. I stand up again, slowly talking steps toward the door.

I'm still scared to step out of the room, but I peek my head out to look around. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just emptiness. A void. I guess this is what it might feel like to get lost in space. At least there you have the stars to keep you company.

I take a deep breath and step out, a bit afraid I might just fall down and die, or wake up in the best case scenario. Nothing happens.

I'm standing. I don't know on what, but I am standing. Standing on the darkness if that makes any sense.

Suddenly, I hear a cry, startling me after minutes full of silence. I look around, trying to see where it comes from, but can't see anything.

I turn my head around and look back at the room, now gone. There's no door. No room. Almost as if I appeared here out of nowhere.

I turn around, confused, breathing heavily. I can feel my legs and hands going numb, almost as if they aren't mine anymore. At this point, I'm trying to focus on my breathing.

I'm alright. It can't hurt me. It's just a nightmare. I'm going to be alright.

Tears are forming in my eyes and I curl myself in a ball, on the floor of darkness, waiting for the worst. Having a fear of darkness is one thing, and being completely surrounded by it is worthy of a panic attack.

How will I get out of here? Will I ever get out of here? What will happen to me?

My train of thought is stopped when I hear the crying closer this time. I take my head out of my hands and to my surprise, see a little girl in front of me.

She's crying, curled up in a ball just like me, as ironic as that sounds. She has long curly black hair just like me, and a light blue gown on. Only when she's looking directly at me, I can see that we even look similar, having the same features.

I take a few steps back, but she stands up in a hurry, coming towards me. I freeze in schock and horror. Is this supposed to be the female version of me?

"Did you bring it?" she looks up at me, being a lot younger and shorter than me.

Her gown is reaching her ankles, and her hair is reaching her waist. She doesn't look older than 10 years old.

"W-what?" I stutter and look at her, confused and scared at the same time.

"Oh you idiot!" she grins at me "I told you to bring it!"

"W-who?" I want to ask her who she is, but it's like I can't even say a proper sentence anymore.

Suddenly, her face turns sad, and her eyes fill with tears again. I panic now, wondering what I did wrong. Should I comfort her? Is this the shadow playing a sick game on me?

"You don't recognize me anymore?" her voice is filled with sadness, but also regret.

"I... I'm sorry"

What am I apologizing for? I don't know who the fuck she is.

"It's me! Well... I can't be too sad... It's been a while since we've last met right?" a smile appears on her face and it's like she's suddenly happy again.

"Please... I... I want to leave" tears are rolling down my cheeks and I almost feel embarrassed for crying like this in front of a kid.

She smiles at me, her tears also falling down now.

"My name is.... "

I can't hear it. I didn't heard the name. Her mouth is moving, but I can't hear what she's saying. It's like I suddenly turned deaf and I'm hopeless.

"What? I can't hear you" I grab her hand, desperate at this point and she's just smiling, talking.

Suddenly, my hand slips from hers, and I'm falling down. It happened too fast and I didn't had any time to panic. I slowly feel my eyes closing, and it's like everything only lasted a second.

Before opening my eyes again, I hear a faint voice, but this time the voice of a woman, not of a kid.

"Natalie"

I hear it faintly, but I'm sure that's the name.

My eyes open, and I stand up, almost as if I was electrocuted. It takes a minute for all the memories and thoughts to flood back in, but when I finally realize what happened, I smile like an idiot.

"Natalie... Natalie! It's Natalie! Natalie!" I say the name over and over again like an idiot, almost as if I'm afraid I'll forget it.

I turn around and see Dimitri next to me, holding his cross tightly in his hand, his face pale almost as if he's seen a ghost. But I'm so happy. I'm too happy in this moment.

"It's Natalie!" I grab his shoulders, shaking him.

"What?" he looks at me like I lost my mind.

But I don't care. We finally have a clue. A clue!

It's Natalie. The girl in my nightmares. The one that has always been there, pulling me down, making me feel hopeless. She gave me a clue.

Her name is Natalie. She's Natalie.