Seraphina's breath hitched as she locked eyes with Inder, his hand still holding her chin in place. The tension between them was almost tangible, their faces inches apart. Her heart thudded in her chest, her mind racing, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. His gaze was intense, his warm fingers a steady presence on her skin.
But something was changing.
Inder's features, which had been so familiar and warm, began to shift. His soft grin started to widen unnaturally, curling into something more sinister. His eyes, once dark and filled with teasing warmth, slowly changed color - shifting from their deep brown hue to a glowing, blood-red. The whites of his eyes seemed to fade, replaced by an eerie glow that sent a shiver down her spine. His skin, which had been a warm tan, grew pale, almost chalky in the dim light.
Seraphina's breath caught in her throat as she watched, her heart hammering now with fear instead of anticipation. His lips, which had been soft and inviting just moments before, stretched unnaturally wide, revealing sharp fangs where his teeth had been. The two upper teeth elongated into long, gleaming white fangs that glistened in the low light of the room. His face seemed to contort further, taking on a monstrous form as his jaw stretched unnervingly.
Her instincts screamed at her to run, to pull away, but she was frozen in place, her mind reeling as she tried to process what was happening.
Within the blink of an eye, he moved.
Before she could react, Inder dipped his head down, and she felt the sharp, piercing pain of his long white fangs sinking deep into her shoulder. The pain was excruciating, like fire spreading through her veins, and a scream tore from her throat. It was loud, guttural, and raw, a sound that seemed to come from the very core of her being.
Seraphina's eyes flew open, her own scream echoing in her ears. She sat up abruptly, her chest heaving as she realized that she was no longer in Inder's home - no longer trapped under his monstrous gaze. She was in her own bed, her own familiar surroundings, but the pain in her shoulder was real. Her body trembled, sweat clinging to her skin as she gasped for breath.
It took her a moment to realize it had all been a dream. A vivid, terrifying dream. She wasn't at Inder's place, she hadn't spent the night with him, and he hadn't turned into a creature from a nightmare. She glanced at the clock by her bedside table: 3:15 a.m. The soft hum of the city at night was the only sound around her.
But the pain in her shoulder... it was still there, sharp and throbbing.
Seraphina's hand flew to her shoulder, rubbing the spot where she had felt the bite, and that's when she noticed something odd. Her fingers brushed against a wetness, and she winced as her shoulder flared with pain again. Confused, she turned to look, only to find her cat - her sleek, black cat - sitting beside her, eyes glowing red in the darkness.
Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at the animal, and the dream came rushing back with vivid clarity. Her black cat's eyes were almost eerily similar to the ones she had seen in her nightmare, but this wasn't a monster. This was her pet, her familiar companion.
Still, the pain in her shoulder was unmistakable, and as she looked closer, she realized what had happened. Her cat had bitten her, hard enough to leave a mark. The small, sharp teeth weren't as long or terrifying as the fangs in her dream, but they were certainly sharp enough to cause the pain she was feeling now.
She groaned softly, rubbing her shoulder as she sat back against her pillows, trying to shake off the remnants of the dream. The bite was real, but everything else had been a figment of her imagination - a terrifying figment, but a dream nonetheless.
As her breathing slowed, reality began to settle back in.
She wasn't at Inder's place. She was in her own home, her studio apartment, with the faint sounds of the city filtering in through the windows. The events of the previous day started to come back to her in pieces. She remembered being exhausted, collapsing into bed after spending too much time -- upon rereading Inder's latest Instagram post. She had spent hours overthinking everything - the glances, the tension between them, the way he looked at her.
