For Now | Dreaming Trilogy | Book 1 (HEAVY CONSTRUCTION)

Phoenix | Cold Blooded

I hardly noticed when the voice started to whisper in my ear. Her voice was soft, careful, and venomous. Poison poured out of each word so delicately delivered.

"Phoenix Lucis," she said. I looked around. Shane seemed oblivious. "Repeat after me." My head snapped towards the source of the sound, but nothing stood there. The voice again came from just behind me. "Reality is only a matter of perception."

I sealed my lips shut.

"Don't be so petulant," the voice scolded.

I spun again.

Again, nothing was there.

"Repeat my words." I could hear her clearly. "Reality is only a matter of perception."

I sighed. This was going nowhere.

"Reality is only a matter of perception," I muttered, just above the sound of my own breath. Shane didn't take notice.

"Better," she said. "But I want him to hear it. Say it louder."

"Reality-"

She cut me off this time. "Louder!"

"Reality is only a matter of perception," I said loudly. Shane spun to stare at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Repeat it for him. Make him understand," the voice told me.

I obeyed.

"What are you talking about?" Shane asked. He stepped closer, and I stepped back. I knew I was the only thing standing between him and this voice. This voice of sugar and spice and everything deadly.

"Duck," I said sternly. He dropped to the ground as I flung my sword forwards and spun on my heel. I struck... something. I looked.

"Phoenix, what are you doing?" Shane cried.

I ignored him and stared at the woman with the sword in her side. Crimson blood seeped into the pale blue of her dress. The white apron she wore was stained with dried blood. Her face was hollow and long. Her eyes matched her dress; pale blue with red hues. Her blond hair tumbled down her shoulders.

"Impossible," She muttered in that awful voice. "Impossible!"

I leaned in close as her breathing became ragged. "You're goddamn right," I whispered and pulled the sword back. The blood sizzled as it touched the charred hole in her dress. God, it was so bloody. That sword slid slowly, slicing through her flesh and her fabric both like air. I felt it drag across her bones, and the worst part was the hollowness in my chest.

I didn't feel a thing.

I always thought that if I ever killed anyone, the remorse would kill me soon after. It scared me how warm the blood felt on my hands. It horrified me, and I didn't care. My own blood pulsed through me like never before, and I...

I felt exhilarated.

"Phoenix!" Shane cried as the woman's body crumpled to the floor like a dress. "What did you just do?"

A sudden gust of wind blew sand and hair into my eyes, and the hood flew off my head. Surprisingly, the crown stayed firmly. When the dust cleared, her body was gone.

I turned to Shane. He seemed horrified. The freckles across his face seemed like splatters of blood. We matched, even though his were tan and mine were crimson.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I stared at him for a long time. The chaos of all those clocks suddenly seemed like beautiful music. I started to sway to the erratic beat.

"Phoenix?" He asked. Shane's hand touched my shoulder and my sword touched his wrist. Beautiful, warm blood danced down his arm as he jumped back. His other hand raced to the slit, and I lunged again. The blade caught his blue jacket, tearing the shoulder. That gorgeous blood sprung out from there, too.

"That's right," the venom voice spoke again. "Kill him."

"Yes," I agreed. "Kill him."

"Phoenix!" Shane cried. He was holding the wounds, holding back the delightful blood.

I leapt again and pinned his body to the ground. He couldn't struggle, not with my hand holding his above his head. He squirmed between my legs, but I held fast. The blood pooled on the dirt.

"Please," Shane muttered. "Let me go."

Something switched within me at his words. My heart pounded again, and my head rang with the sound of ticking clocks. Ticking time bombs.

"Don't hesitate," the voice urged. "Kill him!"

"No," I said. "You're dead. I killed already today." I swung the blade around. Shane screamed, but my sword set that damned girl on fire. She burned before me. I stood and my eyes became watery against the stench of burning flesh and against the stinging smoke.

Shane stood behind me. I turned, dropping the blade, and hugged him. His arms collapsed around me, his rising and falling chest comforting me. He was breathing. His heart was still beating. It was the best sound in the world.

The world became real again.

"You're bleeding," I said. Adrenaline and the force of my Dream State still poured through me. I was okay. He was quickly weakening.

He let me go with a sigh. "I'm fine. We need to keep going."

But I would hear none of it. I took off my beloved hoodie and took a deep breath. "You so owe me," I muttered, and ripped the fabric. With a shudder, I found it sounded close to the way that horrid woman's muscles felt as they ripped at the mercy of my sword. I shook my head. "Give me your wrist."

"Phoenix-," Shane started, but I covered his mouth with my hand. He raised his eyebrows and muttered something against my palm. Something that ended in a wink.

"Perv," I grumbled and released his mouth. A faint, bloody outline of my hand was left. He tried to wipe it away, but only succeeded in smearing it across his face.

His wrist was bleeding profusely, but soon the remains of my sweatshirt were tied tightly around the wound. It looked clumsy, but it was helping to clot the blood. I did the same to his shoulder.

"There," I said. "Now we can get going."

Shane reached forward, and for a moment I thought he was going to pull me in for a kiss. Thankfully, he didn't. He just righted my crown of thorns. "Thanks, Phoenix."

I smiled. "C'mon. We ought to chase her down, huh?"

Shane nodded, and I led him off. The corridors were winding and confusing, but my Dreamer intuition really kicked in. It was like I was someone else as I clenched his hand and pulled him along.

We got there faster than expected. It was obvious the Nightmare had prepared for us.

But we'd prepared for her, too.