Embrace Me

Chapter One

I walk the small five feet from my hotel bed to the dresser and take one rather good long look at the person staring back at me in the mirror. Her hair is raven black, but also resembles a birds nest; tangled and unkempt. Her eyes, they are a piercing ocean water blue, and the irritated redness that surround them only makes them pop more. Her skin, it is naturally tan, but unhealthily beginning to fade.

A hand reaches up and brushes away some of the black strands of hair from her face, and I wonder how anyone could let their selves go like this. How can anyone be so careless? The lighting is awful in here, but a small ray of it hits a miniscule white smear on the girls wrist, shoulder, neck, and the thought forms that they are scars. Tiny reminders of why she can't sleep at night.

I quickly turn away from the reflective wall and try to take a comfortable position on the bed, but I know it won't help.

Every time I closed my eyes, the blackness would envelop me, and claim me as its own. The nightmares that were more true than ever, invaded my brain and completely took over any logically sound thought that could comfort me in my time of need.

Any foreign sound, or bump in the night terrified me beyond normalcy, and the thought of being alone frightened me to the point of anxiety. When exhaustion would start to take its course on my body, when my eyelids began to droop, and my brain would automatically scream for peace; I knew I had no choice but to give in. But giving into sleep was not the only thing I was doing. I was also leaving myself vulnerable for the endless rounds of torture that would ensue upon me when I allowed my walls to crumble for just a few short hours.

I relived the previous six months of emotional and physical damage every single time, no matter how hard I tried to erase the memories from my mind and never think about the men and women in the white lab coats towering over me with scalpels, scissors, knives, and other medical equipment. No amount of therapy could calm me, or soothe my fearful tears, and just when I think I can relax for just a few short seconds, I remember that no shape shifter is really ever safe.

Not as long as they are searching for us.

I hear a knock on the door. It is a small one, and a regular human would not be capable of the action, but my hearing is immaculate, and I know the volume is particularly intended for me to know the person outside has no intention of harming me. Which means it can only be Jackson and Jess.

Rushing to the door I unlock all three locks, and quickly let them into the hotel room. The first one to come barreling through is Jess. He's unusually tall at 6'3, but quite muscular to balance it out. Honey colored hair sits atop his head, and soulful green eyes take up residence on his perfectly undamaged face. If it were not for his brotherly influence on my life, I probably would've fallen for him a long time ago.

Next comes Jackson. He's not quite as tall, but his physique definitely isn't lacking in any department. Jackson has chestnut colored hair cut short, and possesses the most beautiful grey eyes I had ever seen in my entire existence. He has a small scar the size of a fingernail clipping above his right eyebrow given to him by yours truly, and his teeth are the whitest things I have probably had the privilege of ever seeing.

It's safe to say that shape shifters have startlingly attractive features, no doubt. 

When they are both securely through the door, I lock the door back and take my seat on the bed. They both slowly make their way over towards me, coffee in one of their hands, a Panera breakfast bag in the others'. They both take a seat a small distance away from me on the mattress and carefully look at me.

"We're sorry it took so long. They were surprisingly busy this morning," Jess says softly.

I can tell they're trying to coddle me again, baby me. Ever since they discovered a few of the smaller incidents that happened to me, they won't stop looking at me like a scared child.