Darkness (II)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Above is a trailer for Phoenix and Isa. Feel free to give it a watch! <3

The wolf walked forward, clad in curling shadows.

I watched it approach, unmoving. My mind screamed at me to run but my body was frozen, not in fear but in palpable anticipation, nerves tingling and singing beneath my bronze flesh. My soul knew this wolf. My soul loved this wolf.

It was a beautiful beast with fur like storm clouds and eyes that burned like liquid gold. It was not large—in fact, it was bordering on abnormally small—but power ran like rivers from its form, spilling into the heady air, thrumming between us like a shared heart.

The wolf loosed a magnificent howl and drew closer still, paws nestled in thick foliage. The moon seemed to ensconce its body, hanging upon it like a noose, winding around its underbelly in slivers of silvery light. All fear vanished. I knew this wolf. I loved this wolf.

A step in its direction. I don't know why I took it but I did, my body moving on unspoken command. It watched me carefully, silently, with eyes that beheld a message only I could understand. I know you, they seemed to say. I love you.

I ached to touch it. To feel its fur beneath my fingers.

So I raised my hand. The wolf's eyes flashed but, after a moment, it drooped its head—an invitation. My heart swelled with euphoria.

Slowly but surely, I buried my hand in its downy fur.

Mine.

I awoke with a gasp.

My hands were buried in the blanket, clutching at it as if it was the very fur I'd touched. I sighed. My vision was still blurred by the vestiges of my vivid dream. It seemed so real, so true...I felt the whisper of the grey fur across my skin, heard her pining howl, saw those golden eyes in startling technicolor.

My temples were throbbing like the skin of a beating drum. A groan, tired and confused, slipped from my lips.

"Isa? Can I come in?"

It was Valeriya who'd spoken, her voice muffled by the closed door. I straightened on impulse, recognition sharpening my mind.

I hurried off of the bed, the blankets snagging on my feet. Luckily, I hadn't slept in my underwear as I usually would; instead I'd opted for a more modest pink camisole and pyjama shorts. I grabbed the door handle, my long legs clumsy and skittish with the remnants of sleep.

"Hey." I said breathlessly as I swung the door open. 

Valeriya looked as inhumanly beautiful as I'd come to expect with her long, golden hair loosely braided over her shoulders. She smiled brightly, countenance unshadowed by any signs of sleep deprivation. Jealousy, although not malicious, made my heart slam sickeningly against my ribcage.

"Hello, Luna." she greeted. Upon giving my outfit a quick onceover, her smile faded slightly. "You're not ready?"

I quirked a brow. "Ready for what?"

She slid into the room. I closed the door behind her. Something told me I wouldn't like what she was about to say.

Her curious eyes landed on the ruffled covers before flitting back to examine my face, which was sagging with the vestiges of a restless sleep. She frowned, but didn't comment.

"Phoenix was supposed to tell you yesterday, but after what happened..." she paused, carefully pondering her words, "He didn't really get chance."

My mind roiled at the mention of yesterday's happenings. I'd shattered right before his eyes. I looked so hopeless, so fragile...almost like glass in a storm, devastated by the stirring winds, scattered amidst a sea of black.