Midnight Shadows

Chapter 2

She's in his arms. They're warm, and tight, and encase her. The smell of him, the thought of him, it was almost too much. Turning to his grey blue eyes she suddenly can't breathe. She's staring at home. A wide hand cups her cheek and she presses her head into it. In this dark place he comforts her, and holds her. What had been missing was found.

She tried to say his name but in this place there were no words. Just the look of him, standing over her, around her, with her. Encompassing her whole being.

Gabriel.

The name bursts into her mind and through her veins. Gabriel.

But as she's forcing the words out, forcing sound into this silent place, his face morphs and changes. The hand on her cheek lengthens into claws. Those beautiful eyes narrow into near black. The hair turns ashy blonde, hanging in his malevolent gaze. Marcus. This time, the name drumming through her mind fills her with such deep-seated dread she feels like she could drown within it.

A pain blooms on her neck and his free clawed hand claps over the wound. "This is mine." He seethes. The words appear in her mind, silent in the void around them but resonating within. "Try to run. I dare you to run. This—" the claws dig into her shoulder, drawing blood, yet she can't move, can't scream. "—this makes you mine. Forever."

He leans in, that familiar hot, humid breath brushing her ear. "I dare you."

As his claws sink in further, dragging her backwards into this oblivion with him and the monster he was, Jane burst upright on the bed she was resting in.

It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim motel lighting. Hands fluttering, she brought it up to her neck. A thick bandage was taped over the wound, but no new claw marks she could feel. Just a deep thrumming ache. With a shuddering sigh, she tried to shake the dream and that dark endless place and focus on her reality.

The room was big enough for two beds and a small kitchenette. To her right, Teddy's small forms was huddled under the covers of the second bed deep into his sleep. Their bags were tossed by the dresser, the TV on a low drum. No sign of Justin however.

The act of swinging her legs over the bed caused her head to spin and turn violently and for a moment, she's sure she's going to vomit. Avoiding the danger, she stands cautiously.

The moment she's upright, as though setting of an alarm, the door turns carefully and opens. Moonlight spills into the motel room, and Justin, standing with a Walmart bag, enters.

His eyes first fall to Teddy, making sure he's still there, before landing on Jane. The bag drops form his hand in stunned silence. She doesn't know what to do, what to say, to make any of this right but for now, he doesn't ask for it. He closes the distance between them and throws his arms around her, dragging her into a tight, impossible to escape hug.

Despite herself, and blaming it on her weakened state, tears prickle the corners of her eyes. He just hugs her tighter, until she makes a noise of discomfort from her wounds. Despite the ache in her neck her ribs feel better and her jaw hurts only opening it wide, or to the touch.

When he releases her, he checks to make sure Teddy hasn't stirred. "How are you feeling?" he asks in a hush. His eyes dart over her face, checking the wound to make sure blood hadn't seeped through the bandages. Justin was not one to show much affection usually, but she took it to heart, knowing how deeply and truly her brother cared for her.

And that just ruined her even more, what she had brought her family into.

"I'm fine, really Justin. I just need some water, and we need to talk."