Breathe Under Water - Shadows of the Night 1

Chapter 21

Hi!

Chapter 21. Somehow it sounds slightly surreal to me. So here it is, edited and proofread. I'm dying to know what you think about this one. Please let me know if you liked it!

Lara

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Chapter 21

The blackness was impartial and uncaring. It was beautiful. It was unforgiving.

Silence was there, all around, cushioning me from things that could hurt and destroy. Everything had come to a stop, slowed down and disintegrated to the point of non-existence. I was there by myself, but I didn't care. I could get lost in this feeling of calmness. It was here in this world that I wanted to stay. Be safe.

The curtain of numbness lifted. Faint sounds that trickled into this system that didn't rely on known concepts, didn't follow rules and formulas society had decided were necessary. I didn't want to hear, or to see. Spears of light, slicing through the canvas of black I'd been staring at.

No!

I pressed my eyes shut, for the first time becoming aware that I still had them. Eyes.

Light turned into something else. Shapes, skin, the sound of my own breathing. And then heat.

I moaned. It was hot, so terribly hot. My hair stuck to my forehead, slick and damp. I must have been sweating. I opened my eyes to another sort of darkness. It wasn't absolute. To the contrary, it was suffused with light – faint but strong enough to see the blankets.

I was lying in a bed.

I exhaled, trying to find my way back to this world again. Limbs didn't follow commands my brain broadcasted. Instead a feeling of lethargy mixed with thick heat. And pain. I moaned, pressing my eyes shut.

"Anna?"

Was that Alexander's voice?

I licked my lips, trying to form a clear sentence, say something. Impossible with the war raging inside of me. It felt like someone had carved out a piece of my stomach and put it in the wrong way. Dammit, it hurt!

I opened my eyes, and there he was, hovering above me. Hair the color of obsidian, messy and soft against his forehead and cheekbones. The features that had once appeared hard and unforgiving looked very different in the dim light. I blinked and stared into his eyes.

There was a sea of blue that held things that were dark and dangerous. Ink slowly dispersing in water. Shadows that were so much more than just darkness. In that moment I wanted to break through them, throw light on the secrets they held and learn every single one.

"Beautiful," I murmured, trance-like.

"Anna, you must drink."

Drink? Yes, it was hot. I was thirsty.

Expecting him to hold a glass or a bottle to my lips, I was perplexed when he gently pressed his wrist on my mouth. Something moist touched my lips, and I tried to pull away. I needed a glass of water. Water, I thought, trying to avert my head. I didn't want the wrist, I wanted water.

The oncoming wave of heat gripped my whole body, possessed it like a vengeful demon. It made me want to squirm and worm myself out of that torrid shell. My back arched up, riding the violent spasm. My fingers buried themselves into the blankets, held on to them as if they were the last thing keeping me alive.

The cool wetness of skin on my lips made me avert my head yet again. I tried to shove Alexander and that damned wrist of his away. Two steel-like hands cuffed mine. The vampire's face was hovering right over mine, pinning me down effectively with a stare that weighed more than a ton.