Orange Roses - REVAMPED

Chapter Fourteen: Monster in the Nightmare

"Drake, it's me, Matty. Matty, the girl you're protecting because I have sight and-" I dodged one of the guards before ramming my knee into his stomach. Pain erupted in my knee. Armor. Right. I dropped to the ground and kicked one of the guards hard on the stomach as he fell into the water. "You protected me from the Dream Walker. You have to wake up now because-"

"Off with her head!"

"Oh shut up, queenie!" I yelled as I ran over to Drake and grabbed him by the arm. One the guards tried to grab me, but I pulled the sword out of Drake's hand. "Sorry, I'll give this back in a minute." I swung the blade and made sure to hit his armored chest so the guard fell on his back before turning the blade toward the queen. "I'm sorry your majesty, but-"

An intense pain ripped into my stomach as I looked down to see blood on my shirt. I made a note to remember to kick Drake's ass when we got home. I slumped over and bit my lip so not to cry out. Drake caught me.

"Take her to the dungeons," she said as Drake lifted me into his arms. "I'll send for a healer. No point in having a prisoner if they aren't alive."

The guards dispersed. I clutched onto his cloak as he put me on the ground again. The woman-his wife-still screamed as Drake picked up the blade. I shut my eyes tightly before the screaming abruptly stopped.

"Drake."

"I don't know who you are and why you are here, but if you are an enemy of the queen then I will kill you."

                                                                                             ______________

God, please tell me that I'm hung over. Tell me I drank too much tequila on my birthday and Drake dragged my ass home. No people with sight, no sulking vampire-

Nope, I'm in a cold, dark dudgeon where three bars made a small window to let in the moonlight. I sat up. Shit, what am I going to do? My stomach felt numb, but I wasn't in pain. It was the kind of numb where I knew there was pain if I thought too hard about it, but I appreciate it. I closed my eyes. What am I going to do?

And what the hell just happened? Drake killed his wife. She was screaming and... The look of pain and frustrated went through my mind. He didn't want to do it. His queen really-

"Looks like you've gotten yourself in a bit of trouble."

I tried standing up as I looked over my shoulder and saw Erasmus standing there. I froze at first. The last time I saw him, there was a dagger in his stomach. Now he stood in a white linen shirt with the trim on it being gold. The pants matched. I realized he was barefooted and his hair pulled back off his shoulders.

He looked like he was in his PJs.

"Erasmus, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked. I felt defenseless. I stood up and felt my body break out in a sweat as I looked down and saw my shirt stained with blood.

"Oh good, we match now," Erasmus said, lifting up his shirt revealing his scar. I fell back down, panic as my hands went to cover the hole in my stomach. Erasmus walked over to me and bent to one knee, grabbing my shoulder. "Breathe, this is a dream, Matty. Nothing that happened is real. The Dragon didn't really stab you." I took large gulps of air as Erasmus cupped his hands on the back of my head. "Matty, breathe. You have seen worst than this, remember?" The image of the decapitated head on a plate came to mind. It was like someone shoved a photo of it in my face. Then there's Lowell standing in the forest with the Huli Jing and he's seeing everything. My heart broke. "This is just a dream."