FORTIFIED

Chapter Eleven.

School the next day was uneventful. She'd had another nightmare the previous night, and she remembered it, making it the second one in a row...

She was running aimlessly in the woods. It was pitch black, and she couldn't see a thing, until suddenly she came to a clearing.

There was a circle made of rocks and a fire burnt brightly inside of it. About thirty figures loomed over it.

The fire was the only source of light in the clearing and their shadows overhead looked like something from a horror movie.

Suddenly someone was pulled from their midst. It was a girl.

They all had their heads hooded as two of them led her struggling to an altar.

The girl continued kicking and screaming even as they lifted her unto the stone altar, just a few feet from the fire.

Adriel was hidden by the overgrown shrubs so no one could see her. Even as they bound the girl's hands she still fought viciously against them.

Only when a clothe was pushed back into her mouth did she stop screaming.

One of them, whose robe was slightly different from the others lifted a knife with both hands into the air.

Suddenly Adriel wasn't behind the shrubs anymore, she was on the altar.

Her eyes widened.

Adriel looked around her and realized that the girl on the altar, was her.

"No!" She screamed. She tried to free herself, pulling at the binds but it was of no use.

Faintly, she could see the man in the hoodie.

"Let me go!" She screamed. The man in the hoodie shook his head. He held the knife in one hand and pulled back his hoodie with the other, revealing dark brown hair that looked even darker against the fire.

"I have you now." He whispered. It was Jayden. Her eyes nearly fell from her sockets. She saw him bring the knife slowly down her left cheek before trailing it all the way down to her chest, right above her heart.

"You thought you could run from me." He whispered into her ears.

"There's no running from me Dri." Then she felt him plunge the knife deep into her chest, piercing her heart.

Immediately blood spluttered from her mouth.

He leaned down and kissed the trail away. He moved to her neck and bit her. She felt the life literally being sucked right out of her.

She screamed as more of them gathered around her taking a spot before sinking their teeth into her. She was dying, she knew it and soon she welcomed the suffocating darkness.

She'd woken up screaming afterward. Another shiver went through Adriel's body as she remembered the nightmare.

It'd felt so real, she'd felt every bite, every pain, every cut.

If she wasn't careful, she could start hyperventilating again. She took a deep breath and quickly made her way to class.

Alex was a senior majoring in Biochemistry. He had separate classes from her, so they almost never cross paths in school until a break or when it was time to go home. So in other words, she was completely alone and defenseless.

She'd seen some of the girls briefly around campus but she'd only kept on walking ignoring them.

Sometimes she felt their gazes on her and thought she would go insane. Soon classes were over for the day and she waited for Alex in their usual spot.