𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔰

Chapter 42

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I awoke with a shout. I looked around with wide eyes. I was sweating bullets and my chest hurt like crazy. I didn't realize how long the nightmare played out until awoke three hours later. I peered down to see I was bleeding. I lifted my shirt up to find five bloody slash marks across my chest. I gently pressed my hand to the bleeding wound to hiss at the pain. Rapid footfalls sounded as Hope, Alaric, and Rafael rounded the corner. "Oh my god! NIK!" Hope exclaimed running to me. "Come with us." Alaric said walking away. Hope and Raf helped me to my feet and we followed him to his office. We entered the room and I plumped into the nearest chair. Hope sat down beside me and looked at the wound. "What happened?" Dr. Saltzman asked. "I was having a nightmare." I answered. "About what?" Hope asked. I stared at her for a moment. "Not...really important." I said as she hovered her hand over my chest healing it. "I know you, Nik. Nightmares only scare you when they're about important things." Hope pointed out. I let out a sigh looking at her. "I was dreaming about home. Back in New Orleans. It was night and it was destroyed and in flames. The Quarter was filled...with bodies and blood." I explained. "There was a smoky black shadow...thing...and it looked exactly like me but it was deathly pale in comparison. I think it was the Nogitsune...but more importantly. There was some freaky floating woman in a black dress and a veil." I said as Hope finished healing me. "That happen to you during the nightmare?" Alaric asked pointing at my chest. "Yeah." I stated. "Are you sure?" He asked again. "You know what? Actually...I think I may have slashed my own chest on purpose just for the hell of it." I said deadpan sarcastically. "Do you remember anything else?" Hope asked placing a hand in my own. "Yeah, that woman...in the black dress and the veil. She was yelling at me, "Where is it?!" But..." I answered. Hope looked up at Dr. Saltzman. "The urn." She told him. "Sounds like our next monster showed up. You know, every culture on Earth has legends about creatures that only appear in dreams. They're in our dreams. But a woman in a black dress and a veil is pretty specific." Alaric explained walking to his bookcase and opening a book. "So, does that mean that she can, like, what we see in our dreams?" Raf asked him as Alaric flipped through the book. "That she can put stuff in our, in our heads, right?" Raf added. "It's possible." Dr. S answered looking at Rafael before looking down at the book again and handing it to me. I stared at the image in the book before looking up at Saltzman. 

"Our latest monster is a Night Hag, a malevolent spirit trapped on the astral plane that can only interact with us through dreams. In this case, nightmares." Alaric announced to the students in the Assembly Hall. I sat near the front but was too busy staring down at my hands. "So, like Freddy Krueger?" MG asked. "Well, in the sense that what happens to you in your dreams seems to also happen to you in real life, yes. But the good news is we're safe, so long as we stay awake. Now I've lined up more evacuation shuttles. They should be running all afternoon, so please, for those who don't want to stay and fight, take advantage of them. All right, that's all." Alaric explained. I stood up and headed into the gym to try and keep myself awake. I should probably go and take my midterms. I let out a sigh before turning around to Alaric's office. I walked in after knocking on the door. "Stiles. How can I help you?" He asked going through various files, folders, and books on his desk. "Midterms?" I suggested. "Right! Almost forgot...you take your exams by yourself. Why exactly do you do that?" He said grabbing four test packets and handing them to me. "Well...as you may know, Dr. Saltzman, I am not one...but TWO kitsunes. And kitsunes happen to be one of the most intelligent supernatural creatures on the planet. In fact, they are probably the most intelligent creatures in history. Why else would they be so good at manipulation, trickery, and surviving? Answer...they know what they're doing." I explained. "And you won't take your tests with the others...because?" He asked crossing his arms. "Because I'd be done with all four in 15 or 20 minutes." I said with a shrug before leaving.