Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.
-Unknown
Chapter 10~The Space Between~
I drifted painlessly in the space between dreams and reality for the longest time. Occasionally, random images flashed before my eyes. None of them made any sense.
Adam, smiling down at me as he shoved an obsidian blade through my heart.
Carmine, standing in crackling flames as he reached a beckoning hand out to me.
Claret, half covered in shadows as she talked to someone just out of my sight. Wolves howled in the distance.
These images and more played on repeat when I was unconscious. The few times I did manage to break the surface of consciousness, I was quickly pulled back under by a heady rush of heat in my veins.
Then there were the times of darkness, when no images occupied my vision. In those times, I felt blissfully relaxed and unaware. As if I could dive farther into the darkness and never surface. But underneath the bliss, there was the sense that something was wrong.
I feared the time that I would find it.
Eventually, it became easier to surface for longer periods of time. So much that I began to make out voices. They progressed from indecipherable chatter, to clearer and harder syllables. One voice always sent that familiar rush of heat through me, yet somehow different than before.
The next time I heard this voice, I desperately wanted to wake up. I was tired of the darkness, and I wanted to see who this stranger was.
So I did.
My eyes snapped open suddenly as I broke through. The harsh lights burned my eyes as I inhaled deeply, then gasped at the pain that ripped through my head.
"Ruby."
My head jerked to that wonderful voice, and memories flooded my brain.
The business party. Wolves. Contacts. Carmine's kiss. The chase. Claret. Pain.
Carmine's kiss.
"Carmine." My voice rasped as I pushed myself up. A tugging sensation pulled at my arm and I looked down. An IV tube stuck out from my wrist, accompanied by a faint burn. Great. "How long have I been here?" I felt as if I'd slept for years, but I knew that wasn't possible.
Carmine stood up from his chair and moved closer. "How do you feel? Cherise took you off the sedative and painkillers this morning." That would explain the warmth I felt every time I'd tried to wake.
"Okay." My head still ached dully and my mouth felt like a cotton desert, but I could deal. "Why are you here, not to sound rude. Why did Cherise give me a sedative?"
Carmine leaned against the end of my bed, crossing his arms. "You've been out three days-"
"What?" I interrupted him as a sudden memory returned. "Shit the meeting's tomorrow!" I cursed my body for sleeping so long. I couldn't remember getting hurt so badly.
Carmine shook his head as his gaze met mine. "You're not going. Cherise gave Claret orders not to let you out on any Hunt for a week, to let you fully recover."
"What!? That's not happening." I nearly exploded, wincing as my head began pounding again. I couldn't go a week without Hunting. I would die from sheer boredom, not to mention I craved the Hunt, the thrill of becoming the hunter.
Last night-or rather three days ago-had been a disaster. But that wouldn't happen again. It couldn't.
He gave me a stern look. "Yes it is. You need to recover before you go charging back into battle, so to speak." Carmine frowned at me.
YOU ARE READING
Red {Wolf Rebellion I}
Werewolf"Once upon a time, there was a girl....and there was a wolf." Nineteen year old Ruby Gray knows where she belongs, what depends on her. She knows that Red, the organization she works for, and her fellow agents, are the only ones aware of who hide am...
