Celestial Growing pains.

Chapter 24: Nightmares.

Rainbows glimmered off raindrops in the night sky blood stained hands reached out caressing whisps of dark hair. Newborn cries echoed through the rainy night. Bone chilling screams of a desperate woman following suit. For a few moments the scene unfolded before silence settled like a plague. Tears streamed down the now still face. Even the quiet of the night began to fade. All air left my lungs. I wanted to scream but no noise could exit. I was suffocating again. Thrashing to and fro my fingers dug through the cord around my neck. Only small gulps of air were heard like a fish out of water. Then abruptly as it began it ended.

I awoke to the sensation of not being alone. Like the evil spirit hiding in the corner of your childhood bedroom. The kind of sensation that leaves the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Eyes of the beast could be made out in the velvet chair opposite me. Something in those eyes could not be translated. He leaned forward in the chair his eyes trained on me. It was an uncomfortable state. As if there were no secrets between us. Slowly sitting up I pulled the silk covers closer to my body bringing my knees up as a barrier if need arose. Had he been watching me sleep? Neither one of us spoke for a moment. This was the first time we had laid eyes on one another since that night. What was there to even say? While it was temping to give him the good ole fashion cold shower I knew he was not the type to allow it. He demanded attention. He demanded everything. He is the king how could he expect anything less? No, this situation needed to be faced head on the Channery way.

"We're you never told it's considered rude to stare?"

I asked. Positive he never had been told. Those lips curved upward in a thin grin. The beast looked tired, his hair an uncharacteristic mess as if his hands perpetually resided there now. Adjusting to the couch trying desperately to ignore his eyes boring holes in my body. With every movement my body ached as if my bones were grinding upon one another. My face contorted and his smile fell.

"You were having a nightmare."

His words were a statement and not a question. Leaning back he adjusted in his chair to continue his staring. His insight into my dream unsettled me. Right now I could not afford to appear vulnerable. Not in the sight of a predator of galactic proportions.

"It happens sometimes."

Was all I could mumble not wanting my mind to remember what had been pushed into my unconscious self. I still hadn't processed my mother's death and this was not time time nor the place.

"As a child I would have nightmares as well."

Was this mountain of a beast actually exposing that as a child he had been afraid of a bogey man too? Not possible. As if reading my dubious expression the beast chuckled.

"I had you brought in here to stop you from sleeping on couches. There is a perfectly good bed right there."

His long thick fingers pointed at the bed behind him with out even turning his head in its direction.

"Is that the only reason you had me brought here?"

His motives were questionable. Surely, he did not care where I slept as long as I slept alone. My comfort could not be his main concern. If it had been I would not even be on this cruel planet. Judging by the expression on my face his smile appeared again, this time it did not appear genuine.

"For the time being... if it is your wish I will cohabit elsewhere and you may stay here unbothered by my presence..."

Before he could even finish I stopped him as if threatened.

"It is my wish!"

Abruptly he stood striding up to his desk before turning to face me once again.

"You have not been sleeping well. You refuse to eat enough to give your body adequate nutrients. Accept it or not you were destined long ago to be my mate. Making you the future queen to this planet and you must be strong to do that!"

His baritone voice shook the room making me sink further into the plush cushions. Regret flickered in his eyes or was that imagined?

"You were born on Earth but you were willing to step up on Nixvacious to become an Elder. You were accepting of that destiny but now you refuse to accept this destiny or your new planet. I have to assume your disgust is because for myself and my previous... actions. Actions that were unfortunate and the result of a misunderstanding."

"A unfortunate misunderstanding?"

I shouted standing from my seat.

If he thought Alzez's almost death was nothing more than an unfortunate misunderstanding he had another thing coming.

"Yes!"

He shouted back stepping closer to me clearly challenging the smaller being in the room. But I was not the brightest bulb in the box. Or so I had been told.

"If you had not disobeyed none of this would have happened this way!"

His breaths were uneven and I could sense the dark beast surfacing once again. I was pushing him, the exact opposite of what Alezez had advised me. If he struck me down right here the pain would be over and I would not have to subject myself to this miserable planet any longer.

"If you had talked to me correctly none of this would have happened!"

I screamed back.

"But no, you assumed. And your assumptions nearly cost a brave man his life. A man who means so much to me!"

Again he strode closer roaring his canines extending gleaming in the pale moonlight.

"I am supposed to mean everything to you!"

Silence fell between us after his outburst like a thick fog full of unspoken meaning.

"Why because some unknown force decided you and I were to be bonded? You only want me because you think that's what you deserve. You do not deserve me! You may be king here but to me you are just a being. A vile being who cares only for himself and his wants. Never taking into consideration that I am more than an obedient whipping boy. Did you ever stop to think if I wanted to be queen? Did I want to live here? To be ripped apart from the only family member I had ever had?"

"It is a mute point now! You are here where you belong and where you will stay. Inside you know that to be true."

His voice softened as if pleading with an obstinate child.

"Have you seen yourself? The transfer always transforms you into who you are meant to be. You morphed into a unique and strong Zexrious. How can you deny this is where you belong? Your heart is Zexrious through and through. You are no longer just a weak human if only you would accept it."

While his voice dripped with honey his words stung like furious bees. His hand caressed my clenched jaw pushing a strand of black hair behind my now slightly pointed unfamiliar ears. The ache in my soul tired longing for his touch. For bittersweet relief only his touch could provide. A battle of pride and need. Some how he looked more scared then I had ever seen him staring down at me in that moment.

"I will leave this room to allow you to sleep peacefully. Word has spread through out all the planets that I have been blessed with a mate."

He spoke. The word blessed on his tongue almost a foreign language.

"Tomorrow evening we will be attending a dinner to introduce you to a few members of our society. Nothing like your introduction on Nixvacious but possible more important. You will be well rested putting your best foot forward at this gathering. The Zexrious can not afford to have a weak queen."

"I do not wish to be queen."

I whispered. Calmly he released my jaw before turning to leave.

"And I do not wish to have a human as a mate but here we are. Sleep on the bed!"

And like a ghost he was gone the chill in the room the only clue to his ever being there.

Damn him... and damn this place.