Halia's POV
I woke up with a start, my breathing catching in my throat. I felt like I had just surfaced from water. My heart was racing. I was covered in sweat. The sheets were all tangled around my legs.
The dream was still fresh in my mind. It felt so real. I could still feel his touch on my skin on my neck.
I remembered the way he looked at me unbothered when I winced in pain. He had hurt me. I was the type to forget dreams. This one had really marked me.
Then there was the part where he turned into smoke. That was something that could never happen in life. In my dream, it did. His final whisper to me was that I am the key. Key to what? I thought as I rubbed my hands over my face.
I didn't know why I was so attached to a dream that felt like a movie. I made myself sit up. The sheets fell away from me. That's when I saw it. Blood. A dark red stain on the sheet and on my pajamas. I froze. No, this was not possible. I must be dreaming.
I rubbed my eyes. Looked again. It was still there. My stomach dropped. I put my hand on my belly. It felt different. There was no pain.
Was this real? No, that was not possible. You do not lose your virginity in a dream… All the scenes from last night's dream started rushing into my head. A sharp pain shot through me. I gasped. I reached down. It was still tender. My heart was racing again.
Then I felt the pain in my neck. No!!!!
I'm just hallucinating, maybe. This was not possible. I pulled the sheets off the bed. Stuffed them into the laundry basket. My hands were shaking hard.
I quickly decided to go and check myself in the mirror. My eyes widened. My neck had two marks on it that looked like wounds. It looked like the mark vampires leave on people in movies.
Could it be that I wasn't dreaming? Was it real? No. Because where is the forest I had dreamed of? There were no forests around my settlement.
I thought with confusion. I didn't understand whether it was a dream or reality.
I went to the bathroom, stripped, and looked at the red stain on my inner thigh. My skin was pale. My pulse was racing. Was I feeling shame? Fear? Something else?
The water was too hot when I turned it on. The steam filled the mirror. I stood under the spray. Scrubbed my skin until it stung. Trying to wash the feeling of him. It did not work.
I could still smell him wild and earthy, like pine and fire and rain. I pressed my forehead to the tile. Wondered what was happening to me.
When I got out of the shower, my skin was red and raw. I wiped the mirror, and my reflection stared back at me. My eyes looked grey than usual. Had they always looked like that? I felt a run down my spine.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. It was Maggie asking me to go shopping with her. I laughed, feeling a little shaky. Maggie was what I needed: loud and normal and blunt.
Maybe I could tell her what really happened to me that night. I put on my jeans and oversized hoodie, layering myself like I was putting on armor to cover the mark I had on my neck.
When I opened my door, my mom called out from the kitchen asking if I was okay. I told her I was fine, just needed some air. I went outside. The world was still turning. Birds were singing; the wind was. Everything seemed normal. I was not normal. Something inside me had changed.
The mall was welcoming with its air and smells of cinnamon, plastic, and coffee. People were buzzing around. It felt like everything was okay. Maggie spotted me from across the food court. Waved like crazy.
She pulled me toward a bench. 'You look different,' she said as she looked into my eyes. I knew she might have spotted the difference.
I told her I had something to tell her. Its kinda crazy. I decided to tell her everything about the dream, about the man.
Maggie did not laugh. She just listened, her expression unreadable and shocked a bit as I mentioned the blood I had found on my sheets.
She asked me if I felt scared or afraid. I told her no. I felt... Like I knew him, like he was supposed to find me.
"Maybe it is you hallucinating or something. You know you read and watch a lot of stuff which could later create a hallucination in your brain she said, trying to calm me down.
I chuckled, trying to shake my head as I knew it wasn't a hallucination with the mark on my neck.
I brought the hoodie down a bit to reveal my neck, trying to show her the mark I had gotten because of the impact the dream had on me.
"Halia, how the fuck did that happen to you? "she said as she looked horrified at the wound on my neck.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Maggie. That shit wasn't a hallucination or a dream; it was real. That man had bitten my neck the night, and I swear that I'm not lying. If this really was a dream, then why would the mark he had made on me that night turn out to be real?"
I found this complicated, and I found myself in a dilemma; everything didn't make sense. Why would he do that anyway? It didn't seem he wanted to give me a hickey or... Am I turning mad?
"Halia, please calm down a bit; I believe you and I know you aren't lying", she said as I raised my head. She brushed my hands and held them tightly.
"We are going to figure out this shit; don't worry. Whether it's sorcery, witchcraft, someone trying to mess with your brain, or whatever, we are going to figure it out. There is this library that's kind of far from the mall. We could make it there before noon break. It holds a lot of information we can try to grab. I don't believe in that shit, as I believe it's full of fantasy. Who knows? Maybe we can get some answers from it with the mark on your neck."
"How about shopping? I asked, looking at her, knowing well how Maggie loves shopping.
"Come on bitch" she said, chuckling and playful.
"We can do that shit later; now let's go", she said as she dragged me from my spot, laughing at heart. I laughed, feeling a little tight.
We walked around the mall; every sound felt louder, every smell sharper. The perfume counter made my nose burn. I could hear a baby crying from two stores down.
What was happening to me? I thought. I did not care. I had to find out about whatever happened to me the night, and nothing can stand in my way.