Chapter 161: Babies...
( Inside Autumn’s mind...or a dreamscape...or a parallel reality...not very sure which one...)
Autumn lay on her back... eyes closed, pretending to sleep but very aware.
Something warm and wet tickled her toes.
She stirred.
The damp earth pressed against her back, soft moss cushioning her spine as golden flecks of light filtered through the towering canopy above. She blinked slowly, disoriented.The scent of bark and green leaves brushed her senses.
Again, she felt the wet sensation on her foot.
She lifted her head and found the hound...her forest companion...her brand new pet...panting gleefully beside her, licking at her toes with childish delight. The beast’s eyes glimmered in affection, its shadowy tail wagging eagerly.
"Hey, you," she murmured, a sleepy smile tugging at her lips. " Come here! Good boy! Get over here! "
She reached out to scratch behind its ear, but the hound dodged her touch and gave a low, eager whine, nudging her hand and then turning away...trotting towards the thicker woods.Like it wanted her to follow.
"What is it?" she asked, still hazy, brushing off dried leaves from her dress as she slowly stood up.
The hound looked back at her once, and then barked once...sharp, as if coaxing...and then padded deeper into the trees.
"Hey wait...wait up."
Barefoot, Autumn broke into a run after it.
Her steps were soft on moss and orange heaps of fallen leaves...litter basically.And her limbs felt oddly light...like she was flying...like she wasn’t entirely real.
The trees were alive with movement...dappled sun shimmered, birds chirped, a breeze whispered through the pine needles.
Then she heard the sound of laughter.
Small, bubbling giggles.
Her breath hitched.
Children?
No...babies.Her babies? She looked down at her lower abdomen and touched the bump that was supposed to be there... she felt nothing... no movement... no weight...
She froze. "That’s... not right." She was still supposed to be carrying her babies... her little ones.
Woof! Ruff! Awooooooo!!!
The hound, now far ahead, barked again...repeatedly...this time with urgent excitement.
Autumn broke into a run, feet barely making a sound on the mossy floor. The air turned still. Her heart began to drum faster. The trees blurred. The laughter grew louder...and then... suddenly...It changed.
The air thickened. The light drained.
The forest around her... shifted.
The trees shed all their leaves...they immediately turned to ash. Some branches twisted like claws...some turned into skeletal hands.
The moss underfoot turned cold...and slick with blood.
Autumn almost fell on the slippery ground, holding onto one of the dead barks for support.
But she immediately let go and yelled in horror, covering her face with her hand. " Nooo!!! Not again!!! No... no!!! I hate this place... I... "
The bark peeled back, revealing hollow skulls where tree knots had been.
Autumn’s chest rose and fell with panic.
"No...I need to get out..." she whispered.
She had been there before. In her nightmares. In that part of her mind that remembered what she wished it didn’t. This wasn’t just a forest anymore. It was a memory. A curse. A realm of something she didn’t want to be a part of... but it seemed like it kept calling back to her... it kept pulling her... but Autumn knew she had to run!!
She turned to run.
But a sound...so fragile...froze her mid-step.
A baby’s cry.
Faint. Newborn.
Somewhere very close.
Her body trembled.
She shouldn’t. She definitely didn’t want to go looking for it. Not in this place. It was a bait. A trap. She could feel it...
Her lips parted in hesitation.
And then she clenched her jaw...hesitation freezing her mid track. She could not leave the baby...no matter how scared she was. "No child should cry alone in a place like this."
She sucked in a deep breath and then she ran.
Branches clawed at her arms. The blood wet ground tried to hold her back. Her breath rasped against her throat as the cry grew louder. She spotted the bundle...small and swaddled in white, left beneath a jagged stump.
She was just about to reach... when she felt a sudden warmth.
Arms...strong,muscular...snaked around her waist from behind.
She gasped.
Then she felt a hot breath on her skin and the lips. Wet kisses trailed slowly along her nape, sliding across her bare shoulder, down the edge of her spine.
Her skin flared with every contact.It was familiar in some essence... she could feel her body responding to the touch!!!
"Kieran...?" she whispered, breathless.
No answer.
But the kisses deepened...more needy, more hungry. Fangs scraped against her collarbone. A tongue traced the shell of her ear. Her pulse thundered as the arms tightened...then suddenly it yanked her behind, pressing her back against a solid chest.
She could feel the hardened planes behind her.Solid muscles everywhere!
Broad. Hot. Tantalising... sending electric jolts through her body wherever it touched.
She opened her mouth, struggling for air, but her eyes fluttered shut when she felt his palm rise...slithering up her ribs.
Then without warning the hands cupped her breasts and pulled her flush against the hard of him...she could actually feel the heat radiating through it...A jolt of heat snapped through her belly as well... the sensation was too much to hold onto her rationale.She squirmed her legs together,trying to contain the overflowing stimulation.Yet she knew this was wrong... very wrong somehow...
Her knees threatened to buckle even though she wanted to fight.
The mouth moved lower, across her back...it nibbled...biting now,deeper... as if angry at her thought of rebellion!
But it felt too good... so wrong yet so wonderful!!
She forced a frown.She needed to see him.
"Kieran?" she repeated, softly.
The figure made a low sound of discontent...almost a growl...and then bit down on the side of her neck.
She gasped aloud.But it was this moment that confirmed something was really off.
She slowly twisted her neck to look... almost forcefully...
But before she could complete the motion, the mouth caught her again, dragging her into another bite. Harder. Bruising.
That wasn’t him.
That wasn’t Kieran!!!
With sudden clarity, she shoved him back.
The man stumbled a step back as she turned fully to face him.
Her eyes widened.
Kieran’s face.But not his eyes.
Cold. Empty. Ravenous silver.
And his smirk spot on...so cruelly playful...confirmed everything her gut had been screaming.
"Missed me, my pretty little wolf?" he murmured, like he was drunk. His half lidded heavy eyes were still devouring her.
Autumn’s lips parted.But no sound escaped.
The forest howled.
And the baby behind them cried again.