Hunting Shadows (Shadows 3)

Simon followed me back into my bedroom and was silent as I got ready for bed. When I came back from the bathroom after washing up, he had changed and was under the covers. I didn’t question him going to bed as well and simply climbed in next to him. His arm encircled my waist and I settled against him so that my back was against his chest. A shiver of satisfaction went through me as I felt the length of his body pressed against mine. I believed in this; in Simon’s warmth and love for me as he cradled me in his arms. For now, it had to be enough.

Chapter Six

Something was wrong. I could feel it in every fiber of my being and I struggled to open my eyes. Shafts of moonlight illuminated the room and I shifted so that I was facing Simon. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep and even, and I watched him for a few moments before turning back around. I quickly scanned the room, looking for anything out of place, but everything seemed normal. It was silent except for the soft sounds of Simon’s breathing and I checked the time on the alarm clock. It was almost two o’clo

ck in the morning and I wondered why Ryan hadn’t woken me up so that I could take my shift in watching Grant.

I sat up slowly, being careful not to jostle Simon so that he could get some much needed sleep. His eyes remained closed and his breathing even, so I slipped out of bed and quietly opened the bedroom door, closing it behind me. I softly padded to Sarah’s room and opened the door, surprised to find Ryan absent. Sarah and Grant were both fast asleep, and I felt a surge of anger towards Ryan for leaving them unprotected.

I kept her bedroom door open so that I could hear if anything happened and walked to the living room, expecting to see Ryan asleep on the couch. My stomach dropped when I saw him lying on the floor, his limbs at awkward angles with a pool of blood rapidly growing underneath him.

“Ryan!” I ran over and kneeled beside him, terror gripping me as his eyes fluttered open. His eyes looked glazed and bewildered, full of pain and confusion.

“What happened? Who did this to you?” I sobbed as I frantically tried to determine the source of the blood. It seemed to be coming from the back of his head and I made a movement to jump up so that I could get my phone to call an ambulance. I gasped when Ryan grabbed my arm, his grip much stronger than I thought he could manage in his condition.

“Wait,” he rasped, his voice barely audible.

“I have to call 9-1-1!” I exclaimed, trying to wriggle my arm free. “You need to go to the hospital!”

Ryan winced as he tried to lift his head, and to my horror I saw the pool of blood growing quickly, almost unnaturally so, and it soon surrounded me, soaking my pajama bottoms where I was kneeling. I had to force back a surge of nausea and suppress the instinct to scuttle back to avoid his blood. Now wasn’t the time to be squeamish.

“I have to tell you before it’s too late,” he persisted. He took a breath and I heard an ominous rattling sound from his airways. “It’s not where you think it is.”

“What are you talking about?” I frantically searched the room, praying that whoever had attacked him wasn’t lying in wait. Ryan’s hand was still around my arm in a manacle grip, not allowing me to do the one thing I was desperate to do: call an ambulance.

“The answers you need. It’s not where you think it is. It’s not with who you think it is. Don’t trust the untrustworthy, even if it’s you.”

“Ryan, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I wondered if he was delusional because of his injuries, and I almost sobbed with relief when I was able to get my arm free from his grasp. I jumped up and ran to my bedroom to get my cell phone, trying to ignore the blood dropping from my sopping pants that left a crimson trail on the floor.

“Simon!” I yelled as I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. He was still fast asleep in bed. “I need your help! Ryan’s been hurt!”

I didn’t wait to see if Simon roused as I raced back into the living room. I skidded to a dead halt, my eyes frantically searching the floor, disbelief coursing through me when I saw that Ryan was nowhere to be found. Not only that, there was no blood in sight, nothing to indicate that I hadn’t just left him bloody and injured on the floor.

My heart started thudding against my ribcage as I looked down, expecting to see a mess where my pajama bottoms were soaked with blood, but they were pristine without a drop of crimson on them.

“It can’t be…” I whispered to myself. I glanced behind me but there was no trail of blood, nothing to indicate what I had just witnessed. From where I was standing, I could see straight into the open doorway of Sarah’s room, and I froze when I saw that her bed was empty. Had someone come in and abducted Ryan, along with Sarah and Grant, while I went to get my phone? How was that possible in a matter of seconds?

I ran back to my bedroom, desperate for Simon’s help. A terrified cry escaped me when I saw that my bed was also empty. I was all alone. Everyone had disappeared and I was all alone.

I gasped as I woke up, my heart beating erratically as I tried to get a hold of my surroundings. My quickened pulse began to calm when I realized it had only been a dream. I could feel the warmth of Simon’s body against my back and I glanced at the alarm clock, noting that it was almost two a.m. As the thought of why Ryan hadn’t woken me to take my shift crossed my mind, a chill ran through my body. I pushed aside the thought that reality was mirroring my dream and slowly slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Simon. There was no reason to wake him because of a dream, even though I was now fearful of seeing it play out in real life. It was paranoia, nothing else.

Nevertheless, a feeling of dread came over me as I mimicked the movements of my dream. I closed the bedroom door behind me before walking over to Sarah’s room. I held my breath as I slowly opened the door, trepidation making my heart beat so loudly that it was all I could hear.

Relief rushed through me when I saw Ryan look up from the chair he was sitting in by Sarah’s desk. I crept inside and shut the door behind me, glancing at Sarah and Grant who were asleep in bed.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I whispered as I walked closer to him, careful to keep my voice quiet to not disturb Sarah and Grant.

“I wasn’t tired,” he replied, matching the quietness of my voice. “You didn’t get any sleep last night, and I figured you needed as much rest as you could get.”

“Thanks, but I’m awake now. You can go to bed.” I sat down on the beanbag chair, settling in and getting comfortable since I would be there for a few hours.

Ryan shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not tired. I’ll stay with you for a while.”

I didn’t protest. The last thing I wanted after my dream was to be alone. It was comforting to have Ryan nearby; to know that he wasn’t lying in a pool of blood and that just because I had a horrible dream didn’t mean it was prophetic. My dreams of my mother had been a warning about the car accident Simon and I were in, not a prediction that I would see her corpse come to life. Likewise, I needed to stop thinking of my dream in such a literal sense.

We didn’t speak for a while and I was the one to first break the silence.

“I had a dream,” I said softly, glancing at the bed to make sure I wasn’t loud enough to disturb Grant and Sarah.