The hissing and clicking continue, some sounding right behind me, but I can’t turn around fast enough to see them.“Show yourself!”
The silhouettes stop at once, leaving me to wonder if I should have kept my mouth shut. I once again try to convince myself that this is just a vivid nightmare, but I can feel every drop of sweat sliding down my face. I was here before, right when I returned to Unity, and it didn’t feel like a dream back then either.
I hold my breath as the first one emerges from the fog. It has the same large lizard head I saw after my squad was butchered. A six-foot-tall creature with a somewhat humanoid body that is covered in green scales. Those sharp claws can tear through my flesh like paper.
Four others step out of the fog, their yellowish eyes focusing on me. I should turn around and escape, but I feel them all around me.
“Stay the fuck back!”But my words are hollow since I have nothing to use as a weapon.
The lizard men hiss in unison, and it sounds like they’re calling my name. I listen closely until I hear it again.Caden.
I don’t have time to wrap my head around what the hell is happening, because the lizard men are almost upon me, their sharp claws raised. I can’t keep standing like a fool and wait for them to butcher me.
This isn’t how I die.
I raise my fists and lunge.
*
“Caden, stop!”
I catch myself right when I’m about to hit again, but who am I hitting?
No.
Josh sits in the bed next to me, holding his face and breathing heavily.
“Shit, I—”
The door bursts open. River stands at the doorway, murder in his eyes.
“I’m fine!” Josh yells and lowers his hands. He’s bleeding from a cut on his lip, and I can already tell I gave him a black eye.
“Why did you hit him?” River asks and enters the room with Finn and Timothy at his heels. Based on the faint light outside, it must be around five in the morning.
“He had a bad dream,” Josh says, dripping blood onto the blanket we’re sharing. “It wasn’t on purpose.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry.” I rub my face, trembling with the realization of what I’ve done.
“Come to the other room so I can stop the bleeding,” River says, not meeting my eyes.
“Joshy—”
“It’s fine.” He squeezes my hand. “You hit like a little girl.”
I wish that was true. He’s going to look worse in a couple of hours. He leaves with River and Timothy, and I’m left with Finn, who’s looking at me with a scowl. “What?” I ask.
“Since when do you have nightmares?”
I run my hand through my damp hair. “Since after Hector’s attack. I’m… I’m in a foggy forest with those lizards coming after me.”
“So it’s the same nightmare every time?”
“It only happened twice, but yes.” I lean back against the headboard. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like I’m concerned?”
“Like I’m crazy.”
