The world around me suddenly explodes.
The fuck?
I force myself to focus on the thunderous sound, but I can't see whatever it is. It's too high in the sky. But I can hear its massive wings. So loud, a single flap makes my ears ring.
Adrenaline pumps harder through my veins and I try, with no avail, to sit up.
The man in front of me is focused on it too.
Come on. Come on! Please! This might be my only chance to escape!
But it's no use. I've lost too much blood. And the sudden spike of adrenaline makes me crash even harder.
That's the only way I can explain my hallucination—the blurry man in front of me is lifted off the ground, by a massive, gray-skinned humanoid creature with wings.
The creature has my attacker by the throat, while he screams and screams, his feet dangling off the ground as he kicks at the creature, but it never lets him go.
"Did you think," the creature says, his voice low and masculine, filled with rage, "that you could touch what's mine?"
The creature's voice makes me realize this is real. That what's standing in front of me—a living breathing gargoyle-esque creature—actually exists.
"Mine!" the creature shouts with such possessiveness, such devotion, that for a moment I wish I could be the thing that belonged to him. That he was here to save me.
There's a strange crunch, the man's head snapping in an awkward angle, dangling in a way it should not be. Bile rises to my throat as the creature tosses the man's limp body as if he were weightless, worthless.
Oh God. Oh God, he just?—
The creature lands and his leathery wings fold against his back. Then he takes his first step towards me.
I expect every instinct in my body to scream for me to run away, but there's nothing.
I should be afraid of him, terrified, but the feeling's missing. Instead, I wish I could reach out to this... thing, this beast that just murdered a human being, to help me. Because some weird part of my brain feels safe with him.
He leans down, scooping me into his arms as if I weigh nothing. Then he cradles my head against his chest, and it feels so... good? Natural? As if we've done this a million times before.
I groan softly.
His body is firm like stone, yet warm to the touch. His heartbeat pounds in my ears; the sound oddly soothing, and I find myself turning into it.
Maybe it's crazy, maybe I've lost too much blood, but being embraced by him in my last moments feels... peaceful.
"My precious dawn," he says, his voice soft and sad, filled with yearning I don't understand. Nothing like when he spoke to the man. He runs his hand through my dirty hair, gently removing the strands stuck to my cheek. "I've been searching for you for so long."
Searching? I wish I could ask that and a million other questions. But I'll never get the chance. My vision darkens, my consciousness fading. There's nothing he can do for me, but I hope he'll stay with me until I'm gone.
I manage to shift my hand just slightly.
He's so focused on me that he notices, and he takes it in his own carefully, as if I'll break. "Let me help you, please.” He drops a sweet kiss to my wrist before placing it on his chest, right over his heart. “Because if you leave now, I won't be far behind."
His words don't make sense, but I can hear the desperation in his voice, the longing, as if my life, my very existence is worth everything to him. And even though I don’t know what it is he needs from me, I know I want to survive. For me, and oddly, for him too.
I tap on his chest, pleading to any god, any deity, anyone at all, that he'll understand what I'm saying.
Please. Save me. I don't want to die.
He leans down, his long dark hair dangling around my face like a curtain separating me from the dirty alley, and for a moment I'm relieved—until I feel the sharp press of his fangs in my neck.
I open my mouth to gasp as liquid fire burns through my veins. But once the shock fades, I feel... lost. As if I'm floating in a candy-colored haze, drifting endlessly among the stars.
