A loud explosion boomed from just ahead, followed by the sounds of screams. My chest tightened as I struggled to breathe, clutching it tight. “This can’t be happening…it’s not real!” More gunfire splattered around me and my instincts kicked in. I whipped my own handgun from its holster and gripped it tight, ducking along an old abandoned building. The ground trembled as the sounds of war played loudly all around me. Sweat dripped down my face as I clutched my head tight, groaning through the pain. “Fuck!” My old injury along my temple pulsated. “Make it stop…make it stop!”
A hand touched my arm, and within the blink of an eye, I swung my arm up, aiming my loaded gun straight at the strange man. “Woah! Easy!”
I blinked, realizing I was now back in the shooting range.
“W-where is she?” I asked, my arm trembling as I tried to calm the hell down.
The man looked around, confused. “Where is who?”
I shot to my feet and pistol-whipped the man, knocking him to his feet. “Don’t make me ask again,” I growled. The man rolled around on the floor, cussing me out. I stepped over him, my eyes burning with rage as I pointed the gun at him. “Where is she?!” My throat burned, hoarse from fighting back tears and screaming.
“Don’t play games with me, fucker. I’ll kill you right here, right now.” My finger hovered over the trigger as the man tried to plead with me. “You don’t get it, do you? Your life is nothing to me! Nothing!” I applied a faint amount of pressure to the trigger, ready to take his life. “She’s the only thing that matters…and I won’t let him have her.”
I twitched my finger to fire the handgun, but something stopped me.
“Felix.” My eyes widened at the sound of her voice saying my name.
I blinked, slowly turning to see Dream standing next to me. My eyes followed her arm, realizing she had placed her finger behind the trigger, preventing me from shooting the man. “Dream,” I exhaled, buckling into her.
She caught me, lowering my arm and carefully peeling the handgun from my grasp. I couldn't help myself, crying into her as she held me, soothing me. “It’s okay…I’m here. I’m here.”
The man groaned, standing as he wiped a small bit of blood from his mouth. “God damn it—I’m calling the police!”
Dream raised her own gun and aimed it at him, her brows furrowed as she glared at him with such intense anger. “Go on…call them…I fucking dare you.” Her entire demeanor shifted as she tilted her head and smiled. “Go on…do it. I dare you.”
God, I love this woman.
The man quivered, waving his hands around. “I-I didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, you did.” She fired her gun, purposefully missing as the man recoiled in immediate fear and pissed his pants. “Awww, poor guy had a whittle accident.” She scoffed, lowered her gun, then stepped forward. “Excuse me—” She stomped her platform shoe along his shin, cracking it as she helped me over his piss-stained body, the man screaming as we nonchalantly walked past. “Men these days have no manners.”
Dream and I stepped outside the building and I immediately plopped my ass down on the ground. “I’m sorry about that…” I ran my fingers through my hair, embarrassed.
She quietly sat next to me and placed her hand on my arm. My eyes rose as she smiled. “For what? Being you?”
I blinked.
Dream tugged my head close to her chest, squeezing me tight. “I loveallof you, Felix. Good…bad….crazy. All of it.”
Her smell surrounded me and I let go, folding into her. She was too good to me…too fucking perfect. “I don’t deserve you,” I whispered into her skin.
“Yes, you do. And I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, stalker.”
I laughed at her tease, accepting my fate.
But deep in my gut, I had this sick, twisted feeling…one that gnawed at my happiness, telling me things were too good to be true. And I fucking hated it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
DREAM
“Bye! See you tomorrow!”I waved at the manager of The Red Eye. My set had ended and I was all too ready to get back to my place and spend the night with Felix.
I wonder if he’s already inside the apartment waiting for me.
I smiled at the thought.
After everything that happened at the gun range the other day, Felix had been paying extra attention to me. He’d stay up almost all night, making sure I was able to sleep peacefully…checking the windows and door constantly. It was as if he was on edge all the time, expecting something bad to happen. Like he was trying to keep me hidden from some dark part of his world that was reaching out from the shadows and trying to drag us under. And that frightened me the most.
