“This is just a dream. This is just a dream.”
If possible, the creature’s smile grows even wider, exposing ivory teeth stained crimson at the base.
Please don’t be blood.
I tremble as the man—if you can call him that—runs a clawed hand over my face delicately. My breath hitches while I struggle not to move a muscle. In fascination, I watch his taloned fingers dissolve into shadows, gliding over my skin like a ghost. Despite my rapt attention, I blink, hoping to dispel the scene before me. Just like that, the monster disappears—only for another to emerge seconds later. His features are similar, except for the eyes. They’re a bright, nearly-blinding yellow and his skin has more pink tinted throughout the dark violet.
“J-j-just a dream,” I repeat on a stammer, making the new monster laugh in delight.
He doesn’t bother responding, but his amusement vibrates through my exposed body. I’m wearing a soft pink babydoll that reveals more than it covers, making me shiver in vulnerability. I strain against the ropes holding me back, the rough material chafing the delicate flesh at my wrists. Something wet traces along the inside of my thigh as I attempt to squirm out of reach. Another rumble of laughter assaults my ears, and I feel a hot puff of air against my aching, traitorous core. Moment by agonizing moment, I wait for the beast to continue, squeezing my eyes tightly shut.
But my legs fall open of their own accord, the muscles shaking in fear and anticipation.
When nothing happens, I tentatively slit open one eye, peeking beneath my lashes. The sight that greets me steals the oxygen right from my lungs, as if someone snaked a hand inside my chest to take it. The yellow-eyed monster is gone; in his wake is another with vivid chartreuse eyes. He stands at the foot of the bed, a combination of tangibility and smoke—half-shadow, half-man.
In the dim light cast from his eyes, I can see his torso and arms roped by thick, smooth muscles. He’s naked, but my position and the bed stops me from seeing anything below where a belly button should be. Against my better intentions, I stretch forward to see more. I’m rewarded by the ropes snapping me back into place, but not before I saw a silhouetted hand stroking a massive—
A growl from the monster captures my attention.
He doesn’t say anything—he never does—but his gaze never leaves mine. Neon flames burn in those depths, promising me pain and pleasure in equal measure. Where I once angled my body to break free, I now turn toward the man in supplication. Only he can quell the fire threatening to scorch me alive, but like the nightmare this is, the green-eyed monster does no such thing. In fact, he steps back further into the darkness of my room. Two other pairs of glowing eyes join his from the black of the night.
“Please!” I beg on a gasp, not sure what I really want—for them to leave…
Or to stay.
Either way, it doesn’t matter because, one by one, they slowly fade away. I scream into the night in fright and vexation, but only taunting laughter greets me.
“Sssssoon,” a voice sibilates, and I tremble.
Soon what?
I wake up terrified.
Disturbed.
Wet.
My heart racing, I lay there panting, trying to calm my breathing. I try to sort through the jumbled state of my emotions. A light scratching that haunts my dreams sounds from under my bed and I freeze, my blood running cold.
Maybe it hadn’t been a dream after all.
I inhale sharply, holding my trembling breath inside my lungs, refusing to exhale.
Scratch, scratch.
My chest burns with the need for oxygen.
Scratch, scratch.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. A rush of air escapes my lips, whistling into the dark of my bedroom. I squint my eyes, trying to discern my surroundings. Finally, I reach over for my phone, but it’s missing. Baffled, I stiffly try to turn on my lamp without creating a ruckus, but there’s nothing on my nightstand. My heart hammers painfully in my breast while I will my brain to work. Pushing past the lingering images of my dream, I recall that I’m not in my childhood bedroom—and no monsters live here.
Or do they?
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Captured by the Monsters Page 24
