Emily P.O.V.
When General Adkins arrives the following morning to escort us to the research facility the only one still asleep is Z. It is unusual for her to be the last one to get up especially when there is so much to do.
I go over to her and give her shoulder a nudge with my hand. She doesn't budge, groan, or do anything. Still just laying there I keep nudging her to wake up and nothing happens. The beating in my chest quickens and I give Z, one final shake.
"Come on rising and shine sleepyhead, " trying my best to keep calm.
When I don't get a response I look at the others who have finished getting ready. Noticing the pained expression on my face they come over next to me.
"She won't wake up, " I say with a sigh.
"Has she said or done anything at all?" Natasha asks me.
I shake my head no.
Confused Natasha places her hand over Z's forehead and peels open her eyes to check. Next, she puts her ear down to Z's chest to check her heartbeat.
"She seems stable and just fine, " Natasha shrugs.
But she isn't fine, Z wouldn't still be asleep and she would've woken up by now or shooed me away and she hasn't.
"Hmm" Roland places his index finger to his lips and crosses his arms.
I turn and glance at him tilting my head slightly.
"What?" I question.
"It's just a thought…."
"Well spit it out!" I interrupt Roland mid-sentence.
"Lycans are sometimes prone to sleep scapes or dreamscapes as humans call it." He gets closer to Z and checks her pulse.
"Dreamscape, what is that exactly?" My curiosity peaked.
" I've heard of it before in the historical archive we have. It seems when a Lycan has experienced a trauma and hasn't yet moved past it and something occurs triggering the guilt or pain they fall into a dreamscape." Roland explains.
"So how do we wake her?" I reply though the question may be obvious to the others it isn't to me.
"We don't, once in the dreamscape, the Lycan must continue their journey to awaken," Roland replies, his eyes telling how much he is struggling with the facts.
"So….so..Z is stuck in this state?" Disappointment litters every word.
To know Z has been through some traumatic events and not being able to help her overcome them is heartbreaking. What makes it even worse like icing on the cake is knowing that whatever event happened she is reliving and there is nothing I nor the others can do to help her.
"Z is safe here, while she goes on this spiritual journey we can do our part by beginning to research the cure," Nicole speaks so calmly her words offer some comfort but not a lot.
"Okay then, let's get to work."
Reluctantly I leave her side and follow General Adkins and the others to the lab. I feel little cracks across my heart as each step I take away from Z feels as if I am walking away and leaving her to deal with her own problems.
Z P.O.V.
I can feel my lust for blood. I crave it, I want it...no that's not it. I NEED it. The power courses through my veins. White saliva falls from my sharp teeth. This is a power that I have never felt before a power I didn't know existed.
This is amazing, I can feel it, it is so gratifying. Oh Z we have done it. Super beast phase one has been achieved.
Leona's voice is nothing short of delighted. I can feel just how excited she is to feel the same power that I am. Our paws are bigger and our claws are a deep black and are longer than two finger lengths. The fur color has changed to a sharp scarlet red.
Oh yes, my dear friend, our power has grown tremendously. I reply to her.
With this new power, silver wouldn't be enough to stop us. Our speed has increased along with our strength. The tables have certainly turned in our favor this time. After we finish admiring our newfound phase, we look to the door that holds us in the cell.
Standing in front of the door we pull back our arm and tighten our first. Growling loudly we swing with brute force and the door flies backwards to the hard wall that was behind it. A large hole on the middle of the door suggests just how hard the blow was.
"Solarious, this time you will die, "
Emily P.O.V.
Settling into the new lab doesn't take much effort. By now all of us as a group have gotten used to the constant switching from one facility to the next. I suppose in a way that it is a good thing. Maybe not staying in one place for so long helps us to keep our guard up and not get comfortable with our surroundings. Who knows?
General Adkins tells us to use whatever equipment we need and to not be shy about asking for supplies or an extra set of hands. Based on the courtesy the Numir Elders have shown they must really value getting their hands into Z's DNA.
"How are you?" His voice is so gentle.
I look at him and feel his grey steely eyes on me, their focus so intense it is like he is trying to look into my soul. No matter how intense the sensation is I cannot break myself away from his eyes. I am entranced by them feeling lost and out of body. What is going on? Why...why can't I blink? How come my movements are frozen and the words lost to me?
Our eyes are still locked and I am still bound by him. An invisible rope that has weaved itself around me. He gets closer to me and smiles. That smile of his was so full of charm and yet, a hint of something sinister and dark mixed in with it.
" The way you look right now, the way you smell so" He breathes in my scent and back out as if he had just taken a long-lasting drink.
"Delicious.." He whispers against my ear causing the very hair on my neck and arms to stand straight.
I am sure by now he can sense my growing fear as it rises level by level. The sneer that plays upon his face disgusts me even more. Like he is satisfied with the way he has toyed with me. I look to the others but it is like they haven't noticed what he is doing and I can't call out to them.
"Emily, they can't help you, right now you are alone with me at this very moment. They are alone in their own frame of mind as well." He smirks.
My eyes widen as I know he is speaking the truth. Whatever type of meta being he is, he has the power to separate people and create illusions that they are doing what they originally thought all while holding them hostage in the present.
"What do you want from me?" I managed to finally speak.
He scoffs.
"You of course, I've had many, and yet, a human I haven't, " his lips come close to mine.
My blood boils inside.
Who does he think he is? Does he really think I would let him have me? That I would surrender to him? He is wrong. I belong to no one and yet, even that is a lie. I do belong to one, and she has yet to claim me as hers. My heart aches at that thought. I know she feels it, the kiss we've shared. How protective she is over me and I her….that...it...can't be just in my head right?
"I am not yours and you cannot have me, " I struggle against whatever binds me.
He laughs heartily at me.
"You're a human, a mere mortal, the last of your kind who belongs to no one. You dear girl are up for grabs from anyone, and I won't take no for an answer."
"You didn't exactly ask did you? When Z wakes up and finds out-"
He slaps me with the back of his hand causing my words to fall flat. He stands straight in front of me and pulls my hair back forcing me to look at him. My cheek stings as the pain rushes and intensifies to where he had struck me.
"I don't have to ask, unclaimed territory is just that unclaimed. And as for Z, she won't be awake anytime soon."
I look at him and throw dagger eyes.
" It was very very clear from the start that the Lycans' heart was yours. And that yours was going to be hers all she had to do was claim it...but she hasn't, one kiss is all you've had not enough to ascertain claim." He says rubbing my cheek.
" What did you do to Z!" I shout.
Anger is rising in my chest and worry waves into my heart. My love and savior is now bound in a dreamscape and I have no idea how to wake her up.
" Simple, I couldn't kill her. My Elders would be displeased with me. So, by putting her mind into a dreamscape I both got her out of my way and avoided being punished. While getting what I want at the same time."
" You can't have me, I belong to someone else" I try to struggle even more out of the strange force that holds me.
" I can stop that, once I inject you with my blood you will be bound to me, and then you will be mated to me. " he places his hands on my thighs rubbing his thumbs in circles.
Even feeling his hands touch me provocatively makes me nauseous. There is only one person who could ever touch me in any way they chose and that is Z. I won't stand for it, I won't just sit here and let him. I need to fight and get away.
'Z if there was a time when we truly needed you...it would be now...Z..please...wake up..' I do my best to try to send the message to her from my mind to hers. I've only done it a couple times not even trying so I am uncertain if it will work.
Z P.O.V.
Z if there was a time when we truly needed you...it would be now...Z..please...wake up
I hear the voice clear as day. Whoever this is knows my name, how? I think long and hard and recognize the voice as something familiar to me.
Mate.
Leona says to me calmly.
What are you talking about? Our one mate is gone. Estelle is gone, Leona. That voice is probably our imagination.
Mate.
She says again with more determination in her voice.
We have to go kill Solarious, we have no time to worry about mates. Ours is dead end of the story.
Not dead. She grunts.
I decide to ignore her, there is no point to arguing with your Lycan when they are in denial about the death of the mate you shared. Taking a left around the corner it feels like we had been here before. But then again all the walls and colors look the same. Assuming that is the case with us going in circles I use our claws and crave a three-line pattern down the wall. Now with marks to show where we have been we can stop going in circles.
Every twenty feet or so I stop and mark the wall and keep moving forward. I keep each mark just a little bit different. It's not until I round the right corner that my heart skips a beat and my eyes go wide with disbelief.
"The same place, how…" I wonder feeling defeated.
Dreamscape, someone put us here. Leona interjects.
"How do you know someone put us here? It's not uncommon for Lycans to fall into one themselves."
Lack of detail Z, they delved into your mind just enough to make a scape that was convincing...enough to make us think it was present time. However, if it was our own we wouldn't be at a dead end running in circles on repeat. The scape would expand and keep going from all our memories.
"So since the enemy had a lack of our history they could only do so much."
Correct.
I close my eyes and feel my chest deflate a bit. Now that we know we are in a figment of someone else's world. The new problem needing to be solved is how do we get out of it?
Find the source and we find our exit, we must fight out who the enemy made the source.
Leona has always been the smartest of the two of us. Her knowledge though spans further than my own. She awoken within me years before I was able to feel her presence. Once I was strong enough I had worked hard to build our bond and our link. The stronger the bond and stronger the mind link between human and Lycan was, the more powerful we could become.
Even as a child Leona was always there to protect me from any and harm. She never spoke to me at that time. It wasn't until my later years when I was old enough to fully grasp her presence and what it meant to be a Lycan. And just as she did in the past here she was again trying to protect me.
Emily P.O.V.
I still struggled against General Adkins but his hold was still strong and unwavering. The evil that plagued his mind, the lust of want glinting in his eyes. He was almost unbearable to look at. I could feel my energy slowly depleting. What was happening? My head began to droop and my vision started to become blurry.
"You taste so good" he whispers sucking in air.
"What are you….What's happening to me?" I mumble.
"I'm draining your life force, and I must say it is the best I have had so far." His words make my stomach churn.
I grimace in pain as he speeds up the process of draining the very life out of me. Slowly, my heartbeat begins to creep to nothing but a slow crawl. My eyes feel heavy and my body begins to go limp.
It seems to be fated that no matter how many times I have alluded death, it always seems to find a way to come back after me. Stalking me from the shadows as the most challenging predator for prey to get away from.
As I begin to drift off what I am sure will start off as a peaceful slumber and end with my demise, I think back to the friends that had supported me and stayed by my side as we maintain our mission of finding a cure. Then I soon travel to the memory of Z, the Lycan, warrior, tough woman with a hard exterior and harder interior. How could and closed off from emotion she was when we first met? And yet day by day I had slowly chipped away at the ice that kept her heart concealed and protected.
She truly was amazing in any and all aspects of her looks, skills, and personality, and lack of fear in the most heinous of circumstances. I had always hoped one day to become just as strong-willed as she and maybe then I would feel worthy enough to have her as my own. Oh Z how I had wished things were different but it doesn't seem like that will be the case this time. Just once more I would like to see you if it meant only for a minute.
Z P.O.V.
We decided to work our way back to the beginning of where this dreamscape had started. I can't say it won't be easy reliving her again the death of my Estelle. The only woman who had the time I had ever loved, and ever called my own. I had failed that night to protect her. Since then I have done everything in my power and with the help of Leona to shut away my heart and keep others at arms length to protect myself and them. Anyone I had ever come to care for would eventually leave me, meeting, and untimely death.
Finding the cell I was chained up in and where I had first seen Estelle. The smell is familiar and the detail of the chamber is well done. Whoever this person was had paid very close attention to my memories.True to our theory the same scene starts again from the beginning. Her body laying on the cold hard ground, blood oozing from her wounds.
We play it out all over again and though i know it is all fake and no longer real. The pain still trickles down to my core. Tears don't accompany my sorrow though anger instead rears its ugly head.
"I promise you Estelle, all of our enemies will pay dearly for everything they have done." I offer one final kiss to her forehead before she dissipates in my arms.
Gathering all my emotions and my thoughts composing myself again we move on to the next scene and slowly one after the other we find ourselves back to the strange hallway.
"Now what?" I say frustrated.
We followed our theory, went back to everything to the letter and still haven't come across anything that would help release us.
Patience Z.
Leona mutters her words slowly. Out of the two of us, she is the one who notably contains the most patience.
"I've had enough of this Leona, we need to find a way out now before we are stuck here forever."
We must think more in depth to the matter at hand. When we fall in dreamscapes on our own, there is something we must do before we can wake up. Maybe that is the key.
"So we will have to fall into one of our own in order to break this one?" I sigh.
We must try.
Without any further options, I lay down placing my back against the wall. Closing my eyes I focus solely on my breathing. Keeping an even pace and doing my best to relax my body we begin to drift off.