Emily P.O.V.
He stretched out his hand to me. Fine lines traced the lining of his palm,old and worn. He must have worked with his hands a lot back in his younger years. And still, even though his hands gave away his age the strength he still maintained was unwavering. His grip was gentle yet firm.
Pulling me to my feet the light illuminated his facial features. He had blue eyes, a ruffled shoulder length ashy grey hair. He was a tall man and yet so thin he looked like a walking toothpick. A small beard had been growing for some time and fell just past his jawline. If his beard and belly was a little bigger you could say he was the classic Santa Claus.
"How does this work exactly?" I ask tugging at my shirt trying to straighten it up.
He sighed.
"You young ones are always so eager to jump you never think about walking."
At this point I'm positive he saw my confused look. He pulled at his beard with his left hand and waved back and forth. As if to swat something away from him.
"Never mind."
He cleared his throat and looked around the dark room.
" This journey isn't going to be easy. You are in the realm of fear. But where you will tread, the place where your journey will lead is nothing you have ever encountered. Nightmares will be reality, and dreams will be your escape."
"Dreams will be my escape?" I tap my chin, could this be a clue he has given me?
A bright light shined in the room, chasing away the darkness like the sunrise chases away the night sky. The white light hurts my eyes causing me to squeeze them shut tightly. It came from nowhere, appearing in the thin air.
"This portal will take you to the realm you seek."
I open my eyes and the light has decreased to a small white doorway shape. The man points his finger towards it. I look between the portal and him. He nods confirming that I need to enter it.
With trembling knees, shaking hands and chattering teeth. My heart drums heavy on my chest and beats wildly in my ears. My nerves are going crazy. I don't think I can do this. But, at the same time what other choice do I have? It is either this journey to freedom or being trapped here forever.
"Wait before I go in, I haven't gotten your name, if I may be too bold to ask?"
He looks at me and smiles softly.
"Morpheus, " he replies and sends me into the portal the rest of the way with a flick of his wrist.
Z P.O.V.
My night remained restless, while my eyes closed here and there my mind constantly raced. Emily wasn't safe, she wasn't here speaking, walking, being demanding. Or even hell annoying. The world wasn't the same without her around. And that made this process of trying to help her even more frustrating.
Flinging the sheet and blanket to the side I stepped out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror dark purple circles formed under each eye. Little bags adding wrinkles. I look older than I actually am right now. These restless nights are taking a toll on me both mentally and physically. This fucking torture at his core.
I can feel my anger boil and my skin burn. The heat rises in my chest and engulfs my mind. I scream and tighten my fist sending it forward and straight into the mirror shattering it. The pieces fall onto the counter and some on the floor.
A warm crimson liquid pours down my knuckles the length of my fingers and drips tiny droplets on the white tile floor beneath me. Breathing heavy my canines have come full length and I can hear footsteps coming towards me at a quick running pace.
Natasha rounds the corner with a wide-eyed worried expression on her face.
"Leave me!" I shout at her waving my arm.
She doesn't listen, instead she comes closer to me. Is she crazy?
"Z your hand, what happened?!" She shouts.
" I said leave, don't come near me, don't touch me, leave me be!" It sounds cruel and uncaring. But, the fact of it was more a warning that I wasn't in control and I was losing it more and more by the second.
Natasha comes forward step by step, inch by inch. This isn't going to be good. I grab my head and try to restrain myself. Leona hasn't surfaced to calm me; she hasn't surfaced to contain the dark beast side of the local blood. The feral side, the unforgiving side.
'Leona!' I try to cry for her, to help me. She doesn't respond, I can't sense her.
"Natasha, stay the fuck away! Run!" I try to hold on to the rest of my sanity. But, I'm too weak to fight it any longer.
Natasha goes flying across the room, my strength being released ten fold. The wall turns brittle on impact. Pieces of sheetrock fall on top of her leaving an oval shaped whole. Natasha hits the floor not able to catch herself. Her head hits first and then the rest of her body.
From all the commotion Nicole and General Adkins run into the room and right to Natasha's side. General Adkins brow furrows as he looks at the bloody unconscious Natasha.
"What the fuck Z?! What are you doing?!" He yells at me and starts to come to me.
Nicole grabs him by the arm stopping him right in his tracks.
"Don't, Z isn't present right now. That's not the Z we know and it looks like Leona isn't around either. Z is a feral lycan right now."
Confused, he yanks his arm out of Nicoles hold.
" How the hell do you know that?"
"Because, the last time this happened was when Z was dealing with the loss of her wife Estelle."
" Ugh, so what do we do?" He asks, looking at Z clenching his jaw.
"We have no other choice, you need to call for backup and someone needs to sedate her. But, normal sedation won't work."
Frustrated and impatient he doesn't respond, he waits for Nicole to continue.
"We need wolfsbane. It's a poison strong enough to make her weak and kill her-"
"Kill her? You want to kill your friend?!"
"If you would shut up and let me finish, normally it would but in her feral state all wolfsbane will do is act as a sedation and knock her unconscious for a few days, "
He nods with a sigh.
" Let's go get it, " he says, grabbing Natasha's almost lifeless body off the floor.