223
Peter
My vision narrowed to a pinpoint, and I felt cold.
"Peter?" I heard Michelle ask. Then, her warmth pulled away from me. "Oh my god, Peter!"
I blinked. My eyes felt heavy and sticky. I reached up and felt the warmth of tears. I hadn't been crying. Then, I saw the smear of blood on my fingertips.
"Blood?"
"We have to go to the hospital!" Michelle yelled. "Oh, god, Peter--"
"Vasil," I breathed into the phone. "Blood. Take Michelle home."
"I'm not leaving you like this!" Michelle cried.
I blinked. My vision getting blurrier. My eyelids grew heavier. I felt something warm trickling from my nose.
The last thing I saw before everything faded to black was Michelle's worried face. And in that final, fleeting moment of consciousness, I couldn't help but laugh a little. All I had wanted was for this date to end with a kiss at the door.
Was this karma?
The next time I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dense, unfamiliar forest. The towering trees loomed like silent sentinels, their leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. My surroundings felt surreal and not quite stable, like a fever dream.
And there, amidst the thick trees, I saw her. Lucy. She stood a few paces away, bathed in an otherworldly glow, her presence radiant and commanding. She looked just the same way she had when I had first seen her at the Blue Moon Estate.
And something inside me knew that something wasn't right.
"If we're together, Peter, everything will be perfect," she said, her voice soft as a whisper and filled with an inexplicable longing. She opened her arms. "Come to me... I'll be everything you've ever wanted..."
Before I could respond, a peculiar sight unfolded above. Visions of Michelle flashed across the sky, like pieces of a movie. Her face, her laughter, her presence — all held within those fleeting moments. She was the entire sky, cloudless and lovely.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Peter." My attention dropped back to the Lucy standing in front of me.
Lucy's expression had shifted, irritation flickering across her features. She moved closer to me, and her voice, once gentle, became something else entirely. It no longer sounded like Lucy; it was as if another entity spoke through her.
"You'd better obey," she said, her words laced with a subtle threat, "or I'll make you obey."
I recoiled, my heart pounding in my chest. This wasn't Lucy. This wasn't even real. This was the curse. Panic clawed at me as I realized that I was trapped. What had happened to Michelle? Was she safe? Had my beta taken her back to Blood Moon as I'd asked?
I shuddered and tried to force down the fear. I could get out of this. I recognized this. I had been fighting it for all this time. I could fight it now.
I shuddered. Who was behind it? Why were they using Lucy this way?
Her presence felt oppressive, but I wasn't going to let it stop me. I turned and started to run, searching for the edge of the illusion.
As I struggled to break free, something strange happened. My wolf form manifested within the dream, cutting me off. Lucy appeared again behind it. Its fiery red eyes stared down at me. At first, I thought this was a sign of my growing power, a testament to my determination to overcome the curse.
But then, my wolf self snarled menacingly, its feral gaze locking onto me. Panic surged through me as I realized that I had no control over this manifestation. Lucy narrowed her eyes at me from behind it.
"Who are you?"
"I warned you what would happen." Lucy's voice echoed again, chilling me with its lack of warmth and compassion. "Eat him."
My gut plummeted. I turned before the wolf could obey and ran. My heart was pounding. The sky above was still filled with Michelle, but each of the images was growing darker as I ran.
The curse wasn't just trying to make my life harder or ruin my relationship with Michelle. It was more than that. I didn't even know what it would mean for the wolf to eat me, but I wasn't going to find out.
I fled through the moonlit forest. My heart raced as I sprinted through the dense woods, the spectral trees closing in around me. The earth seemed to shift beneath my feet, but it never turned me around. It seemed like whoever was behind this curse wasn't in full control of my mind. There was a bit of hope for me to escape then.
My thoughts raced as I tried to think about the curse. Who was behind it? What did they actually want?
The wolf howled behind me, getting closer and closer. Then, I felt its weight and the sharp pain of its jaws closing around my shoulder. I cried out in pain. My heart was in my throat with fear and pain. It seemed to reverberate through the air, shaking the dream world. I grit my teeth, slamming my elbow back. The wolf whimpered as I knocked it off of me. A surge of power rushed through me.
It turned back on me with a guttural growl and lunged at me, teeth bared and claws extended. I barely dodged its bite, but it caught me in my other shoulder with its claws. I kicked out, landing a solid kick on the wolf's side and knocking it away.
It came at me again. The wolf's jaws snapped at my throat every time it got close. It tore and bit at me, sending agony through me as I tried to escape and fight back. I smelled my own blood, and I heard voices as if from a distance.
My vision blurred as it ripped a chuck of flesh from my side and devoured it with a hungry growl. I shuddered, slumping against the rock. My vision started to blur again. It felt like the darkness would take me.
Lucy appeared again with a smirk.
"Make it quick."
The wolf charged towards me. Then, I felt something warm and solid in my hands. I looked down, and my vision started to clear. The spear of the Moon Wars appeared in my hands. The patterns filled with moonlight as the wolf lunged at me. Lucy's eyes widened with true fear as I lifted the spear. I thrust the spear forward as she screamed.
"No!"
But it was too late. The wolf let out an agonized howl as the spear pierced its chest, a haunting cry that echoed through the dreamworld. It convulsed and disintegrated, dissipating into a swirling mist that took the forest and smeared Lucy's visage, revealing a very different face as the dream vanished.
I awoke abruptly, my heart racing and my body drenched in a cold sweat. The pain from my wounded shoulder flared up with renewed intensity, grounding me. My side, where the wolf had taken a chunk out of me, throbbed. Then, I felt a sharp pain in my chest as if I had been stabbed. I bit back the cry of pain. I was restrained, my wrists and ankles bound securely, and my vision blurred as I tried to make sense of my surroundings.
The room was dimly lit, but I knew it. I was in Vasil's healing room. Vasil stood nearby with a focused and concerned expression.
"You almost fucking died."
I swallowed. "Michelle?"
"Fine. Shaken, sleeping of a tranquilizer."
"What?"
"She was hysterical," Vasil said. "You've lost a lot of blood, but I can't tell why."
I nodded. My entire body ached, and I felt weak. He came to the side of my bed and checked my restraints before offering me a sip of water from a nearby flask. The cool liquid was a welcome relief, soothing my parched throat and clearing my mind slightly.
"Why am I restrained?"
"Because you were seizing, and I needed you still," Vasil muttered, his brows furrowed in deep thought. "The anchor didn't work at all. I can't understand why."
He frowned and sat down. "I don't remember you putting it on."
I blinked. "I... do."
He grunted. "Today?"
I nodded my head.
"Son of a bitch." A determined look crossed Vasil's face as he began to piece together a plan. "I'll put together a plan for that. For now, rest."
He pulled out another anchor and put it around my neck.
My whole body felt heavier like it was weighing me down somehow.
"Could you look into the spear of the Moon Wars?" I asked.
"Should I ask why?"
We need to find a way to break this curse, Peter. And I think I might have an idea."
"The spear appeared in my dreams to help me..." I whispered, blinking blearily.
I told him what happened in the dream, and Vasil moved away briefly, returning with a leather-bound book that appeared to be centuries old.
"Hell of a dream," he said, "And I'll look into the old archives. Not the werewolf ones."
He huffed. "I wished I understood the curse more. Maybe there's a better way... For now, you need rest."
"Can I see her?"
He pursed his lips. "The restraints and the anchor stay on."
I nodded. Vasil went to the door and poked his head out. Soon, Michelle came rushing in, teary-eyed and worried. I smiled at her as she came to me.
"Keep me company? I'm on bed rest."
She sniffled and curled up to me without another word. Most of the aches and pains faded, and soon, I was asleep.
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