The Basilisk's Creed Ch. 03

I woke up to the annoying ringing of my stupid alarm, frantic and sweaty and with my arms flailing in the darkness.

Ugh. No matter how many times I had woken up to the familiar buzzing, the sound never ceased to irritate me every fucking time!

Dumb ass clock.

That thing was frickin' epileptic. I was certain of it. And it made me feel epileptic right now. I sighed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I tried hard to focus so I could somewhat see through the pitch darkness. I could barely make out the bright red digits on display.

5:46 AM.

Ugh. I couldn't even stay asleep for two full hours without that piece of crap going off like a chimp on meth. In my dis-coordination, the stupid thing seemed so far away, and the obnoxious sound was really pissing me off. God, it was so noisy! I reached over and picked up a shoe and flung it at the clock, knocking it over the stand and silencing it.

Hot damn. Finally!

I guess I was going to have to bump a new alarm clock to the top of my Christmas list this year. Maybe I would just use the one on my phone and save myself the trouble—

Just like that, a light bulb went off in my head.

Oh my gosh...

The dream!

I remembered...I remembered everything.

Oh my god, what the hell just happened? I mean, I knew what happened...but seriously? What...what was all that? My head was so jumbled up and the dimness in the room wasn't helping.

I felt cold dampness on my body.

Jeez, did I sweat that much?

I pushed my blanket aside and looked down. I couldn't see anything so I felt around.

Umm...wow. Okay...

That was definitely not just sweat.

W-Was this...Was this what they meant by wet dreams? I thought mostly men had those, and I couldn't have imagined they were even remotely as intense as the one I just had. I had never experienced anything like it in my life! I didn't even think I could.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

I didn't even know what to do with myself. I realized I was breathing hard and sweating like a grease monkey. I wasn't dreaming anymore so I wasn't sure why I was so distressed. This was bizarre and strange and every other crazy word in the dictionary. And then, I thought of the reason behind this weird dream's aftermath. And my skin crawled.

My God.

A soul reaper, though? I mean, seriously? Like, for serious? Of all the things in the world to be attracted to, it was that? That's what was left in stock for me? I felt kind of sad and insulted that men in real life wouldn't approach me and I was left to the whims of odd dreams for male attention. And it wasn't even a human male! I also found it kind of insulting that I fancied someone, rather, something so...so evil! I mean, he was evil...wasn't he? Heck, why was I even asking myself that? Of course he was evil. He was all about death! That meant he was probably into spilled guts and fermented brain chunks and stuff like that.

I may not have been a Jesus freak but this was plain wrong! He was all kinds of evil and blasphemy...and yet he had made out with me? Touched me like that?

Oh Lord, Jesus.

Yes. Yes, he had.

...And I had let him. I had given him a free pass to do as he pleased.

So what in fucking tarnation did that say about me?

He was morbid. That was a given. But what about me? What did it say that he made me feel so excited and thrilled? What did it mean that I was attracted to him? Attracted to a death dealer? To someone who probably drank his liquor from human skulls! The more I thought about it, the queasier I felt.

God, my head was starting to hurt.

Wait...

Why was I even getting so worked up? Pshh. He wasn't real. None of it was. As realistic and invigorating as it was, it was still a dream. A pretty darn explicit and mind-blowing dream, but a dream no less.

I got up and carefully treaded to the light switch, tripping over a wire and almost falling anyway.

"Shit". I swear I was borderline night-blind. My vision had always been crappy in general but when nightfall came I might as well have been called Batwoman—and not because I was a kick-ass vigilante or wore black leather. Although, I always did imagine what I would look like in a nice shiny black leather suit. I had wanted so badly to dress up as Catwoman the last three Halloweens simply because it would give me an excuse to, but naturally, that didn't happen. I was always too broke, which meant I couldn't afford the costume and I had to work those nights if I wanted to have a place to sleep the following month. It was sad how I couldn't even dress up for Halloween after years of—

Wait, was I serious right now? What was I rambling on about leather for like it was the best thing since sliced bread? I was tripped out and exhausted, and somehow I still found a way to go on a mindless tangent. I must have had ADD or something.

It was taking a little too much time to find the stupid switch. I kept on feeling up on the wall for it as my patience ran thin.

Click.

"Finally" I muttered. Even though I lived here, I was so unfamiliar with the little dingy apartment. I had to feel up on the wall like I was some spider just to find the darn switch.

The bright fluorescent light burned my eyes and I shut them tightly on reflex, waiting for them to adjust to the blazing radiance on their own. I made my way to the cubicle of a bathroom. God, I hated it so much. It almost made me not want to shower sometimes. I wasn't claustrophobic by any means, but no one in their right mind would be comfortable showering in a shower as small and crappy looking as mine. It just looked pathetic.

And the toilet! That was another case study all on its own.

I took my uniform off and hopped in the shower, letting the stream of lukewarm water wash all the embarrassing physical remnants of the lecherous dream, all the while picturing the very person responsible for them.

No, no, no! I refused to be reduced to this! Refused to let myself be attracted to some big-bodied devil! Dream or no dream. It creeped me out to no end that it still felt all too real.

I got out of the shower and toweled off, observing the light condensation that had accumulated on the sink mirror.

Sheesh.

My eyelids looked as if they had anvils on them. I tried lifting them so I could see better but no such luck. I did, however, notice this...gleam from what was exposed of my eyes. They seemed different...like they were someone else's.

Wait...were those green spots?

Great. I was so tired I was beginning to think I was turning into the hulk's little sister.

I just had to sigh. I was really out of it. So out of it that I was seeing things. Certainly wouldn't be the first time. "I seriously need some uninterrupted sleep. Can I not get even that for one night?"

I knew I was going to drive myself to madness if I kept up this Eli featuring Eli talk show routine, but I didn't care. I was obviously already mad seeing as my 'good' dreams were of almost screwing Satan's kid.

Another deep sigh escaped my lips.

I wasn't going to ponder it anymore tonight. It was too early in the morning and I was still too darn beat.

I changed my sheets, making a mental note to hand wash the devil-soiled one before I left for work. I retired myself into the bed once again with all the determination in the world to sleep. As my kind of luck would have it, I didn't see slumber land again until after 7:30AM.

All because of...him. I tried to push the memory away and I failed with flying colors. I couldn't seem to get him out of my head. I kept seeing a mesh of teal and cornflower blue...kept hearing a whisper in my ear...kept hearing him calling me over and over again...

Kitten.

o0o

*Author's Note*

If you're interested in being notified about (and getting freebies during) the official book launch of The Basilisk's Creed this summer, please email me at emestrife@gmail.com with your preferred email address at your earliest convenience if you haven't already done so. Thank you!

Eme <3