CHAPTER 4

ELARA

I felt hands on me, as if I were being carried by some group of people.

Groaning from the stabbing throbbing in my head, and the soreness all over my body, I tried to open my eyes, but it felt heavy at first.

Slowly, I was moved, followed by the feeling of the cold marble on my thighs.

Trying for the second time, I pried one eye open, followed by the other, and the first face I saw was Janet's, staring at me with furrowed brows.

"Are you okay?"

Palming my forehead, I leaned off the metal walls and slowly looked around, recognizing the metal hallway. "What happened?"

"You fainted," Janet replied. "I didn't realize that creature would scare you to the point of fainting."

My brows furrowed. "I fainted out of fear?" That makes no sense. I wasn't scared of the creature, at least not up to the point of fainting.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Janet asked me as she helped me to my feet.

Breathing out slowly, I lifted my hands to check if I sustained any injury of any form, but something else registered instead.

My lab coat was turned inside out.

It wasn't like that when I entered that room. "I remember feeling foggy, and the creature coming close enough to look me straight in the face," I mumbled. "Wasn't it supposed to be chained to the wall? How did it get so close?"

"It got close?" Janet asked, her head tilting. "That's not possible. The chains wouldn't have allowed him to get that close."

"Well, it did!" I snapped, staring down at my lab coat again. "What exactly happened in there, after I fainted?"

"Nothing. I was already close to the containment when it happened. You were quickly brought out after you passed out."

Then why is my coat inside out?

"And as for the creature getting close," she continued, "I don't think that happened, might be your brain playing tricks on you after you felt threatened by its presence."

This doesn't make sense.

My fainting could be explained by my lack of sleep, but what about my coat? I glanced down at it again, then to the other lab researchers who were in the room with me, and they quickly averted their gaze..

"It seems we would have to find someone else to do the job," Janet said, her voice a bit shaky. "I almost wet my pants when you fainted, thinking something went wrong."

"It's fine!" I blurted out. "I probably fainted because I haven't been sleeping well at night these past few weeks."

"You fainted out of fear." She argued, shaking her head. "I will never forgive myself if something were to happen to you."

"I really want to do this." I insisted. "You said it yourself, I am curious by nature. Now that I know of this creature, I want to study its behavioural pattern."

Or maybe I want to understand my pull towards it.

Every rational human should be panicking when they find out that the creature from your dream somehow found its way to your life, not wanting to get any closer to it.

"Are you sure about this?"

I nodded. "I am positive."

She sighed, rubbing her hand down her face. "Fine, but please promise me you will spend the rest of today resting in the infirmary."

"I promise."

Satisfied with my response, she led me out of the elevator, straight to the infirmary, then left to watch a recap of the creature's behavior while the doctor attended to me.

*****************************

A thick talented finger was stroking in and out of me, while sharp teeth nibbled on the back of my shoulder. The thrusts were shallow, leisurely, teasing.

I squirmed and tried turning to look at him…

His hands felt familiar, but at the same time, it seemed as if I couldn't remember his face. All I knew was that his fingers made me feel good…that was all my brain could remember…

Just as I craned my neck a bit, he withdrew his finger…a warning.

I moaned in frustration, and a low wicked chuckle filled my ear before two fingers plunged inside me, pushing a more satisfying moan from me.

I wasn't a fan of finger-fucking, but these fingers were extremely clever, hitting all the right nerves with accuracy as if they knew just how to play my body…

If only he could pick up the speed…

"Fuck!" I groaned the moment he did, as if reading my mind.

His teeth stopped grazing my shoulder, his mouth drifting to my ear, where his tongue swirled inside the shell.

"Cum for me Elara," he whispered, then growled in satisfaction.

The growl sounded so familiar that I turned around abruptly, only to be greeted by a pair of golden eyes, staring into my soul with so much want…

********

My eyes snapped open.

Heart beating erratically, I sat upright and clenched my legs, whilst licking my lips.

"What the heck is wrong with me?" Did I just have a wet dream over the golden-eyed creature?

And why the heck did it suddenly turn human? To help me convince myself that I am not going mad?

Running a hand down my face, I got off my bed, walked into the bathroom to finish what the golden-eyed creature couldn't finish as weird as it sounds, then got ready for the day.

~~~~~

Food in hand, I walked towards the elevator, ready to take the meal to the golden eye creature, whose name or means of identity I don't even know.

"Elara?!"

Turning towards the side of the voice, I saw Jade hurrying towards me.

"I heard you collapsed yesterday," he muttered, reaching for my hand, "I seriously think Janet should approve your leave so you can leave this underground and get the treatment you need."

I offered him a small smile. "I am fine." Though I am far from it.

I feel sore all over… It's so bad that even pain relievers aren't helping. Maybe I hit the ground too hard when I collapsed yesterday.

"You look tired just from looking at you Elara," he argued, his hand shooting out abruptly to palm my forehead. "Did you even have breakfast?"

I nodded. "I did, thank you for asking, and you don't have to worry about me, Jade."

Letting go, he took a step back and shoved his hands into his lab coat pocket. "I will always worry about you, and you can't stop me from doing that."

Tucking a hair behind my ear, I forced a smile. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to work."

"I can cover for you." He blurted out abruptly. "You can take the rest of the day off."

"You can't cover for me, Jade. This is level Nine."

His eyes widened slightly. "Since when were you moved to level nine?"

"Since yesterday." I deadpanned. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Without waiting for any more words from him, I turned and stepped into the elevator.

He watched me with furrowed brows as the doors slowly closed.

~~~~~

Standing in front of those metal doors, I took a deep breath before nodding to the security guard to open. He gave me a weird look before unlocking the door for me.

The moment I stepped in, the first thing I did was to turn on the warm light, then I turned to look for the other two researchers who were here the last time, but they weren't there anymore.

A deep growl, which sounded quite different from the growl I was used to pulled my attention to the creature.

It almost sounded angry.

"What?" I asked with a chuckle. "You miss them?"

Slowly, he moved his head in my direction, his golden eyes locking on mine, then he sniffed loudly, letting out another angry growl.

Why is he sniffing? “I took my shower, so I most definitely don’t smell bad.”

He let out a high-pitch yelp, sniffing the air again before letting out yet another growl.

Is something setting it off? I didn’t apply any perfume while coming because it’s a general rule for level Nine.

I lifted my arm and sniffed myself, and I picked up a faint smell, almost not noticeable, but there.

A cologne scent.

It must be from Jade when he hugged me earlier.

“Can you bear with me for just a few minutes?” I asked the creature. “I mean the cologne isn’t even that much.” Just how fast can that long nose of his pick up something?

The growl developed to a snarl… a loud angry snarl.

I took a step back, the loud noise from him making me dizzy. "Can you stop screaming aloud?" I pleaded. "The sound is making me dizzy. If you don’t stop, I’m going to leave!”

Abruptly, he stopped. It was as if the idea of me leaving didn’t sit well with him.

The vein in my eyes pulsed as a sharp stabbing pain drummed in my head. Not wanting a repeat of what happened yesterday, I dropped the tray on my own and lowered to the ground, palming my head with my eyes closed, trying to get my head to stop pounding.

“It seems your grunting made me develop a headache.” I wheezed out, still palming my head.

He whimpered.

I need to leave. We’ll need to continue this another day.

I stood to my feet, the tray abandoned on the floor, and took a step forward.

With just that one step, the world tilted beneath me, causing me to lose my balance.

I swayed before falling sideways towards the marble ground, but before my body could touch the ground, I felt hands with fangs wrap around me, preventing my fall.

Through dizzy eyes about to snap shut, I watched the creature, now suddenly free from the chains, gently lowered me to the floor, while grunting words that sounded so familiar to what it said in my dreams.

“Mine…”

Those were the last thing I heard before everywhere went black.