Novel & Cerita Awoken

Ashley’s POV The sunlight filtering through the sheer linen curtains of my bedroom was too bright. It stabbed at my eyes, forcing me to drag myself out of the heavy, drug-like sleep that usually followed a night of high-adrenaline peaks. I stared at the ceiling, a pristine, coffered expanse of white and waited for the realization to dissolve. I waited for the memory of Julian’s icy blue eyes and his predatory job offer to fade into the fog of a champagne-induced nightmare.

Then I woke up. My soul had settled back into my body like water poured into an empty vessel trying to adjust the strange yet familiar shape. Even so, my sense eluded me, it felt like I was still stuck in that place of nothingness. Like I was still dead, still trapped by forces unseen and all powerful. Tap. Tap. The first thing to return was sound. The incredibly loud sound of pacing in fact, the slow and steady pacing of predator on a wet stone surface slowly started to fill the emptiness death have left in its wake.

Why was the moon goddess switching up the program? The beep of the alarm woke me. I hadn’t realized I’d slept off again. I checked the time—7:00 A.M. Holy sh*t! I rushed to the bathroom and had a quick bath, but as I was coming out, something stirred inside me. A sharp growl, then a quick splurge of energy—as pure as could be. I recognized this sensation. It was my inner wolf awakening. “Please,” I begged. “Stay put. Don’t ever show yourself in this school or we’ll be dead before you even see the moonlight…”

Chapter 38 Alex's POV In the realm between dreams and reality, Alex slowly emerged from the depths of unconsciousness. The gradual return of sensation began with a tingling awareness in his fingers, like tendrils of life creeping up his limbs. A dull ache resonated through his head, as if his mind were struggling to break free from the shackles of slumber. As he fought against the weight of darkness, the world around him remained shrouded in obscurity. His breath came out in short pants, anything more would make one of his broken ribs puncture his lungs. Turning into a wolf was sheer agony for him, but it didn't hold a candle to the unearthly pain he was feeling on every part of his body.

Sarah When I woke up Joshua was gently rubbing my head, whispering in my ear. “Wake up sleepy head. Everyone wants to go on a hike today.” I didn’t dare tell him I’d barely gotten any sleep. I sat up and looked around the room, trying to catch my bearings. Joshua leaned in to kiss me good morning but I pushed him away. The last thing I remembered, my mouth was filled with Nate’s semen. I wasn’t about to kiss Joshua. “Not now. I have morning breath,” I told him.

My eyes drift closed. The darkness behind my lids is the same as the darkness in the cell. The same suffocating blackness that wraps around my chest and squeezes. I'm so tired. So impossibly, bone-deep tired. Just for a moment, I tell myself. Just a few minutes of sleep. Then I'll wake up. Then I'll keep fighting. Then, the door creaks. My eyes snap open. Footsteps. Light. Careful. Not Kai's heavy tread. Not the guards' careless shuffle. Someone else.

I was enveloped by darkness. I had a weightless sensation as if I were floating in space. I was unable to determine if my eyes were open or closed. Was this the last time? In the distance, a dim silvery light suddenly emerged, getting stronger by the second. It encircled me, inviting and warm but strong. Through the void came a quiet but authoritative voice. "Awaken, Melissa." I gasped as my eyes sprung open. The ground beneath me was cold and solid, but the room Kane and I had fallen into was anything from ordinary. Ethereal light glowed on the walls, and complex symbols pulsated in time with the pendant around my neck.

Elara The awakening is cold, precise. No trace of the usual grogginess, only an immediate clarity, as if someone has flipped a switch in my brain. His command from the previous evening had worked with disquieting efficiency; my sleep was deep, dreamless, a plunge into the prescribed, restorative void. I get up, my body strangely light, my mind razor-sharp.

POV Richard I woke up without waiting for the chimes of six o'clock in the morning, and without a doubt, there is no better alarm clock than the euphoria of a new day when the dream is close to becoming reality. It gets us in higher spirits than drinking a whole barrel of wine and sets us running just as if we were going to see the results of an important bet.

Fawn’s POV The next time I woke up it was to the sound of murmuring, and the kind of fake-quiet people do when they’re absolutely talking about you. “…shouldn’t be up that long yet…” “…I told you; she is walking around like nothing happened—” “…neurologically intact, but still, six months—” My eyes cracked open. The lights were softer, early-morning grey leaking around the edge of the blinds. The overhead one was off again, just the wall-mounted lamp casting everything in a warm, too-honest glow. My neck ached. At some point in the night I’d slid sideways, half on my side, one arm flung over my head like some fainting Victorian heroine.