Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 12 Ava: Nightmares

Chapters 11-17 have been rewritten to improve story flow and pacing. [June 27, 2024]

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Strange dreams disturb my sleep these days.

It always starts the same; being pursued in a dark forest, not knowing what's hunting me. The panting, the crashing of underbrush, the chase.

Somehow the forest becomes mountains, and the mountains turn into the beach. Still I run, as fast as I can, with the threat of something at my heels.

It's daytime. It's night. There are people running with me, and I'm alone. It makes no sense at all, and yet it feels completely normal in the moment.

Then a wolf slipping out of the shadows to stare at me, with blue eyes and sparkling white fur, except for a patch of black at the end of her tail.

The dream always ends there, with me startled awake and staring at the ceiling through the dim light of my bedroom window, soaked in sweat and sore like I'd run a hundred miles, being chased by some monstrous beast.

Getting back to sleep after feels almost impossible as I toss and turn, and I show up to the Novel Grind every day feeling more exhausted than the day before.

The only new change to my life is the daily escape from Animal Control—that silver husky (who, we found out, is actually a girl) who always stops by to see me at the store, waiting patiently for an officer to get her and bring her back to safety.

Carlos jokes that I should keep her, since she seems to like me, but there's no way I can raise a pet. Not when there's a part of me always looking over my shoulder. A part of me waiting for the day I have to pack up and leave again.

By the third day of nightmares, I've developed a low-grade fever that seems to come and go, along with a slight cough. Nothing to keep me from working. It just leaves me miserable enough to think I might need some help getting rid of these nightmares.

If I can't get enough quality sleep, I'm going to end up really sick. A trip to urgent care is something I can't afford.

new life is expensive. There's a huge list of things on my need list, and not enough dollars

want list, not my need list, so I have no idea how high my fever might be. Either way, I can't afford

my skin hurt,

I'm out of

movement, especially when I lean down to fumble with my sneakers. It takes five tries

I'm done, I'm a sweaty,

walk to the grocery store is pure agony. Every step is a torture of sharp pain from heel to

putting one foot

are familiar faces, neighbors I've come to recognize in my time here, who pass by with a smile and wave. I can barely muster the energy to nod in return,

like an eternity. I have to stop and catch my

lungs burn and itch. My throat's raw from the hacking

be able to make it back home. It doesn't feel worth the effort.

is a blessed relief… but it also makes me

not happening by the apples. I'll have to

my way through. I have to make smart choices. The basics are all I need today. A

that are easy to carry

section is a dilemma. Chicken noodle?

my fever spiking. Not investing in a thermometer feels like a terrible oversight. It would be nice to know just how sick I really

enough to go bankrupt at the doctor? Or sick enough to

end up grabbing a few cans of chicken noodle. As I make my way towards the checkout, I spot

but they're expensive. I settle for a small bottle of Tylenol

as she rings up my items. It takes me

I've ever seen a shifter

tired to worry about