Thoughts
My head hurts, throbbing like a drum beaten by invisible hands.
Darkness surrounds me, a heavy shroud that muffles the world. I try to open my eyes, but they feel glued shut. Slowly, I manage to pry them open, squinting against the harsh light. I see Zeke’s worried face hovering above me, lines of concern
etched on his forehead.
“Alina, can you hear me?” he asks, his voice a distant echo in my foggy mind.
I nod weakly, unable to find my voice. Everything feels fuzzy, like I’m floating in a dream. My body aches, and my limbs feel heavy, as if they’re made of lead. Zeke’s hand presses against my forehead, and I flinch at the cool touch.
“You’re burning up,” he mutters, more to himself than to me. “We need to keep moving.”
Moving? Where are we?
My memories are a jumble of disjointed images, like a broken movie reel playing in my mind. I remember Victor, his teeth sinking into my flesh. The pain was searing, intense, but now it’s just a dull ache, a distant memory.
Zeke helped me escape, but from what?
Where are we running to?
Zeke lifts me effortlessly, cradling me in his arms. The world tilts, and I close my eyes against the disorienting sensation. When I open them again, we’re in a
―
different place a dimly lit room with a flickering lantern. Zeke eases me onto a makeshift bed, and I can feel the scratchy fabric beneath me.
“Drink this,” he says, holding a cup to my lips. I glance inside and see clear liquid. Water, maybe? I take a sip, the coolness soothing my parched throat. It’s a small victory, a step toward clarity.
1/7
Thoughts
“Where are we?” I manage to mumble, my voice hoarse.
“Somewhere safe, for now,” Zeke replies, his eyes scanning the room as if expecting danger to burst through the walls. “You have a fever. I thought it wouldn’t get worse, but it did.”
“Oh…”
Zeke sighs, his jaw clenching.
for
to him, feeling a strange mix of gratitude and vulnerability. We walk, or rather, Zeke walks while I’m carried like a fragile doll. The world becomes a blur
mind.
Zeke lays me down on a narrow cot, and I watch as he rummages through a bag. He pulls out a small vial
ask, my
replies, his gaze steady. “It’ll help with the infection from
Victor’s bite.”
The word sends a chill down my spine. I hold my arm out hesitantly, watching as Zeke fills the syringe with a clear liquid. He finds a vein and injects the medicine. I flinch, a sharp sting coursing through my arm, but it fades quickly. Zeke watches me carefully, his eyes searching for any signs
“Better?” he asks.
the medicine come from?” I ask,
crossing his face. Zeke changes the subject, his
20
hungry?” he asks, a forced cheerfulness in his tone. “I know you are, I heard your stomach rumbling a
blush, but I’don’t deny
eat.” I admit, my stomach rumbling in
the air. I glance at him in surprise. “Where did
grins, a hint of mischief in his
my curiosity piqued. “Your ways?”
carries a
have a knack for finding things.”
he ladles the porridge into a bowl,
sources of our supplies. However, the warmth of the food in front of me is too inviting to resist. Zeke hands me the bowl, and I take a hesitant spoonful. The taste is surprisingly comforting, the simple flavors a welcome reprieve from the complexities of
I tease, trying to lighten the mood.
smirks. “I have my
clinking of spoons against the bowl. The porridge is a balm to the gnawing hunger within me, a reminder that even in the midst of uncertainty, there are moments of simple
eat, I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more Zeke isn’t telling me. The air is charged with unspoken secrets, and I wonder if the darkness that haunts us goes beyond the immediate threats of the outside
the empty bowl aside, “There’s
me, Zeke eats more of
Mating Run, I had simple dreams. Dreams of days spent with Ettie, the sun warming our faces as we laughed. Maybe even with Victor,
Her eyes, once filled with warmth, now hold a glint of something darker. I never expected that. We were supposed to navigate the challenges of the Mating Run together, support each
when it happened, the shift from trust to trepidation, but it’s there, a lingering shadow in the corners of my mind. The person I thought I knew so
gnaws at me.
betray me. His charm, his smooth words – they were a mask hiding the true nature of
a broken record. Victor’s smile, his whispered promises, the moments when I let my guard down. It all seems like a cruel joke now. How
beginning, he was a presence,
taken a different path? Would I have avoided the
Thoughts
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