Page 4 of Haunted Nightmares

Horns and wings.

Talons and claws.

A pointed tail and beady, glowing eyes.

Sharp, serrated teeth and a malicious grin.

Cloaked in shadows that swirl and move, whipping around and changing with each word hissed inside my brain.

“No rest for the wicked, as they say. And you, ourking, are the most wicked of them all. You will never have peace.”

“I’m not asking for it. I do not deserve it, but I want quiet. Silence from others, from you, silence from?—“

“The nightmares?”

Zenlothanai—as they introduced themself to me when they first appeared months ago—darts through my gray matter like a serpent through the brush, weaving among the cells quickly as they stir up the insanity.

“Quiet,” I whisper through clenched teeth. “You’ll get what you want just as you always do, there is no need for this now.”

“No?”They chuckle.“No need for us to remind you of all the things you wish to forget? No need to speak the truth you don’t want to accept?”

Picking up my pace, I lift my hands to my hair and grip it by the roots, tugging the strands to the point of pain as the world begins to blur around the edges. “Stop.”

“You murdered her, our king. Brought her death on swift wings after failing to do so many times before.”

“Stop! Bloody hell, why won’t you just be quiet!”

Zenlothanai cuts in and out of focus, coming close to my mind’s eye before fading almost completely then popping back up only a breath away.“You do not deserve the quiet. Let the voices roar, let the emotions flow into you. Feed on them, let them fill you up. Give into us, Wraith of Carmarthen. Give in to?—“

“No!” I pull my hair tightly as I stop in the middle of the sidewalk, folding in half as I scream at the top of my lungs. “No! Leave me the fuck alone!”

A cool hand on my back abruptly ends my cry of agony and I shoot upright, my body now poised for a fight, my hands at the ready to tear out the nearest throat.

“Jesus,” Orion whispers as I shake him off. “Wraith, are you?—“

“Were you following me?”

He nods slowly. “We were yelling after you the entire time.”

My gaze swings to Aries, the male speaking quietly into his cell phone as he stares at me with wide eyes. “Yelling?”

“You didn’t let us finish.”

“Finish what?”

Orion frowns. “The argument. Asking and answering questions. Convincing you to come out of hiding.”

“Well, as you can see, I amfinished.” I clear my throat and attempt to fix my hair. “So if you don’t mind?—“

“They found Drusilla.”

The unused organ in my chest stops before dropping to my balls. “Foundher? What do you mean, they found her? Didn’t the bitch perish along with countless others?”

Confusion mars his features as Orion shakes his head. “No… her body was never recovered and when Hans turned up missing as well, we assumed… Are you ok?”

“Perfectly fine,” I say as my stomach rolls. “Why,”—I swallow down a dry heave—“why wouldn’t I be?”

“For starters, you stopped talking to us mid conversation back at the Hall, then you stormed off and seemed to be having a conversation with yourself?—“