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Amias

Kill the dreamscreecher.

I slowly open up to Estrella's dull rays of light. My body aches and feels so weak. The light hurts my eyes as I push myself up from the bed of the hotel.

Kill the dreamscreecher.

There's familiar brown eyes watching over me intently. I scrunch my brows together. What's going on? “ Glaide?”

Kill the dreamscreecher.

“Did it work?” He narrows his eyes.

What? “Did what-”

Kill the dreamscreecher!

I groan as I blink my eyes and notice the warm color of Estrella's star reflected on the walls behind Glaide, and I'm suddenly reminded of rings of fire.

Kill the dreamscreecher!

Through my wincing at the voice, I envision her. Fire trapped into irises. Long messy brown hair. Soft lips.

Kill the dreamscreecher!

Her sharp tongue. The way she challenged me. The way she understood me. The way she never feared me when everyone else did. The way she made me laugh. Her laugh. Her stubbornness. Her reflectiveness. Her love.

Kill the dreamscreecher!

I hold my hand to my head as I recall every touch. The feeling of our tongues in rhythm with each other. My hands on her waist. The bite on my neck. The feeling of her. Every touch from her.

I gasp. I'm resurrected. I'm alive. My soul is alive. I lost her, but I'm hungry for her. I will find her. I need her.

Kill the dreamscreecher!

I bare my teeth at the voice. “I won't do it!”

Glaide holds my shoulders, and I snap up to him. “Did it work?”

I breathe heavily, trying but failing to put the voice in my head aside. I look into his eyes and nod as I finally say the words.

“I remember her.”