New Nightmares

Walk | Talk | Think

With her vacation well and truly over, Callisto traveled back across the land bridge to the northern continent of Alacritia. She did not return to the Fern Gulley as she would have preferred, but instead made camp with Jakart in a quiet section of the Faller's Fjord, an area that he was familiar with and traversed with apparent ease. It was for the better, Calli supposed. Here there were less dangerous plants available for a curious, wandering pup to get their little mouths on, and with the terrain being mostly closed in by steep sides she figured the land would help her wrangle in her future children once they were out of the den. Not to mention, the location was rather remote, a far corner that appeared to only get the occasional visitor. It honestly was not all that bad, but the healer did miss the abundant resources the Gulley had at its disposal.

For now, for this part of her life, the black and grey wolf thought it would suit her current needs, and a new normal began to set in. Adjusting - to the territory, her new pregnant body, even the additional cat they had picked up during the tail end of their vacation - took some time, but Calli was feeling more content, possibly even happier if she had a correct view of what the word meant. Life had been chaotic for too long, tossing her about and dragging her along through a kidnapping, a forced pregnancy, months and months of paranoia, losing her pack, her longest known friend, and entwining her future with someone she would never have thought to care for so much. It was fixing to get crazier - her experience might have been limited, but Callisto knew pups would test her in every way - but at least now she was no longer running, no longer avoiding her fears, her feelings, and was stepping forward to embrace and even dictate her future. For once she felt in control, and what would come seemed less scary than she would have imagined.

As Callisto slept, peacefully tucked against Jakart, her slumbering mind drifted into dream. Strangely, she found herself here, within her new home by the Fjord, laying outside of her lover's old den - now their den - with the warm summer air silent and still. Not even the sound of the river could be heard, though she knew it was close. She looked about as she lay curled upon her side, and was conscious of a pair of small, fuzzy shapes nestled against her belly. The expectant mother did not need to look at them to know - she had her pups, and they were currently resting. In her dream, she thought about resting too, and of Jakart, somewhere within the forest with his new companion off on a hunt. She expected him back any moment, and was curious to see what he would bring this time.

The sound of pawsteps, slow yet purposeful, were heard behind her, and the healer's ears angled back to listen. Her brow quirked into a mild frown, and turning her head just slightly she spoke over her shoulder. "No luck?" It did not sound as if Jakart brought anything with him, no telltale dragging, nor did she hear the bumbling gait of the serval. Another voice, the sound of which immediately sent a chill up her spine, answered her instead. "Oh, yes," the demon's voice murmured pleasantly, carrying a calm but malicious threat, "I've got all the luck." With her heart thudding in her chest, Callisto scrambled onto her feet and turned to face the monster that had caused her so much misfortune.

She knew, somewhere in her conscious mind she knew this was not him. His image was distorted, not quite right, but there was no mistaking him for anything else but her own personal demon. He stood every bit as big and threatening as he ever did, his white coat stained in places a faint pink - blood. His black-tipped tail curved dominantly over his haunches, and even waved as if taking amusement from her panic-stricken response. And his eyes, purple and bright, stared right back at her, narrowed as his mouth stretched into a grin. "They're not yours, Calli," he told her, his tone patronizing, "they never will be." Understanding, her gaze darted downward to the ground where she had been lying, but there were no wriggling pups there. They were gone, vanished, and though she had not seen him touch them she knew the purple-eyed demon had them now. Their soft, plaintive voices echoed distantly through the trees, seeming to originate from everywhere and nowhere at once. The dreamlike vision of Lel laughed, deep and hearty, as Callisto looked around her in search of the pups, but as her gaze went back to the spot the white wolf had been standing no one was there. Just like that, he had vanished, taking her children with him.

"No!" she screamed in her dream, and with an incoherent murmur on her lips she jolted awake. Frightened, panicked, Calli violently woke within the darkness of her den, and feeling a presence beside her, touching her, she pushed away. Her breathing was erratic as scrambled to isolate herself from the figure in her den, bristling and biting back a growl, but reality was quickly beginning to bleed through the remnants of her dream. She was still pregnant. The demon was still long gone. It's just Jakart, her mind reasoned, stopping her panicked attempt at escape, it's only Jak. She repeated the phrase to herself over as she breathed out heavily, closing her eyes with another shiver. Just a dream. Just a nightmare.