Control 7

Chapter title: Dreams

Brennan could hear the beating of his own heart, amplified. It beat in his ears, blood rushing and other things crackling in the background. He tried to move his arms and legs, but they remained determined to stay locked in the position he stood in. he felt panic lay a thick cover of its self, on his brain, as he realised as much as he tried, he could do nothing. He tried to talk, but his mouth nor jaw, didn't even budge an inch. He tried to move his head, but it was locked in place.

He became aware that he was standing in the wood again... but they seemed, darker. Like he knew some thing was out there, watching him. He shuddered as a thought of being connected to what ever it was out there, flashed in his mind.

He tried to ignore the noise in the bushes not 10 feet from him to his right. His heart hammered in his chest as the bushes started to shake and then part to allow some creature passage.

The creature gently made a gap in the bushes it had recently come through, and lifted its head to inhale the scents that still lingered in the air. Its wide and heavy feet left deep paw prints in the ground, and made leafs turn to crisp under them.

It sensed some thing, close by. Its whiskers twitched wildly, and its eyes roamed the area for any living animal. It sensed no animals, for they were smart enough to stay away. Some... scent, lingered in the air, driving the creature on to find it.

Brennan tensed when he started to see the thing come out the bushes. It left barely any thing where it walked, and no clear trail could be distinguished with the leaves falling off the trees.

He felt his body should have been in convulsions, with shivering, since the creature was now on its way towards him, although it's predatorily eyes had not locked onto him yet. But it didn't help him feel any better than it hadn't noticed him yet. It seemed to be tracking him by scent, and it was drawing nearer with every heart beat... and the closer it came, the less chance he would have of getting away.

Its casual slowness, made sweat form all over him. The creature seemed to have no worries, no thought of anything over powering it in its own home, or any fear of new things like normal creatures should.

Its gracefulness signalled only one thing to him... it was the top predator. He knew that because Shalimar had used the same techniques when sparing with him. Slowness signalled it knew some thing the other person did not. The gracefulness was working its way up to take on what ever may be ahead.

The nearer it came, the more it sensed what it had been tracking. Its nostrils flared as its mind prickled with the need to follow the scent. It was so close it felt it should be a few feet away from the suspected prey... but its eyes said other wise.

As the scent grew to a sudden Holt, the creature looked around suspiciously. There was nothing before its hazel eyes, but yet, some thing nagged that there should be.

Its breathing grew heavier and its eyes raced around the area in which it stood. Its muscles tensed and flexed as it moved about on its paws, scanning.

Brennan did feel some reaction as the creature came a foot from him, its nose reaching towards him as if to prod him to move... but it wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

His breathing was heavy as the thing came towards him. Every muscle tensed reactively, and switched as if it should be moving. His mind raced with questions but held none of the answers. He didn't want to look at the thing any longer. The closer it came, the more he felt like dropping to the floor in exhaustion. He didn't what was happening, or whether it was a really bad nightmare that formed realistic boundaries like the real world, or just a odd meeting.

He wished to god that it wasn't real, because if it was, he would be sprinting in the other direction... and need some more underwear.

His right hand burned. The middle of his palm itched like crazy and he was despite to the point of feeling every little detail or effect that happened to his body... especially to his hand.

Brennan's breath caught when the creature suddenly stared directly at him and started its pursuit.

The creature knew there was some thing. It felt it as the wind blew, and seemed to shift to the side as if being blocked by some thing. It's whiskers twitched and muscles tensed as its eyes fixed on the position where the wind did not touch.

Its back bent as its shoulder blade adjusted also to the style of being as silent as possible, even if that meant as slow as possible. A growl slowly worked its way from the pit of its stomach, to rumble in its throat. It started off so silent it was like a soft whistle, and then the growl grew louder and amplified.

The sound of a growl froze Brennan's blood, and all he wanted was to be a million miles away from the creature. All he could see, was a side ways glance, but couldn't really make out what kind of animal it was. When the growl came, his thoughts erupted into an image of a mountain lion and that was what sent his nerves running to pack their suitcases. He couldn't verify if it was, but he didn't want to verify if it was either.

He could only wait as the thing stalked towards him, with a determination in his eyes Brennan knew only some form of animal or feral, could relate to. He knew because Shal normally gave him the same fixed stare when he'd done some thing.

He almost thought he'd stumbled as its feet started to quicken and his vision went to blackness. He thoughts he'd fainted and almost wanted to laugh... until some thing gripped his chest. This time his body did react to his orders, and he flew up.

Shalimar nearly went toppling off the bed and her eyes flashed feral when Brennan nearly sent her the rest of the way. Brennan had bolted up from sleep and woke her in his actions as she had been leaning on him.

"BRENNAN... its not good for your health when you wake a feral twice in one night".

Brennan sat panting and shivering, not really hearing what Shal had said, or even the tightness in her voice that carried the threat. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and he kept taking deep gulps of breath, trying to calm his heart that was still stampeding into his ribs. When his head had settled for a slow drumming of a headache, he looked towards Shal.

She was still staring at him, but her eyes softer and worried. She didn't need to be told he had had a nightmare, for she saw the fear in his eyes. It was distant fear that had faded more in the passing seconds of waking, but it was still there. She lent forwards and hugged him, and wasn't surprised when he returned the hug. She was oblivious to the sweat that was now on her.

She tried ignoring the sweat that was rolling down the side of his head, and the heavy breathing coming from him, but it was stirring some thing in her.

She didn't know if it was the feral or she own sympathy for him, but some thing was changing in her.

Brennan pulled away from the hug and let his head drop with a feeling of disgust with him self. He shouldn't have allowed a dream to have taken so much control over him... but it had, and all he felt was weak and helpless after it. He felt the emotion still as Shal fixed her eyes on the floor; glad she wasn't paying attention to his weariness now to go near her.

After the hug, after he'd pulled away, a flash of the creature had ran through his brain, reminding him, when he look at her. In the dream, that creature was the top predator, and in real life, the strongest member of Mutant X was Shalimar... She was the top predator of the pack.

He wanted to hate him self for how he was feeling towards her, but he couldn't help it.

Shalimar saw he was also staring away from her, but down at his hands. She thought the dream may have had some thing to do with his powers, but the atmosphere that lingered around him seemed too powerful, too overpowering, to have been about his powers. She'd picked up a trick a few months after he'd joined the team, to know when he was thinking about his powers, and when he wasn't, and it didn't look like one of the times he was.

"... You wanna talk about it".

Brennan heard the softness in her voice, and his eyes levelled with hers. He no loner thought of the predator he knew she was, but the comforting part of her. She always helped him feel better when Emma could not succeed, and that was most the time. Emma and him had a connection, and it was deep... but it was different with Shalimar. Emma helped him mentally, but with Shal, her presences and calmness levelled him out physically.

Sighing, he felt rather embarrassed and stupid. He brushed his hands over his face and back through his hair.

"...No. Its ok now Shal... really. I just got a bit spooked".

He lay back down, letting his arms lie above his head. He didn't think it was real, but then again... ' It felt so real'.

Shal didn't lie back down though. She sat up on the edge of the bed. Both legs tucked underneath her and watching him. She still looked worried, and he reached out to her with his hand that wasn't prickling with pins and needles. After a few moments she gripped his hand tight with her own and lay back.

As her head lay back down on his chest... the beating of his heart greeted her ears and she gave a sleepy sigh relaxing further.

Brennan felt her ease down and was glad. He'd hoped he'd fooled her with his act of being ok, but every time he closed his eyes, all he could hear through the silence of early hours of morning was the growl. He didn't want to go back to sleep, but it seemed every thing Shal attempted and wanted him to do, he did.

"Go to sleep now Bren... I'll protect you from the monsters". She gave a small shudder of her shoulders as she laughed, and he did too.
He sighs and slowly, his eyes started to close. His mind voiced what he wanted to say.

'... I hope so...'

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Tunde28