Dreaming Up Reality

Ch. 3.

'Ugh.. wh..what happened? Why is it so bright..?' She could feel something soft under her legs and finger, as well as her head. Was that the suns warm rays beating down on her face? She slowly began to squint open her eyes, letting herself adjust to the bright new world. Sitting up she could now see she was on a bed. It just wasn't her bed, or couch, rather. It was nice to wake up on a bed though, she couldn't remember the last time it had happened.

Slowly she lifted her hands in the air to let out a loooong, well deserved stretch. That's when the bright yellow sheets slipped off her chest and she felt a cool draft. Looking down she gasped and grabbed the blankets to cover herself. "WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES!" Why was she naked? Where was she even? WHAT was going on! In a hurry she grabbed the blanket and stood, wrapping it around herself and before starting to scan for her clothes. As she turned around her eyes suddenly locked onto something black and furry staring straight at her. It was possibly the biggest dog she had ever seen in her life, just staring at her. Her body was frozen, just standing there with the blanket glued to her body.

"Uhh.. ni.. nice doggy.." She gulped hard, unsure of what was happening. The last thing she could remember was the headsplitting headache and then.. nothing. She was just about to ease up a little when the dog began to come closer, his beady crimson eyes locked onto hers. Oh god. She began to panic, every possible bad thing that could happen flying through her mind as he inched closer. Finally she decided just to close her eyes and hope for the best.

She stood there waiting for something to happen, anything.. but after a minute of feeling or hearing nothing she was confused. Slowly she pryed open her sky blue eyes and almost fell back screaming when she came face to face with a raven haired boy. "WHO ARE YOU? Where's the dog! Whaaat the helllll!" He got her by the hand before she could back up any further and pulled her blanketed body against his, his face just infront of hers with those deep crimson eyes and a sly smirk. Her cheeks turned a bright rosy colour and she swallowed hard, unsure whether to be afraid or infactuated. He smiled fully, revealing sharp canines. "You sure do sleep alot." His voice was like silk. She had to snap herself out of her awe for him just to focus on his statement. As she was doing so she realized she was still holding the blanket over her naked body, and that HE WAS NAKED TO. Blushing even harder now, she tried to pry her wrist out of his hold with little success. "Wh..Who are you.. and why are we.. naked.." She looked away biting her lip. He chuckled and pulled her even closer, nowhere for her face to go but directly infront of his. She stared into his eyes just wondering what his plan was. She could feel his hot breath on her jaw as he gave it a tiny little kiss. Her heart was beating faster and harder with every second. Her body was completely unmoved, and strangely she didn't want him to stop.

Suddenly she could hear growling. Both of them stopped to look back at the source. It was a tan version of the dog she had seen earlier, and it was mad. Out of nowhere the dog leapt into the air and knocked the raven haired boy away from her and onto the ground. He was barking and growling, snapping his jaws at the boy in a rage she had never seen before. To her surprise the boy didn't seem scared though. He simply dodged the lunges and would laugh at every miss. Again she asked herself, what the heck was going on. Backing into the corner she could feel her heart pounding and her fear coming back. She clutched the blanket closer to her chest and began to search for an exit. There! There on the other side of the room behind the two raging beings was an open door.

Without thinking her legs began to move. She ran as fast as she could trying to escape this crazy place. She was halfway there when her foot caught the blanket and she fell on her face with a loud thump. After that everything grew silent. The fighting stopped and she could only imagine they were staring at her now. She didn't want to get up, so she didn't. She just laid there with her eyes closed and a swelling bump on her head.

"Aleice!" A familiar voice called out her name. She lifted her to see who it was, to her surprise it was naked man! Ohh.. what was his name.. Lee.. Lex..? Lex! He held out his hand to her just as he did in the field before. She was releived to see a familiar face and took hold to be lifted to her feet. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I left you alone with him.. I should have known better." Now she was really confused. "What's going on? Where am I?" He gave her a puzzled look and lead her back to the bed where they both took a seat. "You hit your head hard, huh? Remember.. I found you in Luxberrys meadow and brought you back here to meet Kain. On your way back you dozed off and I didn't want to disturb you. Sooo.. I let you sleep. But as you slept I went out to find something to eat. It was a mistake though.." He sighed and stared down the raven haired boy who had just been casually leaning against the wall watching the two of them. "Did he hurt you? I mean.. he didn't do anything to make you uncomfortable did he?" She shook her head. "No.. I'm fine.. I mean, I'm naked and don't know why.. but I feel fine I guess." He laughed and pointed to her clothes which were neatly folded ontop of a huge wooden table in the middle of the room. "I took them off for you. Figured you were dying to get out of them anyways." Again, she was confused. "Why would I be? Why do you guys insist on not wearing clothes? Are you a couple of them nudist people or something?" He gave her a puzzled look. "No..? We just don't see the point in wearing anything that could be torn to shreds when we shift?" She was silent and sat there staring blankly at him. Shift? What did that mean..

Finally the raven haired boy sighed and crossed his arms. "Lex, she's obviously not from around here. We would have recognized her scent if she lived anywhere near Luxion. Maybe where she's from they decide to waste their time and effort on clothes instead of being smart." "Just shut up Kain. You have no right to criticize people.. you do tons of things people don't like." Kain? Also a familiar name.. She paused to think for a moment and put all the peices together. There was a field, naked man,.. being.. eaten? By his brother.. his brother Kain.. Suddenly her eyes grew wide and she stared up at the boy across the room. "You were going to eat me!" He laughed and smirked again. "Sweetie, you may look apetizing, but I wouldn't eat a potential plaything." She blushed but could still feel the spite rising in her. That's when it hit her again. This was a dream.. duh. Why hadn't she realized it sooner? It took her longer this time than it had before. Instead of announcing the obvious, she decided to just go with it this time. Better than waking up and having to deal with reality. "Plaything? Yea right. I may look sweet but this kitty bites." She smirked right back at him before Lex burst out with excitement. "Oh so you're a feline! That's why you wear clothes right? Felines are always so uptight and prissy, no offense." "Uhh.. what?" The animal talk had reminded her of the two dogs from earlier. "By the way, where did those dogs run off to? Are they yours?" The two boys stared at her with questionable faces. "Dogs? There weren't any dogs here. It was just us three." Lex stated, staring her down as if she were crazy. "No, there was a black dog with red eyes, and a brownish dog with... green... eyes.." As she was describing the animals she began to put the peices together in her head. Looking into Lex's eyes was all it took. His green eyes. Dogs. Feline. Naked. Shift. Could it possibly be? "Wait.. wait wait wait..." She stood up and began to back away. Lex stood up and halfway reached out to her unsure of what to do or what she was scared of. Kain just stood where he was and watched. "You mean.. you're the dogs from earlier..?" "We're not dogs. We're wolves. Get it right." Kain sneered, and then in one swift moment his flesh seemed to peel off his body, being replaced with sleek black fur. She had never felt her eyes so wide in her life. The boy had just turned into a wolf right infront of her. She smiled a crazy smile and raised an arm to point at the wolf in Kains spot as she stared over at Lex, giggling like a mad woman. To her utter surprise, he too had shifted.

With that, she fainted. As she drifted out of conciousness, all she could hear was Kain's voice... "She's asleep again."