I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself down, but the talons in my sides made the act rather painful, doing nothing to soothe my frayed nerves.

'How are you going to get yourself out of this one?!'

By doing absolutely nothing.

'What?!'

The path of least resistance.

'What the hell are you talking about?! You sound like an old guy from those horrible kung-fu movies! Do something! ANYTHING!'

Doing nothing counts as doing something.

'That's bull!'

Okay fine, I don't really know what to do. First of all, there's nothing I CAN do right now. I make him let go somehow, and I plummet to my death. Not only that, but this is probably a predator of some kind. Poking alligators didn't do Steve Irwin any good, how do you think it'll turn out with one about ten times larger, and way more agile?!

'...You probably insulted it by comparing it to an alligator.'

Shaddap. Whatever the case, I don't want to piss it off. All I have to do is wait.

'For what?'

An opportunity. Maybe it's taking me back to it's den or something. Once we get there I should be able to do something without losing any vital organs.

I tried to focus on the ground whizzing by below, perhaps to see where we were heading. My vision wasn't exactly the best, and I rarely bothered to remember where everything was being that I couldn't drive a car, but I knew for a fact that I was far away from any recognizable territory.

The rush of being airborne wore off after about an hour, and I drifted off into a sort of mindless state, not really thinking, but not really sleeping either. The talons still poked me if I breathed too deeply or tried to shift in their grasp. I all but lost track of my surroundings.

Suddenly, the creature jolted and screeched, sharply turning out of it's smooth, low flightpath. I was shaken out of my dazed state, and frankly, scared shitless. It didn't help my fears when I realized the blood seeping into my shirt wasn't mine.

I twisted around in the loosening grasp of the creature, having a minor panic attack when I saw a large, silver bolt embedded into it's left breast, the blood running down it's arm and onto me.

'...The hell?...'

I felt us starting to sink from the sky. I snapped my head forward when I heard it's wings brush the trees.

"OH SHI-" *whump!*

Again, I couldn't finish my exclamation before my skull connected with a rather hefty branch. The fact that I hadn't really slept in a while didn't help my struggle to stay conscious. I gave in, letting the world fade to gray, and eventually black.

My eyes were wide open, as I watched group after group of red-garbed mercenaries flood the hall, and pass right by the door. The escalating screams from their victims indicated that they were ordered to clear the building.

The screams were getting closer now.

One of them slipped into the room, and was carefully surveying it for signs of life. I saw a few others drag out someone who was hiding in the room across the hall, and execute them brutally. I gripped my weapon a little tighter. Now I was nervous.

Those hardened, emotionless eyes landed on the bed, and it approached, sword raised. It drew it's arm back to put some force behind the swing, and I flinched, bringing my sword up to block it.

It stopped, and tilted it's head in the imitation of a curious expression. I felt someone grab my ankle in a warning. It narrowed it's eyes, before bringing it's sword up again in a feign, and again, I moved to block the swing that would never come.

It shook it's head having seen me, and placed the tip of the blade to my chest, taking aim. I tried to cover myself in a pathetic attempt at blocking it, but it just deftly nudged my arms out of the way with the flat of the sword, before pulling back and striking.

There was absolutely no time to think. I had only just begun to consider blocking again, but I was dumbstruck and frozen in fear, unable to take any action in the split second that I was given. A sense of shameful helplessness flickered in the back of my mind as the tip broke my skin.

A dulled pain exploded in my chest, as the sword sunk into me with a hollow thump. The blade slipped between the bones and pierced the heart, the faint, cold sensation leaving just as quickly as it came.

I hissed, curling in on myself. I gripped the wound, feeling the hot blood gush between my fingers like tiny rivers.

"Oh...really...? ...No way..." I breathed in disbelief, blood welling up in my throat, before blacking out.

My eyes snapped open.

That odd, disjointed feeling came over me. My head was completely empty, and eerily silent. All I could feel was my heart, pushing against my ribs, trying to assure it's existence and functionality. There was a bruised sensation, that I distantly recognized as a shadow of the wound. I lay still, feeling the rest of my body come back to life, all of my previous scrapes and bruises flaring into existence, still dully aching. I wallowed in the deepening stillness of death.

My lungs burned, reminding me that I required oxygen to function properly, and I took in an agonizingly slow breath, feeling the broken skin along my sides protest.

My eyes started to scream for attention as well, and I barely remembered how to blink.

Deciding that it was safe, my mind sprung back to life.

'...Wow. That was...wow.' I thought quietly after a long period of silence. This had happened before. But it was never really this serious.

You see, what just happened was actually a dream. A frighteningly realistic one that left physical influences just like in the horror movies, but still a dream. I've 'died' before. But like I've mentioned, it was never this 'serious'.

But this dream...this dream was entirely plausible. It was gritty. It was merciless. It was realistic. It could happen.

I tested my muscles, stretching, acutely aware of my body and how vulnerable I was. After waking up from a dream like that I can imagine it's like rising from the dead.

I immediately silenced the thought that I could compare it to becoming a vampire, and shook myself out of my thoughts. I immediately regretted it, as my vision blurred and a pounding headache made itself known.

I groaned, remembering why I would have a headache this horrible, other than the fact that it's almost a requirement in these sort of situations.

I reached up to feel my head, fully expecting to find a piece of my skull missing.

I jumped slightly when I felt soft cotton instead of gory brain sludge. My head was wrapped...

"Welcome to the world of the living. Did you enjoy your nap?" Someone greeted smoothly from behind me.

I recognized the irony of that statement and couldn't help but break out into a grin.

"I...I suppose..." I mumbled, not willing to roll over, for fear of my skull splitting open and my brain flopping out, like a drunk person getting out of a car. I was still kind of dizzy...

"You know, you nearly had your skull broken. I'm surprised you're even awake right now. Normally, you'd still be asleep for another day or two." I heard rustling behind me, as they moved them self in front of me.

That 'deer in the headlights' feeling gripped me. I knew who this was. I just wondered if she knew who I was.

She smiled down at me. "But I suppose you were always more resilient than that..."

I felt my right eye twitch. My mind was reeling. My jaw went slack.

She's not supposed to be here. I can't be seeing her.

She shouldn't exist.