Wolf of the Blood Moon - Book 3 - Chapter 36 - Dream (Patreon)

                                                Scarlet
                                    Fourteen Years Ago

I hide at the corner of the bed on the upper bunk underneath a pile of blankets as I watch Arthur walking into the room with a girl the same age as us. And I feel a small flicker of curiosity from watching them.

Who is she?

The girl has long black hair going down to her lower back, with two curious and happy looking brown eyes and hands that are wandering everywhere. I almost yelp when her hands get close to the small deck of cards that I’d managed to find a few months back in an alley, but I hold myself back just barely when her hands pass by them without stopping.

Why I’m hiding here? I’m not really sure.

The girl is new. I’ve never seen her before.

And new people means more people that I could end up touching. And the boys visiting from the city said that I would get them sick.

So I ran.

I watch the two as the girl continues talking and talking and talking nonstop, just walking around in circles looking at everything in the room. But I stiffen up the moment her eyes lock on me.

Please don’t notice me. Please don’t notice me. Please don’t-

“Awwww! You’re sooo cuuute!!!!” she squeals while rushing towards the bed, making me back up to hide fully in the blankets. But that doesn’t work as the taller girl just climbs the bed within seconds to yank the blankets away before grabbing me and pulling me into a hug. “Sooo cute!!!”

I struggle to get out of her grasp in a panic, not wanting to get her sick. Because that’s what they said would happen. But no matter how hard I struggle, the girl – who despite looking the same age as Arthur, who is the same age as me, is at least four inches taller than me – keeps her hold firm.

“Arabellia, you’re scaring her,” Arthur warns her, surprising her enough to let me go before I end up throwing myself off the bed by accident. She then rushes over to the side of the bed and exclaims, “Oh, no! Are you alr-”

I don’t let her finish, simply running out of the room as fast as I can and turning to leave the building entirely. It isn’t until I make it to the alley two buildings down from the orphanage that I stop to catch my breath between two dumpsters, sitting down in between them while hugging my legs and looking at the muddy ground from the rain that had just come through last night.

Please don’t let her come after me. Please don’t… I don’t want to get her sick…

I let out a yelp when I feel a hand touching my head, making me try to back up only to bump into the wall as I look up to find a woman with long white hair wearing a black jacket standing there with a loving look on her face. And for some reason, the sight of this woman alone makes me calm down a little bit.

Then I feel my eyes growing wet, so I rub them to wipe it off. But they just get wet again. So I repeat the process a few times till I realize I’m crying.

Crying? That… what?

The woman kneels down next to me and gives me a hug. One that I would normally avoid and run away, but I cant with me being cornered like this. So instead I stiffen up.

After a few seconds though, the hug… makes my chest feel warm. I don’t know why. It just… feels nice.

I finally begin to relax a little bit, the hug somehow being nice. And I think the woman is relaxing as well as she strokes my hair.

Several minutes pass by like this, and I almost fall asleep in comfort. But then I hear Arthur shouting my name, and the woman stiffens slightly.

She backs up a little, letting go of me. And to my confusion, I feel a strange longing to go back into her arms.

The woman just shakes her head with a sad smile and whispers, “I’m sorry, Scarlet. But neither of us can remember this after today.”

I blink in confusion at that before tilting my head a little bit.

She pats my head, tears of her own flowing down her face. Then she stands up and begins glowing with a white light.

My eyes widen in awe at the beauty of it, but then everything… begins to… grow fuzzy…

Everything grows dark for a single moment as I blink in confusion before looking around, wondering why I suddenly don’t feel as anxious anymore.

I look down to see footprints right in front of me, but no one is there. Which just makes my confusion grow stronger.

After a second, I hear Arthur shouting again, so I climb to my feet, wiping off the mud that had gotten on me. Or at least, as much of it as I can get off with my dirty hands. Then I begin leaving the alleyway, confused as to what just happened.

And why I feel like I just met. Someone important. Even though I didn’t.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                        Scarlet
                                                  The Present

I wake up to the sight of a very fancy canopy above me. And when I look down, I find myself lying on an enormous bed fit for at least four people sleeping on it at once, with a large curtain around the bed that’s closed. The bed itself is completely black and red in color, which plays to my taste in aesthetics. But I can’t help but wonder…

Where am I?

The last thing I remember was losing my consciousness in the middle of that park after beating the arachne. And I think Tar was panicking as well.

Then there’s that dream. I remember it so clearly now. That was White. She had visited me when I was just five years old but for some reason wiped both our memories of the event.

Why would she do that?

I don’t… I really don’t understand.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you who are reading this on a website that is not Patreon, please stop. You're reading a pirated version. Instead, if you would be so kind, please click on the table of contents link below and go to my Patreon instead. Or even read it off of Royal Road, which is free.

Discord Invite

Top Web Fiction

Table of Contents