Chapter 65 Between Nightmare And Reality
SERAPHINA
I was never the girl who dreamt of fairy tales and white horses. While others clung to stories of princesses and castles, I found myself drawn to secrets, shadows, and the unexplained. Mystery always captured my heart.
And that day, I wanted to step into another mystery that was always pulling me in. However
“No, Sera!” Mother grabbed my wrist before I could step into the mist. “Let’s go back to the packhouse.”
I was young, barely ten, and nestled among the thick fur of her wolf form as she carried me away. I craned my head over i shoulder, casting one last curious glance at the silver fog curling between the trees like beckoning fingers. “Mama, why can’t I go into the woods when the mist is out?” I asked.
my
“Mists are not what they appear to be, Sera,” she gently replied. “You might think it’s harmless. Maybe even fun to play in. But there’s an old tale about the fog. About the Mist Forest. Do you know it?”
A flicker of excitement stirred in me. “No… what tale, Mama?”
Her wolf paused. Slowly, she turned her head, her amber eyes locking with mine. “Sometimes, the mist opens a path into forbidden lands–places we are never meant to cross. And if we do we see things no one should ever see. Truths that should remain buried.”
A strange chill ran down my spine. Her voice had shifted–no longer soft or playful, but solemn and low. As if the forest itself might hear her.
“What happens then?” I asked, gripping her fur a little tighter without meaning to.
“When you see something you were never meant to witness,” she whispered, “you are hunted.”
The firelight in her eyes flickered. I had thought she was just trying to scare me out of mischief. But there was something in her voice, something hidden. Something real.
“So, Sera…” she warned, her tone softer but not eyes. “If you ever see something in the mist, run. Don’t speak. Don’t stay. Run. Because they will come for you.”
And then his voice echoed in my ears.
“Seraphina Nightbane, you should have run.”
My eyes fle
open.
A gasp tore from my throat as I jolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat. My heart pounded like a war drum against my ribs, fast and erratic, as though it were trying to escape the very cage of my chest.
Dante tearing at his own face, bleeding and smiling at me flashed in my mind, shaking me to the core.
My head spun and vision was uncle
eyes was white walls and a familiar scene in the air.
unclear for a moment longer until I started seeing things clearly and what came front of my
The sheets clenched my tists were white and soft, “Healer’s wing?”
I whispered under my breath, my breathing still uneven.
I glanced around to the empty hospital room where I had been before
“How did I get here?” I asked mysel
1 remembered everything clearly from trial in the vampire den to jumping from the cliff and everything. The mist. Dante’s
1Scraplana Nightbane
My limbs paralyzed, my soul left my body for a moment. A thick bead of sweat rolled down to my cheek as my mouth gaped
Chapter 65 Between Nightmare And Reality
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open
“He.. he called me by my name,” I whispered, the words sticking to my tongue like ash,
My eyes shook violently, breath stuttering in my chest as fear wrapped its cold fingers around my spine. My heart thundered. so loud I could barely hear anything else.
No. No. This can’t be real.
The memory played again like a cursed reel I couldn’t unsee–Dante’s bloody smile, his nails tearing at his face.
1 clutched the sheets, the white fabric twisting in my fists. “What happened after that!” I desperately asked myself. “Why can’t I remember anything!”
My eyes scanned the quiet room. No sound. No movement. No Dante. No Ronan. No mist. Just pale morning light slanting through the thin curtains,
Was it a dream?
Was any of it real!
The territory of those wolves that cursed Finn and me jumping off the cliff into the fog forest? Was it all a nightmare? It never happened and we exited the mountain finishing the trial in the vampire den?
My mind raced, trying to grasp the reality that I could not go anywhere when suddenly the doorknob clicked. My spine jerked straight as a tall man stepped in–robes rustling, salt–and–pepper hair tied neatly back. Healer Aran.
“You’re awake.” he glanced at me once and then to the IV in my hand. “How are y
you feeling?”
His calm voice was completely opposite to my frantic heartbeat. “How am I here?” my voice was barely above a whisper. He glanced down at me, “You don’t remember?”
I shook my head, “Don’t worry, it might be the effects of being unconscious for the whole day. You will remember soon.” I gasped, “I was unconscious the whole day?”
Outside it was daylight. But I was in the fog forest. It was all dark. That meant
I clenched the blanket tighter with a thrill in my heart, “It was alla nightmare,” I murmured to myself, relief washing over me. Yet my body was still cold as ice. I had not had that dream about my mother for years and when it clicked with what I saw in the fog forest, Dante’s insane actions, it terrified me to this point. However, everything was fine now because it was a nightmare.
If it was real, Dante would have known my secret then he would have exposed it to the whole Academy by now unlike Ronan who had yet to do so.
Healer Aran’s attitude was like it usually was. Nothing seemed changed and I was still within the Academy’s walls. It was enough to figure out my answer,
“Nightmare?” He tilted his head, “Did you have a nightmare?” he asked.
I nodded, “Yeah but I am fine now?” and then changed the topic, “By the way how did I end up here?” n messed up emotions calming.
my tone was casual and
Taking a seat by the bed, he crossed his legs and arms replying, “You were found unconscious at the foot of the fog forest. Just beyond the exit of the mountain”
“What?” My heart dropped into my stomach, “Fog forest?”
How did he know that name? It was a part of my nightmare so how…
Wait. Why did I have a pain in my back similar to what I had experienced when I jumped from the clid? My throat clenched
tight at hurt to breathe.
No
Chapter 65 Between Nightmare And Reality
The fog forest. That was real. I had been there.
So it meant Dante
It was real. Everything was real.
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I was still for a long moment terrified before I flung off the blanket and swung my legs over the side of the bed, panic blazing hotter than fever through my veins. If it was all real then Dante would have exposed me.
“Going to check something?” Healer Aran’s calm voice froze me in the middle of the room.
I turned around to see his back. He sounded almost as if he knew why I was in this much panic. He slowly turned his head and met my gaze. “Are you ready to face what is waiting for you outside?”
My legs felt weak.
The only thing that came into my mind was “Dante‘
I clenched my fists and asked him instead of answering. “Healer Aran, did my team win the trial?”
He stared at me for a long time without any expression. It was enough to make me realize, we won. Of course Dante returned and we exited the mountain. And now my worst nightmare has come true. I was exposed.
I turned to leave the room however just as I opened the door and took a step out he replied. “Your team failed.”
My mouth went dry. I could not even turn to look at him in shock.
We failed? How? Why? Even Dante returned and everyone made it out together?!
I forced my legs out to walk in the empty hallway before I found myself running.
How could we fail? What was going on? Did our team return late? Was any rule broken? My mind was completely messed up. I could not understand a thing, until I ran into the dormitory building and looked at the massive stone leaderboard etched with the names of the top Alpha contenders.
My eyes widened and my mouth gaped when I read Dante’s name written in red.
Dante was dead.
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