Chapter 2

Neveah dreamt of a man with golden eyes and a dimpled smile that led her through a forest that shifted with every step they took. She thought she recognised those eyes, but the man turned away before she could look more closely. The man is suddenly far away from Neveah, no longer holding her hand.

He gets further and further away from her, and she calls out for him. The man turns around, smile still on a face now hidden by darkness, unaware of the ominous figure that looms over him, pressing closer and closer towards the man, a claw dripping with shadows reaching out towards golden umber skin. Neveah panics, trying to warn the man, but the man is still laughing and smiling and why isn't he panicking? Why can't he see the figure made out of teeth and claws that's trying to get to him?

☽

Neveah awoke with a start.

She clutched her heart, her breath heavy as her eyes slowly adjusted to her surroundings. She shook off the remnants of her strange dream, of which she'd been having for a few weeks now. Every time, she'd forget its contents as soon as she'd wake up, though she'd vividly remember the feeling of helplessness it caused her. She rubbed at her temple as she looked around her bedroom.

She was alone. Chann was long gone.

The night before had felt surreal. After having a brief, somewhat meaningful conversation at the bar, Neveah had wasted no time saying goodbye to her friend and heading out with Chann. Maybe it was her lack of experience in recent months, or how ridiculously sexy she found Chann, or how lonely she'd felt, or a combination of all: but she'd headed to her apartment with Chann, receiving a text from her best friend informing her that the apartment was all hers for the night and to 'make the most of it.'

The rest of the night was a blur of hurried yet sensual kisses, clothes ripped off, hands roaming over bodies and soft lips against heated skin. She could remember Chann fucking into her slowly yet profoundly; she could remember him biting into her neck, the indescribable pleasure washing over her at that moment, and she could remember passing out only moments later.

She gingerly brought a hand to her neck, touching the spot where she remembered Chann had bit her. She gasped as pleasure shot through her body, making her knees buckle as she almost passed out again. She quickly removed her hand from her neck, her breaths slightly laboured.

She stood up and padded to her mirror, inspecting her neck. She saw nothing, the brown, smooth skin showing no indication of being bitten.

'Huh', Neveah thought, 'that's weird'.

Suddenly, her bedroom door burst open. Neveah had no time to react as her orange-haired best friend tackled her to the floor.

"Connall asked me to be his boyfriend! We're official!" Jabali shouted excitedly.

Neveah pushed the energetic male off her chest, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"I'm happy for you," She said honestly, squeezing her friend into a warm hug.

However, Neveah still felt an ache as she said the words. She didn't know why, considering she was genuinely happy for her best friend. She just felt so...alone. Empty. Incomplete. She craved the smell of patchouli and pine trees, and she didn't understand why. She felt the area on her neck pulse where she had been bitten and groaned.

"Nev? What's wrong?" Jabali asked, concern written all over his face.

Neveah waved off his concern with a slightly forced smile. "Just a hangover; don't worry about me."

Jabali eyed her, not believing her words. "How was last night?"

Neveah's mind immediately went to the spot on her neck. "It was...nice."

"Nice? I barely saw him, but from what I saw, it looked like you were about to fuck a Greek God!"

Neveah laughed, elbowing her friend in the ribs lightly. "Okay, fine. It was a lot more than nice. It was fucking incredible."

"Neveah Furaha, you scandal!" Jabali shouted in mock disgust, clutching his heart.

Neveah rolled her eyes as she stood up and then proceeded to flop face-first onto her bed. "He was really hot."

She sighed as Jabali sat beside her and patted her back soothingly. "I'm sure he was."

Neveah turned her head over to look at the male. "No, I mean like really hot. As in he-broke-the-fucking scale hot. As in, I wouldn't mind us hooking up again, hot."

"Then why don't you?"

Neveah looked up from her mound of pillows at him, a pout on her lips. "I didn't get his number: he probably wasn't interested in me like that. I think this is just gonna be a one-and-done situation."

Jabali rolled his eyes. "From what I saw last night, exchanging numbers looked like the last thing on your minds. You met him at the bar, yeah? Go to the bar again, chat him up a bit and ta-da. You're back in his pants."

"But yesterday was the first time I saw him there. What if he was passing through this side of town, and he's never coming back again? Plus, won't I look desperate?" Neveah asked, her pout growing deeper.

Jabali poked her cheek, eliciting a smile from Neveah. "Have faith, young grasshopper."

"I honestly hate you."

"Nope, you love me!"

"....Fine, I do, but I'll never admit to it," Neveah huffed.

"But...You just did."

"Get out!" She threw a pillow at his face, and Jabali caught it with a laugh.

"But seriously, think about it, babe. You had a great time last night; who said you can't have another great time next week?" He began heading to the door, tossing the pillow back at Neveah. He turned to her once he got to the door, adding with a wink, "Plus, worst case scenario, you find someone else that'll sweep you off your feet and take you home."

With that, he was gone, leaving Neveah to her thoughts.

Jabali had a point: nothing was stopping her from heading to M&M again with the hopes of seeing Chann. She placed a hand on her forehead, sighing. Why hadn't she thought to ask for his number; better yet, why hadn't he? Perhaps they were too caught up in the moment: and the moment certainly was intense.

Maybe she should try; she had nothing to lose after all. And like Jabali said, maybe she would find someone else if not Chann. Her neck began to heat almost in response to her thoughts.

For some reason, the thought of being with anyone else made her stomach turn.

She shook herself out of her thoughts, picking up the book she'd been reading to Jabali the day before. She needed to get her mind off of Chann, and she needed to do so now.

Until next week, that is.