Fear

As I stared at the carving on my door, I sat frozen in place, my eyes wide with fear.

"Blake," Ginevra's worried voice sounded distant, muffled by the cold grip of fear that clung to my heart. I struggled to shake it off, but it refused to let go.

"Hey?"

A warm, comforting hand squeezed my shoulder, breaking through the fog. I managed to tear my eyes away from the door, though the dread still lingered.

"You need to leave. It's not safe here," I said, my voice trembling as much as my body.

"Where are you going to go?" Ginevra studied me with his eyebrows pinched together thoughtfully.

"Go?" I echoed absent-mindedly as I stumbled over to the couch, throwing myself onto it with a defeated sigh.

"Blake, I know what happens to... Uhm...fallen Night Hunters," he began hesitantly.

"Please don't go there, Ginevra," I interrupted.

"It's safer if you just strip off your wings, leave the Hunter life—"