Lucid by A.K. Harris Read Free Book Online

while bracing myself against the howling wind.
    With his wolfen face pulled back in a grimace I couldn't help but reach out to comfort him, even if he couldn't see me. But the moment I ruffled my hand through his dense fur, he spun around with a snarl. When his eyes locked onto where I was standing it was like he was seeing through me and I knew then that he truly could not see me.
    Even so I knew he could feel me because he had turned into my touch, and that was enough. After what I had seen whether he was a dream or not I'm sure he needed comfort just as much as I did. So I slowly wound my hands into the thick fur along his neck. The emotions of the day hit me hard and I buried my face in his fur along with my hands.  I could feel the heat of my tears running down my face but there was nothing I could do but continue to sob silently against him.
    After a few moments his bunched muscles finally unwound, as he began to relax under my embrace. After a few moments longer he even began lean into my touch, and my heart swelled with joy at the contact. The contact of two broken people leaning on each other for support.
    “Mercy?” He queried pulling back slightly to gaze around the area I stood. “That's you isn't it Mercy... You shouldn't be sleeping right now... you shouldn't be dreaming in this place... It's dangerous.”
    ''I had to see you Deegan its getting crazy when I'm awake these monsters are everywhere.”
    His body didn't move like he was waiting for some cosmic sign that he had guessed correctly.
    Letting out a long sigh at our inability to communicate verbally, I began searching for something on the ground I could use to write. If I could pull things out of a dresser drawer, if he could feel me, then more than likely I could make marks in the ground... hopefully. Not finding anything to write with I bit the bullet and dug my fingers into the soft earth.
    'I needed to be with you.'
    He was staring hard at the dirt where I was writing, and before I had a chance to scratch out what happened during the day, he made a wild guttural sound somewhere between a sigh and a whimper.
    “You can not be here Mercy. I must send you home.”
    “Wait no those things will kill me!”
    But my plea went unheard and he threw back his head and let out a long sharp howl. My whole body flinched back and my eyes closed at the harsh sound so close to my ears. As my eyes closed the sound faded off to nothing and when I opened them I was back in my bed, and my phone was beeping like it had gone crazy.

Chapter 10
     
     
    Dragging myself out of the bed at the sound of my phone ringing, I rummaged around the room in an attempt to find it. When I finally found the small red device the screen was flashing Olivia's name. So I answered it dutifully.
    “Where the hell are you?” her howl practically echoed through my end of the phone. “Did you fall in a ditch and die or something? I've been calling you for the last half hour.”
    Glancing at the time on my phone it said it was only... 4:45... shit. How long had I slept? It hadn't felt like a long dream, but the passage of time said otherwise.
    “Are you still...”
    “Waiting on you? Yes so hurry up.” Snapping my phone shut I bolted out of the house and towards the diner.
    When I pulled into the parking lot everything was as calm and as normal as any weekday should be. Just the regular bustle of people going about their day, stopping to get some food, nothing out of the ordinary like lizard men, or giant wolves with blood red eyes. Every time I found myself in a normal place doing a normal thing, it only made me feel crazier for believing, thinking that the other things... the weird things, could be real.
    Inside the comfortable retro diner  was warm, helping the chill of the weather wear off quickly. Its deep red and orange painted hues felt warm and homey, safe. But I was beginning to think that even this place could house monsters.
    Olivia was sitting in the booth we had always