Chapter 183: ... and in your Nightmares
(A/N: Predictions on the title?)
A poignant smile graced Caleb’s face as soon as he heard those words. No matter how much Ashton pretended he was fine being alone or that he didn’t need anyone else in his life, deep down, he did get lonely.
Caleb patted the young Ashton’s head and ruffled his hands through his hair. “Thank you too, for choosing me back”. Caleb mumbled.
“Why won’t I? You’re amazing”! Ashton defended.
Caleb chuckled, “I thought you didn’t know me”. He teased.
“I...I...” Ashton fumbled, taken aback by Caleb’s words, “I just know it”! He huffed.
“You are amazing too. I miss you, a lot” Caleb mumbled.
.....
“Is this why you are here? Because you miss me?” Ashton asked. Caleb nodded at him and smiled. “I am sure wherever I am, I miss you too” he mumbled.
“Ashton”! At that very moment Ashton’s mother called for him. Ashton separated himself from Caleb and looked at him.
“Go, I’ll wait”! Caleb smiled at Ashton. Ashton nodded at him before running off to one of the hazy areas and thus disappearing. Caleb’s face contained a hint of contentment which soon started to fade as his surroundings got blurry.
What was happening? He didn’t know. But the blurry bright colors of his dream started to blend into a shade of grey which morphed into an empty darkness. Hollow, empty darkness. What just happened? Caleb wondered. l looked around for any clue but all he saw was endless darkness.
“Ashton”! Caleb called for his mate. It was all in Ashton’s head right, Ashton was bound to be nearby. “Ashton! Ashton”! He called out loudly.
“He is not here” A ruffled voice spoke from behind him and he turned back sharply. “And neither should you be here” the voice coming from the eternal darkness spoke. He recognised that voice. It felt like it belonged to Ashton at the same time he was sure it didn’t.
A ray of light appeared out of nowhere focusing red glowing eyes in front of him. The girth of the light beam increased and revealed a giant pitch black wolf in front of him. “Why are you here?” The wolf asked him clearly. Wait, was it the wolf Ashton was so scared of? He never knew the wolf could talk. “I cannot talk as it’s not in my nature, but in here...” his snout made a round as he looked around, “The rules of nature hardly apply” as if the wolf heard everything Caleb thought, he replied.
“I was... I was in his dreams and... and now I am here. What is this place?” Caleb asked in a soft voice. Despite how scary the wolf looked he had a feeling this wolf won’t harm him.
“This... is Ashton’s mind, a place which he himself isn’t aware of” Ashton’s wolf said after a moment. “With Ashton sleeping his guards were off, and you made your way here” he explained.
“I.. I didn’t know it was possible” Caleb mumbled, taken aback.
“You need to leave” The wolf growled at him.
“But why?” Caleb frowned. “Do you really resent me that much”? He found himself asking. He always felt this wolf liked him as well, but apparently that was not the case.
“You need to leave his mind before he wakes up. And never come back when he is asleep. It’s dangerous”! The wolf pushed him with his snout.
“What happens if I don’t?” Caleb challenged.
“Then you will be imprisoned here... with me” The wolf declared.
“You are imprisoned here”? Caleb asked.
“Of course. Ashton never let’s me out and over time this place turned into a prison which is automatically locked whenever he wakes up.” The wolf explained to him.
“Then I will be free when he wakes up again”. Caleb suggested.
“I belong here, you don’t. It’s no guarantee your consciousness could survive here. You need to leave”. The wolf nudged him once more.
“What about you? I have seen you this rut, you know how to escape”! Caleb asked.
“Rut is the only time I am strong enough to overcome these walls, where he himself unknowingly breaks these walls” The wolf mumbled.
“Ashton is scared of you,” Caleb whispered. “He thinks if he gives you enough control you will ruin everything. I don’t think you will, will you?” Caleb whispered. He felt bad for the wolf trapped inside Ashton for the very first time. He always knew the struggle Ashton had to go through, or at least the part of it. He had no idea how the wolf might have felt, or that it feels something specifically.
“He is right to be worried. And I am glad he has self control unlike me” He nudged his side with his snout before turning away. “You need to leave. You should never come back here”.
“I don’t want to”! Caleb insisted.
“Leave”! The wolf growled heavily at Caleb causing him to take a step back.
“Fine”! Caleb huffed back and put his efforts on escaping this tiny prison. When he opened his eyes a moment later he was surprised to find himself in the same place. What was happening.
“I can’t...” Caleb fumbled with words earning the wolf’s attention back thus the wolf turned. “I can’t get outta here”! He voiced, panicstricken.
“What? But...”the wolf looked around. “Ashton isn’t awake yet” he mumbled.
“Why am I stuck here?” Caleb panicked. “What would happen to me if I am stuck here? If my body won’t wake up”? Caleb wondered out loud.
“This is why you shouldn’t have come here.”! The wolf huffed.
“What do I do now”! Caleb pestered the wolf.
“I can try to weaken these walls, you need to exit as soon as the walls are weakened.” The wolf declared after a moment.
“That’s it? Well that doesn’t sound so bad” Caleb let out a sigh of relief. “Let’s try that”. He declared with eagerness.
“Although, there is a catch” The wolf mumbled.
“What?” Caleb’s relief vanished.
“Trying to break these walls will wake up Ashton and that will lock this place one more. The window between weakening of these walls and Ashton waking up is very brief. You have to escape in the very brief moment”. The wolf notified him.
“And how long will that brief moment be?” Caleb asked him cautiously.
“A second? Maybe less. It depends on Ashton. How fast he can wake up. When it comes to me he wakes up pretty fast” The wolf declared.
“Wow, that’s... ” Caleb let out a breath. “You know what, I need to get out of here”! He straightened up himself. “Let’s do this”! He declared with confidence.
“Alright then, Get ready” he warned.
“Wait, what if this fails? I am stuck here forever?” Caleb asked.
“I wish I knew for sure. You are the only other soul apart from me who has been here” the wolf declared.
“You must have been lonely” Caleb mumbled. The wolf heard him but didn’t reply. Caleb took a deep breath, “Okay, I am ready. I’ll try to get out of here meanwhile you try to break the walls of this prison”.
The wolf nodded in agreement and walked back a few steps assuring a safe distance between him and Caleb. Caleb wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen or exactly how the distance was significant. But no matter how much he wanted to find out he cannot just stare at Ashton’s wolf right now. Therefore closing his eyes, Caleb tried very hard to get back into his body.
Despite his tremendous focus he could hear the wolf’s howl. Following that howl there was a significant raise in temperature which made Caleb deeply curious of the cause. Not breaking his focus he put all his energy into escaping this phase.
Like a flash of stuff he could feel things around him changing. He heard a few background noises, noises that were unsettling but he also heard some chirping noise in the mix of it. When everything resolved Caleb’s eyes opened wide as he found himself gasping for breath.
For some reason he felt cold as if he was about to start shivering. Given his tolerance to heat and the season spring that seemed really far fetched. He gazed at his palm and sole which appeared paler than usual Sure he was a pale guy in general, but that made the blood underneath his skin more visible.
His appearance on the mirror, while still surrounded by the darkness of the night appeared very... lifeless. For now he was just glad that it was his face he was seeing in the mirror. After a few minutes he could notice the color returning to his body which made him wonder, did going into Ashton’s dreams made him somehow separated from his body? To the degree where it started to lose its color. He wasn’t dead for the time he was gone right?
All these questions and confusion kept on bothering Caleb a lot. He wasn’t sure what to make of this entire situation as it was not only new to him but completely unheard off. Amidst his haphazard though he heard a call in his head, “Caleb?”
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