Quote:The tea had been delicious and so were the crumpets, only slightly darker than most would make them but certainly nowhere near burnt the way the first meal had been. She spread jam over each and every crumb and crater, delighting in the way it was both sweet and tart.

Pippa stirred in her sleep, sighing.

Quote:Suddenly, he was there... Viktre, grinning at her with that heated look in his eyes. He approached her and scooped up a tiny bit of the jam, smearing a little across her lips before he kissed her, tasting of the sweetness the spread presented upon those tiers.

She stirred again, this time, a sigh of delight purring from her throat. A slight smile formed across her lips, she was starting to feel restless.

Quote:He kissed her deeply. But then he tore away from her mouth and had a completely different face. The man was grabbing her by her arms, shaking her until her teeth rattled. It was the face of the man she suspected of killing her family... out for his last kill. Suddenly, she was fighting for her life as he lunged for her.

She cried out as she went down beneath him.

He turned into flames, the feel of the heat could be felt on her flesh, searing into her.

With the sensation of someone being on top of her, holding her down, she found her eyes popping open to the darkened interior of her room, but that was all she could do... She felt herself wheezing for sweet air, her body still and heavy against the bed, limbs like leaden weights. "H.....e.....l....p...." she thought she said, but nothing came out of her lips.

Fear was an intense knot within her belly, making it near impossible to drag in a breath. Then a noise from somewhere below jarred her enough for her to sit up as if throwing someone off of her and screaming until she realized that nobody was there...

Fuck.

Her pained eyes found the window where she saw the curtains closed against the light of dawn barely starting to set the fabric aglow. "Sweet Jesus," she whispered to herself, clutching then at her chest as her heart pounded, the feeling of sweaty fabric clinging to her skin only adding to that feeling.

It had been a dream...