Wolves among men by penelope sweet

forward to sleep as a
time of rest and a place for dreams to take shape but somewhere
along the line my dreams became twisted and contorted, a place for
my darkest fears to take hold. When we were kids, we knew that
monsters existed. They were the creeks and groans from the unseen
corners of the room and the shadows that seemed to move without the
benefit of light. They scratched at the walls, crept across the
floors and made you pray you didn’t have to get up in the night.
Not alone, not for anything.
     
    As you grow up, you forget
about them. When you’re told enough times that something doesn’t
exist, you start to believe it. But what
do you tell your children when you yourself have become the very
thing you once feared?
    These are the thoughts that haunt my
dreams, images of beasts and man fighting for the right to live,
fighting for survival in a world that has been overrun by monsters.
I shot awake from my bed, covered with sweat and aching for breath
as I closed my eyes and did the best I could to shake the images
from my mind. My attention turned toward Cordillia as I heard her
voice echo down the hallway and with a sudden rush of excitement, I
climbed out of bed and made my way out into the living room, eager
to see her.
     
    Rounding the corner, I stopped short
as Robert stepped in front of me and bent down to hand her a tall
blue glass. She sniffed it gingerly and looked over at
him.
    “ It smell’s
sweet.”
     
    “ It’s just sugar water.”
He smiled back. I caught myself in a chuckle as her eyebrow rose in
a questioning glance.
     
    “ Sugar water?”
     
    “ It’ll take the edge
off.”
     
    “ Trust him, Cordy.” I
smiled as I stepped around him and sat in front of the couch. Her
hair was a knotted mess, her eyes sunken in as if she hadn’t slept
in days and her lips were dry and cracked. She had been through
hell, even if it was only in her mind and it showed. I watched as
she lifted the glass to her lips and cleared it gratefully, handing
it back to Robert with a belch.
     
    “ Oh my God I’m sorry.” She
laughed as he took it from her hands with a chuckle. He reached
over and brushed the back of his hand against her forehead as she
looked up at him.
     
    “ You’re feeling better
now?” It was more of a statement than a question. Waving her hand
dismissively, she shrugged.
     
    “ I’m still tired.” She
yawned.
     
    “ That will pass.” Robert
turned and made his way toward the kitchen without a word. I was
drawn back to the moment as Cordillia reached out and took my hand
gently, smiling down at me as I watched her from the
floor.
     
    “ How did you sleep?” She
rolled her eyes and shook her head, pulling her hand back onto her
lap as she sighed.
     
    “ I had a terrible dream.”
I nodded softly, knowing the feeling all too well as her face
twisted with fear.
     
    “ What was it about?”
Robert asked as he held the glass out to her once again and she
took it gratefully. I wondered why he wanted to know, why this
stranger was interested and as if he read my thoughts he turned to
me and spoke, “Dreams are a sacred thing among my people,” he
explained as Cordillia downed the glass of water and placed the
empty cup on the table next to her. She pulled her blanket up to
her chest and held it tight as she closed her eyes.
     
    “ I was in the woods...”
Robert sat down in an overstuffed armchair as we watched her
carefully, waiting for her to continue, “It was dark, cold and it
smelled awful.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust as the memory flooded
back to her. “I could see this smoke coming from the other side of
the woods and I started to run toward it, I didn’t want to but I
couldn’t help it.” She took a deep breath and gripped the blanket
tighter.
     
    “ The smell got worse as I
got close and I ran into this clearing toward a large fire with
people all around it.”
     
    “ Did you recognize them?”
Robert interrupted.
     
    She shook her head without