CHASE
The mattress felt like a slab of suffocating heat. My tactical sheets clung to my sweat-drenched skin, binding my chest in the dark master bedroom.
I could not shake the vivid terror of the nightmare clawing at the inside of my skull. In the dream, Karina stood in the center of the room, the moonlight catching the silver of her eyes.
Her skin felt warm beneath my hands, a comforting, familiar reality I chased for months.
But the illusion shattered in a fraction of a second.
Her eyes rolled back into her skull, turning a deep, hollow pitch-black. Her jaw unhinged.
The beautiful woman vanished, replaced by a monstrous, feral entity. Elongated, razor-sharp saber claws tore through my uniform, ripping deep into my chest.
She brought the massive, dripping blades up and tore
