The Empaths: A Dark Fairytale

Nina could feel her eyes getting heavy. Her eyelids have involuntarily closed several times now, but as usual she was fighting the temptation to rest. Nina never liked sleep, there was always so much that she wanted to do which meant she needed to stay awake. She felt sleep was time wasted, she would sleep when she died. To make matters more difficult, her child was a night owl, thus even if Nina wanted to sleep; her daughter made it difficult. Nina peered over her right shoulder, her toddler was snoring. Seeing this provided Nina with the relief to not feel guilty about finally resting. She set her alarm on her phone and put it on the oak night-stand next to her bed. Sighing deeply, she drifted off. Within what seemed to be minutes she watched her and her daughter sleeping in bed from the ceiling. She hovered over their bodies, the smell of the lemon tree outside their bedroom window beckoned her. She drifted over to the window sill that was partially open, breathing in the crisp September night air she finished lifting her bedroom window sill. She gave her daughter one last look and thought a couple of minutes of travel couldn't hurt, she would be back before her daughter woke. She caressed a lemon on the tree outside her window, savoring the smell. Now she flapped her arms, like a bird. She felt awkward doing this, she couldn't remember how to travel as it had been months since her last travels. She floated further and further up into the dark. diamond speckled sky. The further up she drifted the more her senses came alive. The hair on the nape of her neck was standing, her arms were adorned with goosebumps. The chill went straight through her skin to her bones. She blinked for a moment and suddenly found herself soaring fast through a colorful array of transparent tunnels, these tunnels causing her to fall far, she could feel her heart pounding fast and hard in her chest, the chilling air piercing through her pores. She hit a dark floor. Her body felt achy as she struggled to quickly regain her composure. Standing up she looked around the room. A fireplace on the far wall was lit, hosting dancing, crackling flames. She could not see her shadow on the wall, but she could see faint shadows on the wall that looked strange. She began walking around the room investigating. She realized that there were two people sleeping in the king size bed across the room opposite the fireplace. She did not recognize the man and woman sleeping side by side, although they were both attractive by society's standards. He with his strong jawline and muscular chest, his high cheekbones and firm pouty lips and she with her golden hair and dainty features. Nina was not sure why she was brought here or what exactly brought her to this house. She began looking for a window she could float out of, there was a window sill adjacent to the couple's bed. She quietly began to open the window, she stopped for a minute after hearing a hissing sound. She looked over her shoulder at the couple on the bed, worried she may have awoken them. What she saw made her do a double-take. Nina blinked her eyes and pinched herself hard. There, surrounding the couple were these dark strange looking shadows, one in particular caught her attention as she peered closer it seemed to be squating over the couple breathing them in, a blue shimmering light was being pulled from the couple into the mouth of the creature. As though the creature was somehow breathing in their essence.