As She Slept (Chapter 11)
It wasn’t a tossing or turning. It wasn’t a waking every few hours, her mind racing. Instead, Dawn stared at the ceiling, her eyes unmoving in the dark. She heard Bryce beside her, softly snoring and breathing deeply. As much as she wanted to readjust the pillows or toss off the blankets, she kept still, not wanting to wake Bryce and have him leave.
Dawn couldn't remember getting out of bed and walking downstairs in the middle of the night, sitting on the sofa and staring at the wall, but that was where she was.
She blinked a few times, wondering if she was perhaps dreaming despite the fact that she had just been discussing with Bryce that she had never in fact done so. Bryce. Was he still upstairs? Was he asleep or had he followed her down here? Was he sitting next to her, even? She hadn't checked.
There was that same distant buzzing in her head as she turned it slowly left and then right, checking for any signs of him. All of the lights were out and the only thing that illuminated the room were the streetlights outside streaming through the window.
She tried to stand up, but when she told her knees to lock, they wouldn't obey. She tried again, bracing her hands on either side of her for balance and extra strength, but she came to the same result.
If she couldn't move, how had she gotten downstairs?
And that incessant buzzing. It was back.
She couldn't shake it. It was as if a mosquito had crawled in her ear and taken up residence there. Every time she moved her head the sound became more intense, louder and deeper in pitch.
From where she sat, she could see the front door, her boots and coat. In front of her was the coffee table, their deck of playing cards safely in its case and waiting for the next game. She belonged here. This was right. She felt it the moment she had come home, every time Bryce looked at her. Who cared what the truth was? This was her truth. Wasn’t that enough?
Only now, she felt as if everything around her w a film, covering the real truth. The couch, the windows, the walls, the ring on her finger that she and Bryce had poured so much meaning into. These were like cardboard cutouts—props—used to hold together the world in which she had awakened. Had she remembered part of her past—even a small sliver of it—would things look different? Would Bryce have built an entirely different narrative?
Dawn shook her head. She was making it sound like Bryce's intentions were malicious when she knew that was impossible. She just knew it. The same way she knew the color of the sky, how to breathe, how to eat. There weren't many things that she did know for certain, but Bryce wanting to keep her safe was one of them.
She was drawn to the window across the room and before she could control her trembling fingers, she was opening it, letting the frigid air outside whip her hair around her face. It was almost strong enough to make her eyes water, but she made a conscious effort to hold back the tears. Even if they were caused by an outside source, they would stir up everything else and if that happened they would never stop. She felt the urge to climb through the window, go back out into the cold, back to the train station and to Ari’s, but she couldn’t. It was wrong to leave; she knew that now. When she considered it, it seemed ridiculous. She would only cause more damage to herself and then it would spread to Bryce. The notion made her legs unsteady and her head buzz with a swarm of flies and unknown possibilities.
Dawn closed the window silently, deciding she could stare at the ceiling in the living room just as much as she could in the bed room.
“Dawn?” Bryce's voice was heavy and laced with sleep as he padded down the steps, taking his time. She suddenly felt like she was doing something horribly wrong. She shouldn’t be having these thoughts or feeling this way. Dawn was grateful she couldn't see him yet; hopefully he couldn't see her and all the lies her newly changed eyes held.
Thinking quickly, she rushed the few steps to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the drying rack by the sink.
“Yes?” she asked, trying to make her voice sound as even as possible as she ran the tap and filled the glass with water.
The overhead light turned on, momentarily blinding Dawn and forcing her to shield her face at the sudden intrusion. “What are you doing, love?” he asked, still sounding groggy.
She turned off the faucet and grabbed the glass in both hands to prevent them from shaking. She took a gulp of the water to buy herself some time. “I was thirsty,” she explained.
Bryce rubbed one of his eyes and blinked at her. “You could have used the tap in the bathroom,” he said. “There are paper cups in there for you.”
“I didn't want to wake you,” she said quickly, letting the words flow from her mouth.
He came closer until he was standing right next to her. Dawn nervously took another gulp from her glass so she would have something to do.
Bryce wrapped his arms around her, the glass sandwiched between their bodies. “Your nose is all red,” he said into her hair.
Her heart beat louder, pumping blood through her body at an alarming rate. She hoped he couldn't hear it.
“I'm cold too,” he said quietly, moving away from her and taking the mostly empty glass from her hands and placing it in the sink. “How about I higher the heat and get you another blanket?”
Warmth spread through her at the same time a flood of relief rippled into her chest. “What about you?” she asked, relaxing against the counter as he nuzzled into her neck. It was hard to be nervous when he was so good a comforting her.
“I'll stay with you,” he murmured against her skin. “If you'll allow me.”
She felt a smile tug at her lips and she could feel the night's events melting into the background. As if they had been some bad dream and this was reality. She knew better now, of course, but it was nice to pretend. Even if she knew this feeling of ease was only temporary.
“What about your sleep?” she asked. “I don't want to wake you again.”
He pulled back slightly so she could see his grin. “Perhaps I don't want to sleep,” he said in a low voice.
Dawn felt her breath leave her but it wasn't from fear. Anticipation seemed more accurate. She could feel her cheeks growing red and her body responding in ways that were still quite new to her, but not altogether unfamiliar.
She wanted to answer him with something equally as witty, but she found there wasn't anything she could say to match him. He was human in a way she wasn't, even if she was in her real body. He had nuances that she dare not dream of for herself. He had more depth than she could hope for. Maybe these were reasons she had fallen in love with him in the first place. Instead of being sad that she could not possess these characteristics, she took comfort in the fact that Bryce owned them.
Bryce didn't need her to answer anyway. He gently took her hand and led her away from the kitchen. He stopped by the screen near the foot of the stairs and tapped a few different things until he came to the up and down arrow signs on the heating unit. He tapped the up button a few times until it read 75, pushed a few other things, and the screen went black.
A part of her wondered, as he coaxed her up the stairs and to their bedroom—the one they only shared as husband and wife—if it would be that easy for him to do the same to her. To tap a few precious buttons and her eyes would go black, all the life gone.
Title: As She Slept
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Age Range: New Adult and Adult (17-35)
Word Count: 85,000
Author Name: Nikki Rae
Why Your Project Is A Good Fit: With films and books such as The Circle, Ex-Machina, and Ghost in The Shell gaining popularity as well as the already popular romance genre, I believe my book can fill a gap that exists between true romantic tales and science fiction set in the near future.
The Hook: What would you do if you couldn't remember who you were? What if you went to sleep human and woke up as something completely different?
Synopsis: Dawn Glass doesn't even know her name. She wakes in a hospital bed after a supposed accident she doesn't remember having and struggles from that day to regain the person she was before she went to sleep over two years ago. By chance, she meets a stranger on a train who informs her they know each other, that he knows what really happened to her, that she isn't human at all.
Dawn doesn't remember why she decided to be Wiped: have her memories erased and her mind placed into a machine-replica of herself as her body sleeps somewhere unknown. All she knows is this is only the beginning of finding out who she was, who her enemies are, and that this may be bigger than just her small world.
Target audience: Lovers of Science Fiction with a Romantic twist.
Your Bio: Nikki Rae is an independent author who lives in New Jersey. She explores human nature through fiction, concentrating on making the imaginary as real as possible. Her genres of choice are mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.
Platform: (I wasn't sure what this meant but I assume you mean followers/stats)
Goodreads: Av. 3.84 rating (previously self-published books; not this one)
Facebook: 1,716 likes
Twitter: 619 followers
Instagram: 346 followers
Education: I have a BA in English Literature from Stockton University in New Jersey
Experience: I have been self-publishing books in the New Adult Paranormal Romance genre for over five years. Many of my books have appeared on Amazon Bestsellers Lists, the highest being my first book, Sunshine, which reached number three in New Adult and College. I also own an independent editing company names Metamorphosis Editing Service for Indie and Traditional authors alike and I have helped over 200 writers with their manuscripts, blog posts, book covers, and everything between.
Personality: I'm a quiet and mostly shy person who likes to sit in a cave-like room and write during most of my free time. I love animals, and I am a huge advocate for mental health awareness and each of my books always has a strong mental health focus or underlying issue.
Writing Style: I write dark, edgy, romantic stories mostly. My work to date is in the Paranormal or Fantasy genres, but I've also tried out Horror and Suspense as well as Contemporary (writing one of those as we speak). I've always been a fan of Sci-Fi and this is my first Science Fiction novel.