The faint sound of a wind-chime entered my ears. 'What a nightmare,' I thought, re-positioning myself on my comfortable mattress. I could hear the sound of the weak winds hitting the walls and the wind-chime getting louder once again.
A weak current of cold air drew into the room and flowed over my body, starting at my head and then going down to my chest, core and then legs, the cold air feeling amazing on my bare skin.
The sound of creaking wood and paws hitting the floor drew me back into reality. "Moon?" I called out sheepishly.
The sound of paws treading on old wood kept coming closer… but the sound was unnaturally deep, as if it wasn't a cute little cat, but rather a much bigger animal carefully approaching.
I opened my eyes and immediately realized two things. This was definitely not my home, and certainly not my bed, and I was completely naked.
The "bed" I was on was in reality a giant square mattress placed in the middle of the room, a step beneath the actual floor. On each corner there was a beautifully crafted wooden column supporting the wooden ceiling above my head, thin, see-through fabric separating the bed-area from the rest of the almost completely empty room.
Three sides of the room were lined with currently open sliding doors, revealing the surrounding balcony outside and giving me a clear view of the clear sky.
Then the fourth door was pushed open. Instinctively my hand covered my chest and crotch, before I quickly grabbed one of the pillows lying around to hold in front of my body.
Behind said door there was a dark hallway, which ended in a dead end, but judging by the handrails, I assumed that there were stairs leading down both sides.
With another thud and some creaking wood whatever it was that I heard before came up the stairs.
Whatever it was, I couldn't make it out, until it turned the head and two glowing red orbs looked directly into my eyes.
"Fuck"… I whispered.
I couldn't get more out as I slowly started scooting further away from that… thing. Whatever it was, it surely wasn't human.
Slowly it moved closer and closer, with careful, now almost inaudible steps, like a predator preparing to pounce its prey.
My back hit the single wooden stair that led down to the bed I was sitting on, hitting my back in exactly the wrong spot.
I inhaled the cold air through clenched teeth, so I wouldn't make too much noise.
Then, finally, the creature came into the light. The creature looked like a large snow‑white puma. I had no idea how large they are supposed to be, but this one was definitely bigger.
His red eyes still fixated on me, he came closer, and closer and then… he sat down, right on the other side of the bed. The animal sat down on the wood, causing it to creak once more as the animal adjusted itself to get a better look at me.
My hands clenched tighter around the pillow as the animal continued to study me. I could see its powerful muscles flex each time the thin piece of cloth hanging from the ceiling was blocking its sight of me as the wind blew it from side to side.
For what felt like hours we just… sat there and stared at each other. I could feel him studying my body; even with the pillow covering most of my front I still felt exposed to the gaze of the animal.
Then it opened its mouth slightly, sharp teeth glistening in the sunlight.
"Look who finally woke up," a voice echoed through my head.
"Sorry?"