Dragon Raja

11 - That's What Friends Are For

Y/N jolted awake in a cold sweat, her chest tightened as if her bones were crushing down on her lungs preventing her from holding a steady breath.

Her icy fingers gripped the fabric of her cotton blanket as she stared into the darkness of her room. Her brows pulled together, and with a heaving chest, she could feel her stomach tying knots within her, making Y/N resist the urge to throw up last night's dinner.

She allowed the paralyzing moment to pass, as she hadn't moved from her position even when ten minutes had passed. Just as the nurses taught her, she counted her breaths as her breathing became more even. Her brows loosened out but she could still feel a tingling sensation run down her spine to her fingertips.

Y/N closed her eyes, listening as the light rain hit a steady beat against her window. The soft pitter-patter of the rain had caught her attention, using the calming sound to ease her from yet another nightmare.

That's right, she reminded herself, it was only a nightmare.

More specifically, it was just one of many that haunted her throughout her days, both asleep and awake.

Y/N knew she wouldn't be able to get another wink of sleep, so as she glanced at her clock which read 4:52 AM, she shifted her shaky legs off to the side of her bed. Counting her breaths once more, with her final exhale she carefully eased herself up off her bed.

When she finally felt her body stop shaking, Y/N staggered to her kitchen and flipped on the light, hoping a warm cup of tea would wash her nightmare down.

As she watched the kettle boil, she found her mind retreating to her nightmare. A new dream that was unlike the others. Two men, who seemed to be discussing a plan for destruction.

Death to the Swans.

Just the mere memory of those words sent shivers down her spine, yet she had no idea what those words meant, or how big of an impact they really had.

The kettle whistled loudly, startling Y/N from her thoughts. As she turned down the heat to let her mind wander once more, she looked to her side and peered out her window, watching the rain fall from across the sky.

After she dreamed about the two men, she remembered having flashes of children running with their bare feet across a snowy harbor. As if she were also in the dream, she could still feel the piercing cold of the snow underneath her own feet.

Flashes of happy children were turned into still pictures of their bodies scattered in every direction. The pure white of the snow turned blood red, and just the thought made Y/N sick to her stomach once more.

After every happy vision came a more sinister and more dark vision. As if the ruler of her dreams was telling her she could not have one without the other. Though, most of the time, her dreams were heavily outnumbered with the nightmares waking her up in a cold sweat.

She felt her heart sting as she revisited the nightmare, praying to the gods that they were simply that. Nightmares, and not memories of her past. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she was really watching her past life play out in a sick and twisted dream.

Though, every time she was in her visions, they felt entirely personal, and always left her heart to feel as if it were shattering into a million pieces.

And then the same words repeated over and over, meshing together with the cries of the children.

Death to the Swans.

Death to the Swans.

Death to the Swans—

She hadn't realized she closed her eyes until they widened in fear. The man's voice echoing the same four words made her head ache and vision blurry from the stress.