School for Assassins (Rewritten) - Complete

Chapter 31 - Nightmares

Jordan:

I sat on the couch with Ely's bare legs draped over one of my own. She was absently tracing random shapes on my t-shirt clad chest with her fingertips and I had one arm wrapped around her shoulders.

The question she asked next, said so innocently, shot straight to my groin and I felt myself swiftly hardening. "Come back to bed with me?"

I groaned at the hopeful look in her eyes and nodded. "Let's go, Sunshine." I said softly. I helped her stand up first, hoping to hide my predicament. It seemed to have work, and by the time we were at my old room, my problem was thankfully gone.

As promised, Ely didn't even glance at the light switch to turn it off. She opened the door and as soon as I was inside the bedroom, she closed the door enough that there was a bit of light coming through, but not enough to keep the others awake.

Shawn sat up, "Everything okay now?" He asked.

"Yeah." I mumbled as I sat down on my bed.

Dominic was lightly snoring and I smirked. Shawn acknowledged my smirk with one of his own. "Is there a reason we're leaving the hall light on and the door cracked open?" He asked softly.

I could barely hear Ely with her head burrowed so deeply under the blankets, but I was pretty sure she said, "I like it that way."

Shawn's face took on a look of confusion. "You like it so much that you're covering your face so that you can't even tell there's a little light coming in?"

I scrubbed my hand over my face. As much as I appreciated her willingness to cover up my embarrassing secret, I knew the rest of my team would find out sooner or later. I'd rather they find out on my own terms and not at a moment that could be disastrous.

"I can't-" I started to say.

Shawn watched me expectantly and didn't say a word.

I rubbed the palms of my hands against my eyes as I tried to find the words, "I'm afraid of the dark." I muttered. I felt my cheeks heat up badly and I was glad that there wasn't enough light for Shawn to notice.

He watched me closely for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out how to word something, and then he said, "Thank you for telling me. I won't ask you to give me the details, but I'm here if you need to talk."

I gave him a small nod of thanks before I lie down to go to sleep.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Dominic:

I jolted awake when I heard a soft whimper. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light in the room.

I scanned the room to see Jordan sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Shawn had stood up already and seemed to be slipping a weapon back under his pillow.

Ely was lying on her bed. The blankets had been shoved off the bed completely and her black tank top had ridden up on her stomach, causing me to frown. The hall light was just bright enough that I could make out sections of skin that was paler than the rest. They looked like scars left over from stab wounds. "What-" I started to say.

Shawn stood close to Ely's bed and scratched his head, "I'm not sure what the best way to wake her is..." He muttered. I could see the dilemma he was facing. He didn't want to scare her by restraining her, but waking her up could result in some sort of weapon through the stomach. With Ely, that was most likely to be a knife.

She thrashed on her bed again and let out another whimper. "Fuck it." Shawn muttered. He gently ran his fingers over her exposed side. Before anyone could react, she flew out of her bed and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut before we heard her getting violently ill.

Shawn grimaced and I looked at the Jordan. He was out of bed and striding towards the bathroom door. "I've got this one." He said softly before he slipped inside the bathroom.

Ely:

My stomach felt like it had expelled everything inside it and was now trying to rid my body of my stomach itself.

I heard the door open as I flushed the toilet and sat back on my heels to wrap my arms around myself.

"Sunshine, are you alright?" Jordan asked softly.

I started to nod, but at the stern look he shot me, I shrugged instead. The look in his eye said he was concerned, but he simply found my toothbrush and held it out to me. I took it and used it.

He took it from me and put it away. "Sunshine, could you please tell us what your dream was about?" His dark eyes tracked my every move as I swallowed heavily and looked at the ground. He sighed so softly that I almost didn't hear it. "We won't pressure you into talking about it, but please tell me this doesn't happen every night. I don't know if I can handle this happening frequently, yet being unable to do anything to help you."

At that I glanced at his face and saw the sincerity there. Seeing that he was being completely honest about wanting to make me feel better, I finally nodded. He pulled me close to his chest and ran his fingers along my arms, "Thank you, Sunshine." He murmured.

He lifted me bridal style and took me back to the bedroom amid my protests that I could walk and then he sat down on his own bed with me still in his arms. Dominic sat on the bed next to us. "Kitten?" He asked softly.

I took a deep breath and noticed that Shawn moved to lean against the wall next to Jordan's bed. "It's stupid." I muttered.

"Let us be the judge of what's stupid, Babe." Shawn said softly.

I glanced up at him and sighed, "I don't usually have the dreams any more. Usually something triggers the memories and it causes me to dream... I'm not sure why I had the dream tonight."

Dominic lightly started massaging one of my feet as he said, "Kitten, we didn't ask why you had the dream, although I'm glad you don't have them every night. We wanted to know what it was about."

I bit my lip uncertainly, "My foster dad." I could feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment and Jordan's fingers gently played with my hair. It felt soothing and relaxing at the same time.

"What about him, Sunshine?" He whispered against my hair.

I started shaking at the memory, but managed to say, "The dreams are always about the night I was taken away. Sometimes I don't have my knife and can't fend him off in them." I practically whispered.

"El, did he ever..." Shawn started to ask before he trailed off.

I shook my head emphatically and I felt both Jordan and Dominic let out a deep breath. I leaned my head against Jordan's shoulder sleepily. I was starting to feel a little better after telling someone about my nightmares, and I was starting to feel sleepy again.

Shawn must have seen that I seemed to be getting sleepy again, because he crouched down next to me and softly asked, "Do you think you can fall asleep again?"

I gave a short nod and started to get off Jordan's lap. Instead of letting me off his lap, he stood up with me in his arms. He gave a small nod to Dominic, who stood up as well, and fixed the blankets on Jordan's bed. My eyes got wide as I realized Jordan was climbing back into his bed without releasing me.

Shawn and Dominic both went back to their own beds and Jordan curled up against me, his fingers once again lightly running through my hair. It felt so relaxing that I didn't give much of a protest about being in his bed. Instead, I fell asleep quickly and didn't have any more dreams.