Red's Demise

Nightmares Aren't Just for the Asleep

Red

It was dark. So dark.

I used to be scared of the dark. I used to hate the slow descent of the sun over the hills. Now... Now the dark was my favorite. I owned the dark. It was mine.

I controlled it.

It obviously wasn't the dark that sent my heart racing and my breath hyperventilating.

The push of the walls against my shoulders and the rapidly suffocating feeling that permeated the air were causing my panic. I was in a tight space.

I didn't own dark spaces. I didn't control it. They controlled me.

My fingers probed at every surface surrounding me, desperately searching for space.

I hated how familiar the door in front of me felt. The slated doors felt just like the ones I had hidden behind when I was eight years old.

The doors that did nothing to quiet her last sounds. The doors that separated me from her dead body. The doors that will always haunt me.

Before I could push at the doors, demanding to be let out into the open space in front of me, heavy footsteps thudded towards me.

It was him. He was back.

My thoughts raced. I hadn't told anybody. I had changed my name. He couldn't know where I was.

I kept my promise.

I hadn't told anybody about-

"Red!" a panicked tone tried desperately to shake me awake.

I shot up in my bed, gasping for air, and quickly tried to take in my surroundings.

It was my room. It was my wide-open room. I was safe.

I tried to take settling breaths, purposely trying to ignore the male perched on his knees beside me on my bed.

"I'm sorry, you were... having a nightmare -" Fenris trailed off, his blue eyes desperately trying to catch my attention.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Breath out. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Breath In.

As my heart finally stopped trying to explode out of my chest. I finally turned my gaze to Fenris.

He seemed to take a deep breath himself. His shoulders slumped as he shifted his legs so that he sat properly on my bed.

"Damn it, Las. You have a way of worrying me like no other," Fenris cursed, his hand brushing over his clean-cut jaw and pushing back his wavy black hair.

I watched the gesture, noticing the slight shake of his hand. How bad had my nightmare been?

I looked away from the male, instead turning to notice the setting sun outside.

Most people in Dunkev would be retiring for the night, but here, in the manor, the day was just beginning. I could hear as loud voices traveled up the staircase, tenderfoots shouting curses and fighting in the levels below.

Fenris sighed from beside me while sliding off my bed.

"Ezekiel wanted to speak to you whenever you woke up," the male spoke softly.

Apparently keeping the deadly feline around offered the male buried within insight on how best to handle me. Fenris didn't push for information. Instead, he had woken me up and simply stayed near me while I grounded myself.

Now he was offering a distraction, knowing that that was what I needed.

I met his navy eyes, which reflected the worry he wasn't voicing, and offered a small smile and a wordless thank you.