Armament

Chapter 10 - Fake

I'm knocked from my sea of dreams to the crushing feeling of not being able to breathe. At first, I think it's another panic attack, brought on from my dream of the black depths of water latching onto me, dragging me further into the endless trench away from the small glitter of light at the top no matter how much I thrash and scream against the liquid caress of the water.

But I quickly find that my struggle to breathe is real and that the crushing of my ribs is being caused my Colin's arms coiled around me. I struggle in his hold, noticing the crinkled skin between his brows and his frantic breathing.

"Colin," I wheeze, kicking out at him, trying to wriggle my arms free from his chainlike hold.

The urge to breathe becomes too urgent as my head starts to feel heavy and being unable to move starts to remind me too much of the resistance against my limbs any time I'm submerged in water. I don't think before I start to scream with the little air I have in my lungs, thrashing against him. I don't care if I hurt him and I don't notice the pain that should probably be shooting through my body right now.

I don't stop when he finally wakes from his nightmare, I only throw myself across the room when he unlatches his arms. I brace myself against the wall, sinking to the floor before my legs can give out. I pant out breath after breath, only focusing on that sound as if to reassure myself that I can still breathe.

Colin pants as well, kneeling on the bed staring at me in confusion, "Are you okay?"

I take my time to nod, not really sure myself.

"What happened?" The yellow light from under the door catches his face, distorting his face in a strange glow. I only see the dark patches of sweat on his grey t-shirt now, telling me just how bad his nightmare must have been.

I shake my head, trying to gather my thoughts just as a knock sounds at the door. We both tense, remembering that Colin probably isn't supposed to be here despite no one outwardly prohibiting him.

"Asha, are you okay in there?" The sound of Evanel's voice only tenses me further.

I cough away the emotions in my throat, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Colin slides from the mattress and under the bed without a sound.

"I'm coming in, if that's okay?" The hesitance in his voice reminds me that I'm supposed to be annoyed with him.

I cough again, trying to sound annoyed, "I guess."

The door clicks and a strip of light spills across the tiled floor, Evanel squints until he spots me sat against the wall, "What are you doing on the floor?"

"I got too warm, the floor is cooler," I'm quick to stand in case he somehow catches sight of Evanel under the bed.

"Did something happen?" The look in his eyes tells me he isn't talking about what happened earlier today, "The distress signal woke me up."

"The what?"

"There's sensors in the room that alert us when... someone becomes distressed, so we don't have to be stationed by your side all the time," he gives the room a once over.

"Well, I'm fine," I try to fuel the urgency to get him out of the room into irritation, hoping he'll think that I'm mad about earlier, "I had a nightmare but I'm fine now."

"Okay, well try to get some sleep," he starts to duck out of the room, "goodnight."

I let him walk out of the room without a response.

I slide onto the bed, quick to wrap the duvet around me while Colin crawls from under the bed. I don't look at him but I feel the mattress dip beside me.