Without You (Sequel (2018))

Unresolved Tension

*Picture of Dani*

Hey guys! So here it is! The first chapter of the sequel! I'm sorry it's taken longer than expected to publish, I just wanted to make sure everything was right for you all. Please remember to vote, comment and share and thank you so much for reading! Love you all 💞

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"Dani?"

My attention is snapped back into focus and my wandering eyes whiz around until they land back onto Doctor Forbish's perfect brown bob as I realise that I totally just zoned out again.

"What?" I ask blankly, ignoring her sigh as she neatly adjusts her pristine white blazer. In fact this whole room is almost heavenly with its whitewashed walls and dazzling snowy carpet.

"I asked how you think our progress has been these past ten months?"

"Oh ... well ... good I suppose. I mean talking about it with someone helps keep a clear head I suppose," I shrug, trying to say what I think she'll want to hear. Not that our weekly sessions haven't been helpful but my perfect attendance has definitely been more for my mum than myself.

"Dani, you went through a very traumatic experience. Saw things most people never will and on top of that, experienced a deep betrayal from someone you thought you could trust ... more than once," she continues, obviously referring to Alex.

It had initially been her idea for me to go and visit Alex in prison as a sort of closure technique. To be fair, I suppose it did help. She's helped too I guess, even though it means reliving last summer every Thursday afternoon for forty minutes.

" ... but you came out the other end and that is the important fact to take out of this!" She carries on as I realise that I lost my attention span all over again.

I nod my head in half-hearted agreement and quickly glance up at the big wooden clock that hangs just behind her head.

"Of course," I agree as her phone timer rings out and buzzes violently on the glass coffee table, indicating that time's up.

"And the dreams ... or night terrors I suppose ... they've not arisen in the past week? I know we haven't discussed them for a while but change can trigger old events," she adds calmly, ignoring her own strict rule of meticulously timed appointments.

"Change ... such as going on holiday?" I questions with the raise of an unconvinced eyebrow.

"Even the most delicate disruption to routine could cause the smallest amount of stress which could ultimately result in a relapse. I mean, look at how they re-emerged during your final exams," she argues gently.

"I suppose ..." I trail off as I remember how worried I was for my first year uni exams, waking up in a sweaty mess as a feeling of dread swept over me once I realised that my nightmares had resurfaced.

They were always the same. A strange and blurry version of myself running down the corridor in slow motion as a dark figure behind me pounded its feet down heavily in pursuit. I would make it to the end of the corridor as I could feel the mysterious figure behind me double then triple in size however it was as if I no longer had control of my limbs.

Gasping and panting, I'd try to raise my arms, legs, anything in my desperate attempts to escape but it was like I was stuck. Stuck in my own body. Almost as if someone was pushing down on my lungs and suffocating any possible movement I'd try to make. All the while, I could sense the terrorising figure behind me continue to gain on me until I could feel their hot breath on the back of my neck. At that point I'd spin around to face a distorted and alien sized Alex towering above me with a dark snark plastered over his grotesque face.