Perceptions

Chapter 9 {Sensations And Nightmares}

Layla tossed and turned around the bed as whimpers escaped her lips, she was coated in sweat as another nightmare trapped her inside, pulling her more into the deep-end.

Her mother and father stood in front of her, yelling at her disgusting words as Dimitri stood in the corner of her room, smiling in a twisted way as he was pointing a gun against the head of her youngest brother Noah. She completely ignored the words of their parents, which were stabbing her in her heart painfully, she screamed until her voice died down, she tried to move, but unfortunately, she was unable to move a single muscle in her body.

Her face turned to her left due to the collision with her father's hand, leaving a mark of his palm on her cheek as they both looked at her with disgusted looks, Layla cried as she drowned in their hatred. They both laughed at Layla's face as she screamed at them, yelling questions, which were always left unanswered.

She cried from anger and confusion, trying to run to Dimitri, but she was unable to move, she could not do anything but stare at the horrible situation in front of her. She watched him pull the trigger as Noah cried, looking up to her as he begged her to come and save him, which made Layla cry even more as she yelled into nothing. Dimitri looked her way, smirking at her, "This happens when you betray me." He said, bringing his attention back to the shuddering Noah as he let his gun roar.

BANG!

Layla's back shot up as a scream escaped her lips, she looked up, realizing that it was another nightmare again. She always had this nightmare since she had received a punishment from Dimitri for the first time, he was sure to carve in every single detail of it for the rest of her life, he made sure of that.

Letting her head rest against her knees, she started to tremble as sweat covered her. Her shallow breaths filled the dark room, moonlight shining through the window which lit up the room a little bit, she looked around, fighting the urge to breakdown once again. She tried to concentrate on her breathing, breathing through mouth and out of the nose.

However, she wasn't successful this time, her breaths were shallow and uneven, which matched her mind as it was trapped inside the nightmare she just had. She let her hand go through her curly hair, untangling it slightly.

Suddenly, the door barged open, making her flinch, "What happened, amore?" She heard Alejandro's voice, which calmed her slightly, she was scared that it was Dimitri for a moment. She did not move nor look up to him, she only felt the other side of the bed dip because of Alejandro's weight, she heard him shuffling closer to her, which made her flinch away instinctively.

They sat there in the beautiful moonlight, it was a full moon, so it was lightening up the room more. Her breathing evened slightly, but she still did not look up, trembling slightly in fear of her dream being real. Alejandro's fingers went down her chin, making her look at him, noticing the tears and fear in her eyes, a look of hurt washed over his face, he was hurting for her.

"It was just a bad, bad dream. It is over now, amore. (Love)" He said, wiping away her tears that managed their way out of her eyes, he kissed her forehead, looking deeply into her eyes as if he was searching for any clue about what had happened, he sighed in a deep breath. "Do you mind to tell me what happened in you dream? Did it have to do something with your past?" He asked.

This question caused her to shift away from him, the air starting to suffocate her lungs more, she tried to keep an emotionless face as she tried to answer, "I don't want to talk about it, please, just... just leave me alone Alejandro." She answered, her voice cracking slightly. "I am okay, it is nothing. I'll just go back to sleep now."

"No. No, you clearly are not okay Layla." Alejandro objected, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked into her eyes deeply in search of any emotion, but there was nothing. A blank look was replaced with the beautiful shine of her eyes once again. Layla sighed in a deep breath, "Look, I will just go back to sleep, I only have three hours of sleep left anyway, so good night." She said coldly, pulling the covers over her head as she turned away from him. "I understand, good night. I am sure you'll tell me whenever you're ready." He said, his voice having a heartbreaking sound in it, which turned on the guilt switch inside Layla.