Ever After| k.th ✔

NINETEEN| Dreams

You were 10 when the nightmares started, and to this day, you never knew why they did. Maybe it was because your mind worked in cruel ways to fight against you. Regardless of the reasoning, they had certainly existed and traumatized you for many nights. You became sleep deprived in order to avoid them by staying up late and holding yourself tight; trying to dispose of the nightmares from your mind while comforting yourself. 

Taehyung used to ask you what the nightmares were about, but to be honest? You didn't know. Anything small from life could eventually derive itself into a terror that haunted your dreams. Your parents always said you had a hyperactive mind that never stopped moving, so maybe even sleep wasn't a rest for your anxiety. 

However, soon the nightmares all went away thanks to the help of one person; Kim Taehyung. He gifted you with a walkie talkie; a small radio that allowed you to communicate with him in the night time. He promised that he would wake up and talk to you if you were scared, and he always kept that promise.

You were 13 when the nightmares stopped. It wasn't exactly the things he said, but even just the knowledge that he was there for you was enough. He told you not to worry, that everything was just in your head. That there was nothing to be scared of, and if there was, then he would come and help you. 

It was crazy that you hadn't fallen in love with him sooner than you had. 

When Taehyung fully drifted away, you were 16. The nightmares came back, but you decided you could manage. You took pills to help you sleep and kept a dream journal; writing down everything and what their significance might be. This helped tremendously, and your sleep was never affected again. 

Until that night. 

The source was clear; you had experienced trauma beyond anything you ever could have imagined. What you went through in Frau Trude scarred you and rendered peaceful sleep impossible. Every time you closed your eyes it felt like your lungs were closing once more. You tossed and turned; sweating as your mind conjured a recollection of your body solidifying. You wanted to scream, but you couldn't.

Your worst nightmare was hunting you, and you were no longer safe in your dreams.

You woke up abruptly with a cry; tears streaming down your face as you took deep breaths and tried to calm yourself in the darkness of the fancy bedroom.

The candle next to your bed side flickered lightly as it cast a glow so that you could make out your trembling hands clutching the blanket in tight fists. Small but desperate breaths escaped you as you quickly wiped the tears from your face.

"I-It's just a dream," you told yourself while gritting your teeth tightly and hating yourself for being so weak. After a moment or two more of you simply trying to comfort yourself, you turned to the other side of the bed subconsciously seeking comfort from someone else. 

However, Taehyung wasn't next to you or even in the room. He had his own bedroom, courtesy of the beast, so you hadn't been forced to share the same bed like in previous chapters. You gnawed on your lower lip and closed your eyes while scolding yourself.

You didn't need him.

You soon found that sleep most likely wasn't happening when you realized you were too scared to even try dozing off again, so you decided to occupy your time and keep your mind busy in other ways. 

You reached down under the bed where you had hidden the satchel and opened it; the book and rose from Taehyung tumbling out onto the floor. You hesitated when you saw the flower and peered at it a moment, eventually gently placing it back in the satchel and instead picking up the book. 

So far you hadn't had a lot of down time, but when one has an all knowing book in their possession it would be crazy not to utilize it. Bringing the candle a bit closer so you could read, you flipped open the cover and braced yourself for sass.