A Complicated Life [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Calvin's Point Of View

I opened my eyes and looked around the room. It was still dark, which meant it was still night. But it didn't make much sense to me. I had heard something, I was sure of it. That was the entire reason I was currently awake. I had heard something. What was this something? That was what I had to figure out.

I sat up and stretched, doing my best to not make any noise while I worked out the cramp in my neck. I heard it, again. Nicole. It was Nicole.

I stood up and walked over to her bed. I put my hand on her shoulder and gently shook her. "Nicole? Wake up," I whispered.

She slowly opened her eyes and stared at me. "Are you okay? Do you need something?" she asked.

"Hmm? Me?"

"You woke me up. Do you need something? Are you okay?" she repeated.

"No, no. I'm fine. You were having a nightmare. You were... whimpering," I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," she said quietly.

"God, no, don't be sorry. Don't apologize for having a bad dream," I said. She smiled slightly. "Now, scoot over," I said.

She moved to the other side of her bed, giving me just enough room to sit down next to her. "Thanks for waking me up," she said.

"Of course. Nobody likes bad dreams," I said.

She nodded. "Right."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"I don't know. Kind of. Do you want to hear that messed up of a bad dream?" she asked.

"I'd listen to anything as long as you were the one talking," I said.

She smiled. "It was pretty bad," she said.

"Well, talk whenever you're ready," I said. She nodded.

Clawd's Point Of View

I leaned back against the bedroom wall and wrapped my arms around myself as I listened to Nicole explain her bad dream to Calvin.

"It was horrible. There were a bunch of kids there. I couldn't see any of their faces. They were all dressed completely in black, masks covering their heads. They were all discussing how they would kill me, as if I wasn't even there. But, I was there. And that just made it worse, you know? I could hear everything they were talking about. Some of them wanted to burn me, others wanted to shoot me or stab me. Poison. Acid. Beaten to death in an alley of some sort."

I closed my eyes and covered my mouth with my hand. It took everything I had to not get up and go into her room, tell her everything would be okay, that I would never let anyone hurt her. But, I couldn't. I couldn't let her know I was listening to her. I had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate my eavesdropping. In all fairness, it wasn't my fault I had the hearing of a dog.

"Finally, they had decided. Acid. They were going to kill me with acid. They were going of beat me first, so that way I would be too weak to get away from them. And then they were going to tie me up and just... dunk me into a tank full of acid. And then... and then they did. I got to watch the entire thing," she whispered. "The viewpoint of my dream shifted. I was no longer seeing things through my own eyes. Suddenly, I was a completely different person. I was still the one being tortured, but I was watching myself get beaten up. It was like an outside viewpoint or something. I watched those kids gang up on me, watched them all beat me to a point that I couldn't fight back. Watched them tie me to a chair. Watched them let go of the rope that suspended me and the chair above the vault of acid. Watched myself drop into the acid. Watched as I tried to scream, only to swallow the acid, only for it to burn my throat and my lungs. Watched my skin burn off as the acid tore me to pieces. I saw all of it," she whispered.