Storm Heart

Aspen

Current time
Aspen
The sky was beginning to slowly darken as I watched it through the small gap in my curtains.
I glanced at the digital clock on my bedside table.
12:45.
I huffed in annoyance and flailed around until I was facing the opposite direction of the window. It's just another one of those nights. I thought, trying to keep my mind from meandering down it's usual path.
I knew that when I closed my eyes and finally fell asleep that I would relive the dream- the one that I'd been having for God knows how long...
I twitched in unease at the very thought of the sadistic dream. Whoever was the one laughing was one sick bastard- to laugh while causing someone pain was just wrong.
The worrying thing about the dream was how real it felt. The realization that the dream wasn't true was the only thing that kept me from losing my mind- one could only take so much terrifying screaming for so long...
I turned over onto my other side again, trying to stay awake for as long as possible.
I didn't want to relive that dream...
Hell! No one would willingly want to listen to someone screaming in pain for an entire night.
I wasn't aware of when my exhaustion finally won- I was only aware of the screaming...
My dream self fought against some invisible barrier, trying to get to the screaming entity. The cold laughter rang in my head even after I had jerked awake.
My brother knelt at my bedside, a concerned look on his face. I groaned and turned my back to him. "Aspen..." He sighed. I could sense his frustration but decided to ignore it for the time being.
"Aspen- you know as well as I do that no one has nightmares on a daily basis..." Troy began. "I can't be the only one who has this problem- why don't you go bother them." I sniped, not wanting to look at him.
"You know that you're my responsibility... I hate seeing you like this..." Troy sighed in a resigned sort of way. I could feel the heat of his gaze as it bore into my back.
"I'm perfectly fine..." I grunted, not even managing to convince myself.
"You know that you're not fine... but I can't help you if you won't even tell me what your nightmares are about." He muttered the last part of his statement, knowing that he wasn't going to get the information he wanted.
"Like I'm telling anyone what these dreams are about..." I mumbled. Troy grunted in an unimpressed manner before taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
I bit back an irritated response, knowing that he would only stay longer if I complained. I sighed and sat up, careful not to trigger the headache that often accompanied my dreams. I winced slightly as nausea overcame me and I swayed, trying to catch my balance.
Nausea... that's new... I thought sluggishly. Somehow my brain had slowed to a crawling pace when I had sat up. "Troy...?" I asked uncertainly. The nausea and sudden drop in mental ability had left me feeling terrible. My head felt as if it had been run over a semi and trampled on by a horde of elephants...
The worry on my brother's face made me even more uneasy. "Aspen...? What's wrong now...?" He questioned, uncertainty evident in his tone.
"Nausea..." I muttered thickly. "You always said that you got headaches... not nausea..." Troy responded, looking concerned for my sanity. It might have had something to do with the distant and haunted look in my eyes. I simply nodded my head, feeling like I was drifting off again.
"Aspen!" My brother barked, shaking my shoulders until I was flung around like a rag doll.
Some clarity returned to my muddled mind and I turned my head to glare at Troy. "What was that?!" I grunted in annoyance, my head finally catching up with the current times.
"I'm not about to let you sleep when you're clearly not in a good place..." He muttered. I shrugged my brother off and leaned back against my pillows.
Apparently Troy was serious when he said that he wasn't letting me sleep.
He shook me back to wakefulness and I muttered obscenities before flinging the covers off my bed, deciding that sleep probably wasn't the best thing for me at the moment.
"I'm taking a walk..." I grumbled, swinging my legs off the side of the bed and stretching my arms above my head.
"Then I'm coming with you." My brother announced, standing up from his spot on the edge of my bed. "No you're not..." I slurred my words and nearly fell flat on my face before my brother caught my arm and steadied me.
I tugged my arm from his grip and took a few unsteady steps in the direction of the hallway.
Troy hovered over me as I carefully made my way over into the hallway.
And that was about the time when everything went dark.
Like literally dark.
I was aware of the fact that I was still conscious, but seriously disturbed by the knowledge that I couldn't see.
I froze, my stance ridged as I blinked furiously. My vision was gone...
"Aspen...?" Troy questioned. I shook my head, blinked again several times to be sure that my vision was truly gone.
"I'm not an idiot- what's going on?" My brother demanded.
I turned in the direction of his voice, using my sense of hearing to pinpoint his location.
"My vision... it's gone..." I muttered.