Witness Protection ✔

Heart To Heart

She was running through dark alleyways, but every turn she took just revealed another one. It didn't matter what direction she chose, it went on and on. Like a maze without an end.

She needed to find the light. It was so dark. If she'd just reach the light she'd be safe.

Turning another corner, she ran as fast as she could. The footsteps behind her were getting closer now and she was getting out of breath.

The light, I need to find the light.

She didn't dare look back in fear of what she'd find. She just ran, she needed to go get out.

It felt as if she'd been running for hours now, and she couldn't breathe anymore. She couldn't go on.

Someone grabbed her from behind, pulling her to the ground.

"We've got you now," a faceless man laughed.

"You betrayed us, and you know the price that needs to be paid for that," another one said.

She remembered now, these were the men she'd seen in the alleyway weeks ago. How did they find her? How did she get here?

Panic rose within her. These men were murderers. She had to get away. But she couldn't breathe. She couldn't do anything. She was trapped.

Suddenly a gun was pressed to her forehead.

She didn't want things to end like this. It just couldn't end like this.

He pulled the trigger and she screamed.

"Nathalia! Nat, wake up. It's not real, you gotta wake up."

She was confused, what was happening? Everything was blurry. She reached up to touch her face, it was wet.

Looking around, she saw she was in her bedroom.

"Nat, you need to breathe slowly," Darius told her carefully.

He was right, her breathing was ragged and it felt that no matter how many breaths she took, it just wasn't enough.

His hair was tousled and he was wearing a T-shirt and sweats. His grey eyes were full of concern as he looked directly at her while kneeling beside her bed.

"Are you alright?" he asked after her breath somewhat steadied.

She nodded but felt as if the room was suffocating her. She needed to get some fresh air to clear her head.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine, she panted. "Is it alright if I go outside for a minute?"

He looked at her for a moment longer before letting her go.

The freezing cold night air was exactly what she needed. It woke her up enough for her brain to start working again. She was dressed only in an oversized T-shirt and shorts, but she didn't care.

Walking over to the large cast iron bench, she checked it for spiders before sitting down.

She'd been having nightmares on and off for weeks now, but this is the first time it had been this bad. And it was the first time the men had caught her. Usually, she'd just run until she woke up, after which she'd drink some water and continued her sleep. But now Darius had to come and wake her up.

How bad had it been for Darius to wake up before she did? Oh God, what did he think of her?

She tried to imagine what her face would've looked like, and it wasn't pretty. It embarrassed her to think he'd seen her like that.

At that moment the backdoor opened and Darius came out wearing the same T-shirt and sweats he'd been wearing when he woke her up. He took a seat beside her but didn't say anything. She appreciated his silence as well as his presence, it somehow hurt less when he was there. She didn't know for how long they just sat there, but at one point she noticed her tears had dried and her breathing was normal again.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," she said softly. She really felt bad for waking him and keeping him awake. She doubted he was allowed to sleep with her sitting outside.

"Don't-" he started as he still looked forward. "Don't apologize for having nightmares. It's normal considering what you went through."

She didn't quite know how to reply to that, so she didn't. By now the cold air was getting to her as the adrenaline from her nightmare wore off. But she couldn't bring herself to go inside just yet. It felt peaceful out here.

"Have you been having them for long?" he asked after a while.

"They started two days after the..." She swallowed thickly while she tried to find the right words. "Incident."

"Did you tell the counselors?"

She shook her head no, she hadn't. She felt as if a nightmare wasn't bad enough to share with a counselor. They were just bad dreams after all.

"Maybe you can discuss them with a psychiatrist," he suggested.

"I... don't want to. I don't want to feel like there's something wrong with me." Tears started to fill her eyes again as she tried to keep them from spilling over.

"Nat, listen, these nightmares aren't okay. You shouldn't have to live like this, therapy can help you," he pressed. He seemed very determined to get her to see a psychiatrist and she didn't doubt he had the power to just make her see one. But he didn't. It seemed like he wanted this to be her own choice.

"I'd have to talk about everything again, and I'll have to relive it. It's really hard to talk about, you know?"

"I do."

This made her head snap up, she turned to fully look at him but he didn't look at her. He just stared at the ground and didn't elaborate. But she felt like he was trying to tell her something. Something he couldn't say without a little push.

"What happened to you?" she whispered.

He shifted but didn't answer. Not right away at least. She almost asked if he was okay, when he finally answered.

"I lost my best friend a few years ago." With seemingly great effort he dragged his eyes away from the ground and looked at her. She'd never seen so much emotion on his face and it pained her. He looked absolutely broken. "We'd known each other our whole lives, we grew up together and joined the Marines together. And then we got deployed together."

He paused for a second and looked away again. She could see how difficult it was for him to talk about, but she didn't want to say anything just yet.

"He got shot right before my eyes and I couldn't help him. I doubt anyone could at that point."

"I'm so sorry," was all she could think to say. She wanted to reach out to touch him, to comfort him. But she refrained, it didn't seem appropriate at the moment.

"Thing is, I thought I was fine. Losing him was hard, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with me. I got nightmares like you, but I didn't do anything about it. Until it got so bad I rarely slept."

She knew where this was going now, and felt bad for assuming she was the only one who knew what it was like. While she had seen a stranger get killed, he had seen his best friend die in front of him. He's obviously had it worse but didn't complain about it like she felt like she was doing. Suddenly she felt guilty about her complaining.

"His mom actually was the one who got me to see a psychiatrist. She saw me deteriorate to the point she just... forced me to go. It really did help, Nat. And I think it can help you as well."

She couldn't believe how open he was being with her, he just told her about his darkest and most painful memories. Even if it had been years she doubted it was easy to talk about. It felt personal, intimate even, to know about his past like this. She now knew more about him than she'd ever known before, yet she still didn't know his name. But that didn't matter now.

He was right, she should see a psychiatrist. He'd gone through whatever she was going through right now and knew how to handle it.

"Alright, I'll go see one."

"Good," he nodded, "now let's go back inside."