BENEATH THE STARS

Nightmare

Chapter 16. Nightmare

Kate dreaded sleeping these days. The nightmares had returned and it was getting hard for her to sleep. She was scared to see that sight again. She had stayed up the last two nights, high on caffeine. But today she was too tired to stay awake. She dreadfully made her bed and plopped on it. As soon as she closed her eyes she fell asleep.

She woke up to total darkness around her. She was sweating and she found it difficult to breathe. She was trying to calm down but the sight she saw didn't vanish. She could still see it, still hear it. She could feel the pain in her chest and she couldn't breathe properly. Her hands roamed everywhere in search of her phone. She couldn't think straight and called the first person in the contact list. Fortunately enough, it was Josh she'd called and he picked up at the second ring.

"Hey, wats up?? It's 2 in morning, what happened?" he said in a sleepy voice.

She felt sorry for waking him up but she needed someone.

"Josh, I- I..."

"Kate? Are you okay? Why aren't you talking? What's happening?"

"I.... I can't..... br.. breathe"

"Oh God. Shit! Calm down Kate... breathe slowly..."

She could hear him and she tried to calm down as he said but it was becoming hard. She felt like someone was choking her.

"Kate... just breathe in slowly, breathe out... can you open any window? Try to get out of there... get some open air... can you hear me?" He was panicked himself and Kate couldn't reassure him.

"Yeah... I- I... can..."

"Okay, don't talk. Just breathe and calm down. I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't hang up, alright?"

"I... I'm... good."

"I said don't talk. Keep breathing slowly."

Kate could hear his footsteps through the phone. She tried to calm herself as he told her that he'll be there. His voice helped her breathe again.

After a few minutes the bell rang and Josh told her that it was him. She got up from near the window in her room and went down to let Josh in. As soon as she opened the door, Josh pulled her outside and held her hand.

She looked at Josh confused.

"Breathe in the fresh air. It helps," he said rubbing her hand in his. She did as he said.

After some time she let go off his hand and sat on the stairs, her head in her hands. She felt Josh sitting beside her.

"You scared me," he said.

"Sorry. I just couldn't calm myself."

"Hey, it's fine. I'm always gonna be here for ya."

"I know. It's just... I don't want to feel so helpless. It kills me to not be able to calm myself. And it's getting hard like it used to be at the time mom died."

Josh shifted closer to her and pulled her against him. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Do you wanna talk about it? Maybe it'll help," he said softly.

"It's always the same. I can't get it out of my head... I see my dad screaming, suffering, hurting and I'm not able to do anything to help him. I'm not able to touch him and my voice doesn't reach him however hard I try. And then I see my mom beside his lifeless body, asking him to come back. I see her crying her eyes out and when I try to go near her something pulls me back, I can't touch her too. I see her falling down from the cliff and she never comes back. It hurts not being able to help them."