Broken Nightmare

Chapter 14

 My heart exploded in pain and my eyes shot open. I grabbed my chest and looked down, expecting to see the hilt of a knife lacerating my skin, but found a smooth surface. My eyes danced in confusion before another wave hit me and I lurched forward, screeching out in hopes of lowering the pain. Nothing helped, though, as I hoped the pain would leave me, but only intensified.

I heard a continuous pounding, followed by my door bursting open and a figure stomping into my room, the look of a wild, angry bull in their whole body language. Crossing the room in seconds, he reached out and grabbed one of my arms clutching my chest. The pain lessoned and my screaming came to a halt. The agony was dissipating slowly, causing my body to start to respond to other things. A dull ache kept declining until it was completely gone in less than a minute.

"Shh, calm down, it's okay. You'll be fine," a deep, baritone voice floated down and I looked up for the first time to see Nathan staring down on me.

I opened my mouth, but he put his palm on my cheek instead, silencing me with a warm tingle. "Don't say anything, just go back to sleep," he whispered.

"What happened?" Someone shouted from the door and marched over to my bed, hair wrapped up in a towel. Claire went to the other side of the bed and Nathan retracted his hand as if something electrocuted him, leaving a soft, fading tingle where his hand once was on my face.

"Nothing, she was just having a nightmare. C'mon, she still needs to sleep some more." Nathan's voice had changed. It was harder than the calm, soothing voice from moments ago. He spun on his heels and all but ran out of my room. Claire looked at me again before retreating.

"I'll be back soon," she whispered a promise before shutting my door and I closed my eyes again, falling into a much more peaceful sleep.

I woke quickly this time, feeling more rested than I had my whole life. The events slowly started coming back to me and my mind starting to keep up with what was going on. I reached to my chest, expecting it to be hurting again, but it didn't have so much as an ache. Maybe I just had the flu or something. I was out in the rain the day before, I rationalized, not knowing what else it could be.

The last thing I remembered, Trysten left my room saying he was going to ask Stephan something. Claire left, too, still not having returned. I wonder how she is doing, how she is handling everything.

The sun shone through the white curtains in my room and the morning birds outside started chirping loudly. I rolled over and checked the time. 8:32.

I pulled off my covers and stepped over to my curtains, pulling them aside and opening the hinging window. A flashback of my attempted rescue flashed through my mind and I was reminded once again about the attack that left me hopelessly endangered. Next time I try to save someone twice my strength, I will think again.

I threw on some new clothes and ran to the bathroom before heading downstairs. As I rounded the corner, I took a step and heard a few familiar voices. I followed them into the kitchen; Claire and Hyene were sitting at the table with a blonde girl, their backs turned to me.

"Hey, guys," I said as I walked in and stuck my hands nervously in my back pockets.

The two girls turned simultaneously and Claire leaped across the room and wrapped her arms around me before I could think about what she was doing. After the shock faded off, I hugged her back. "I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered into my shirt, not crying this time.

Because I am so tall, most people just come up to my shoulder or chest. Yeah, it's awkward hugging people, so I usually don't. However, with Claire, I don't really care, and she knows it.