Yellow(HerWong)

CHAPTER-5

"There are bad things," Carly repeated herself. She hugged the shirt tighter to her chest. Deanna sighed and thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to calm Carly down.

"Here," Deanna scooted back on the bed and lifted her comforter. "It's a fort. We'll be safe under here, c'mon," she slid under the covers and motioned for Carly to do the same. Confused but curious, Carly crawled next to Deanna. Deanna pulled the covers over both of their heads, using her knees to keep the blankets from smothering them.

Carly instantly whimpered when the darkness overtook them and Deanna quickly fished around in the sheets to grab her phone. Moments later, the phone's flashlight was flicked on and she set the device between them to give them light.

"We're safe under here," Deanna said softly. Carly lay on her back next to Lauren, still breathing heavily. "Why did you come in here?"

"Bad things," Carly mumbled, pointing to her head and tapping it gently.

"Bad things in your head?" Deanna asked, slowly catching on to what Carly was trying to explain to her. The small girl nodded quickly, confirming Deanna's suspicions.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Deanna inquired. Carly tilted her head to the side. "Did you see bad things in your sleep?" Deanna rephrased her question. This earned a slow nod from Carly, and Deanna noticed the smaller girl's bottom lip was trembling.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," Deanna shook her head and sat up, pushing the blankets off of them. "Everyone sees bad things in their sleep sometimes, even me."

"Even Didi?" Carly asked, sitting up slowly next to Deanna.

The older girl sighed and nodded. "They're called nightmares," Deanna explained. "Sometimes they can be really scary, but want to know a secret?"

Carly nodded slowly.

"They can't hurt you," Deanna gave the girl a soft smile, trying to reassure her that she was safe. "They're only in your head," she reached up and tapped on Carly's forehead like the girl had done before.

"Promise?" Carly whispered, holding out her pinky finger. Deanna nodded softly and interlocked their fingers, already realizing she was getting too close to this girl. But she was met with the overwhelming need to protect her.

Carly was still breathing heavily, and Deanna watched as she tugged at the sleeves of her shirt.

"Are you hot?" Deanna asked, motioning to the heavy shirt of Eya's  that Carly had on. The younger girl nodded, looking at Deanna pleadingly.

"And I'm guessing you want to wear one of my shirts?" Deanna raised an eyebrow and sighed, knowing what Carly's answer would be. The smaller girl smiled instantly and nodded.

Deanna laughed. She laughed, surprisingly. Honestly, the older girl was just relieved that she'd somehow managed to calm Carly down. She slid out from under the covers and opened the first drawer of her dresser where she kept her t-shirts. Grabbing a blue shirt with the name of her college printed on it: "ATENEO". She tossed it to Carly. Luckily, the smaller girl didn't seem to have a problem catching it.

Carly stood up, peeling off her own shirt. Deanna turned around and nearly gasped. She hadn't expected Carly to change in her room. But more importantly, she hadn't expected what was under the shirt Carly had been wearing.

"What happened?" she asked, crossing the room and stopping Carly before she could pull the t-shirt on over her head. Her body was covered in bruises. Some dark purple, some light green, some large, some small. There was no pattern, they were just randomly splurged all over her body. Deanna had to stop herself from reaching out to touch them, to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.