The curse of the broken soul

Contagious nightmares

"Laurel, honey. Are you ok?" Colt asks, he cuffs a hand on her cheek, he needed to make sure she was real, that this wasn't a dream as well.

She lightly nodded her head, she couldn't stand the images she saw in her head but she was willing to put a brave face on. It was something she learned as she raised her sons. "Y-yeah...I just had a bad dream." She says.

Though it did make for a very unusual coincidence, Colt was just too relieved to see Laurel was ok to acknowledge that just yet. "Oh...well I actually had a pretty nasty dream myself." He says before lightly kissing her on the forehead.

The couple took a moment to calm themselves down, their hearts slowly going back to its normal rhythm. They had no clue the sons of Laurel were having nightmares themselves. Barley had just woken up himself, drenched in sweat from almost head to toe. He felt a horrible pit in his stomach, that was certainly the worst nightmare he ever had and he has had some pretty messed up ones before. He began to softly weep, the horrific images were still stuck in his head. He needed some air. When he tends to feel this emotional, this broken, he goes outside and gazes up at the stars for a bit. It was just something that helped him relax, to feel at peace again. He carefully snuck out his bedroom and took a step outside, the sky looked absolutely stunning. The stars shined so brightly above in the dark abyss that watches over them. It was cold out but Barley hardly even noticed. Each puff of air he exhaled could be seen in the chilly night. His eyes stayed focused on the sky, though the stars couldn't speak with words he felt like he could understand them. As if these giant orbs of burning energy that rested so very far away could speak to him telepathically. He could feel himself calm right down, their beauty and wonder reminding him of where he stands now. This was the present, this was reality.

As he walked back inside however he saw his younger brother was up. It seems the nightmare was too much for him as well. He had his ways to try and calm his nerves when he got this frightened or upset and that was with a cup of tea. The brothers stared at each other for a moment, needing a second for their minds to confirm that they were both awake. "Barley...what're you doing up?" Ian asks as he poured the hot water into a nice big mug.

Barley had a habit of not sharing his feelings with his loved ones. It's not that he lies but rather he simply does not tell them anything. He never wanted to push any of his problems onto his loved ones, he didn't want anyone to ever worry about him. Ultimately he believes he is perfectly fine, that he never needs help and he doesn't see why he should share his issues and cause some unnecessary panic between his family members. "Y'know, you're gonna need to get up and rush to the toilet bout an hour or two after you drink all that, right?" Barley commented, avoiding the question.

Ian sighs a little, leaving the tea to cool for a moment before he took a sip. "Yeah I know...but it helps calm my nerves."

Barley can see just how disturbed Ian was. He furrows his brow with worry as he slowly approached the young elf. "Hey...you feeling ok?" He asks.

Ian tried to crack a smile but it was empty, not a hint of joy could be seen in it. "Yeah! I mean- yeah...just had a bad dream that's all. I'm fine." Ian says, not wanting to worry his brother.

That is when Barley started getting a bit suspicious, it was too big of a coincidence. And one of the most well known effects of the curse was for nightmares to haunt all that stood around the source of it. "Bad dream?" Barley asks, his face went a bit pale.

Ian carefully picks up the mug and blows over it to help it cool down. "Yeah...I-I don't really want to talk about it though, ok?" Ian says, worried if his brother might pester him to share every last detail with him. He didn't even want to think about the nightmare, much less speak of it.