Welcome To Jurassic Hell

Chapter 76: Nightmares Revealed

I know I'm dead before it even attacks.

"Darius!"

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I'm alive.

I'm sweaty, terrified, but I'm alive. Drenched in sticky sheets and snotty tears. My hand comes up from the mattress to wipe it all away, a shaky effort. Next to me is Ben, curled up and snoring in his own deep slumber. I remember he'd come in last night, as I was coming down from crying, and had urged me to bed. He'd been visibly angry. His face red, fists clenched. I hated it, because it was toward Darius, who was the nicest person I knew.

He hadn't meant any harm in his words. He'd only spoken truth. Especially before the actual argument, in which he'd basically told me I wasn't needed.

Ben could deny it all he wanted, but Darius was right.

Which was why I had to do something.

But as I'm slipping out of bed, my plans are halted when I hear Ben whimper.

He's just dreaming, it's no big deal, I try to tell myself. Even so, looking down at how vulnerable the now seemingly invincible boy is, hand fisting into his pillow and eyebrows furrowing in fear...I have to let those thoughts go for now. My sister instincts kick into gear in their place, and I slowly sink back down to sit by Ben.

I place my hand cautiously on his shoulder and shake.

"Ben, hey, wake up."

He doesn't. Instead, his body starts to shake at a faster rate. His whimpers turn into panicky breaths and sweat emerges from his skin. The bandages still hugging his head starts to soak, but not from blood.

"Ben, please, wake up." I shake again, harder.

Tears force out from Ben's closed eyelids, and I briefly wonder if this is what I looked like just a minute ago. My hand grows firm and I start to act more violent in my attempts to take him away from his nightmare.

"Ben, Ben, it's okay. It's just a nightmare, wake up. Ben, wake-"

He sits up so fast I almost throw up from whiplash. In doing so, my hand is thrown from him as he twists around and holds himself up on his hands. His blue eyes are wide and filled with fear and pain, all the while tears still stream down the valley of his cheeks. Slowly, I bring my hand up to perch on his quivering shoulder. It's almost like I merge with him then, because I can really feel the unsteady air traveling through his body as he tries his best to calm down.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay," I try to soothe him. "It's me. I'm right here."

"Bee, I...it-it was...it was a nightmare," he sighs, looking at me. I swallow down a stone and nod sadly.

"Yeah."

"It was just a bad dream," he mutters. "It wasn't real. You're not- they aren't- we're okay. We're okay."

He falls into my chest, and I'm shocked as he starts to cry. But I welcome him into my arms and hold him as close as I can.

"Yeah, Ben, we're okay."

I'm not okay.

"We're okay."

I rest my chin in my twin's hair, waiting as his body slowly soothes and his breathing straightens out. His grip on my shirt, which had been extremely tight to the point of possibly bruising, was now loose. After a few moments, he quietly pulls away and wipes at his face.

"I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I assure him in a whisper. "You're okay. I had one too."

"You did?" He frowns, looking over at me. Biting my lip, I nod.

"Yeah. But we're here, you're...you're safe. I'm safe. We're all fine."

I'm not fine.

Ben nods alongside my words, clutching onto the comfort they bring. "Yeah. Okay."

"Do you...want to talk about it?" I ask him.

"It-It wasn't that bad, just a nightmare."

"You woke up a sobbing mess, I doubt it wasn't that bad," I chuckle. But the laugh is filled with anything but humor. "Would it help if I talked about mine?"

"I-I can't ask you to do that," he shakes his head.

"You aren't. I'm offering. If it helps I'll tell you, and we can be there for each other. Like...Like we've always been."

He's silent for a solid minute. His hands are holding his knees to himself, eyes full of contemplation.

"I mean...I guess you can. But you don't have to-"

"I want to, Ben," I assure him once more. "I want to help you."

"I...okay. Sure."

So I tell him. I don't go into deep detail concerning what I'd witnessed if his dream demise, because I knew I'd vomit if I recounted it. But I do end up crying as I recall it all, remembering the fear holding on as I ran from the dinosaurs, the horror as I watched Ben die. I tell him about the last thing I felt as I was swiftly killed by the hybrid dinosaur in the tree. I leave out the details of waking up with...a plan to do it. I couldn't add that worry to his shoulders, or make it harder for me to succeed in the future.

It seemed to help him, what I did tell him. And in return, he willingly and truthfully gave me information on his dream. My heart broke as he told of how he'd seen Darius torn apart by the T-Rex, and crumpled when he recounted everyone else's brutal deaths. He then told me how terrifying it was watching my own life being taken at the hands of a BRAD bot, because I'd jumped in front of him and took the hit of an electric bolt.

Real me would do the same thing without even thinking. And he knew as much, making me promise not to do so. Luckily, it was too dark for him to see my fingers crossed behind my back.

We spoke for a while. We took comfort in us, in just being together. And by the time we laid back down to fall asleep again, I'd almost completely forgotten about what I wanted to do earlier.

Almost.