The Prophesied Chronicles

Assault and Batteries

The front door shut quietly behind me, my hands shaking as I nervously looked around the living room. So far, I couldn't see or hear anything out of place, but I knew that could change in an instant. I didn't know where Ryan was, but it was clear he was home given some of the lights being on.

I quietly slipped my shoes off as quiet as I could, avoiding the creaky parts of the floor that I'd come to memorize over time. Anxiously, I stole a glance out of the living room window as I passed, over to where I had seen Optimus last.

At that moment, I almost wished I could've seen him. At least I wouldn't be sharing the tense moment alone.

I forced my feet to move, heading further into the house and towards the stairs leading to the second floor. I could feel my heart pounding as I looked up the stairs. Ryan's door was close to the top of the stairs, and the walls didn't offer the best sound insulation between the stairs and his room.

I could feel my heart racing in my chest as I slowly, carefully made my way up the stairs, one shaking foot at a time. It was a painstaking effort, and when one of the steps creaked near the top of the steps my heart literally jumped into my throat.

I strained my ears in a panic, trying to hear if anything had changed, any noises at all-

It was at that moment that I heard the faint sound of Ryan's shower running. For a moment, I felt complete relief, before forcing my walls back up just in case. It was best to get into my room as quickly as possible. There was always a chance he wasn't in the shower and could actually still hear me, or worse, elsewhere in the house than his room. My numb feet, after a few moments, carried me to my room, narrowly avoiding the particularly creaky spot between the two smaller rooms.

Relief flooded me as I finally stepped inside my little sanctuary of sorts, only to have my heart plummet at seeing how broken my door was from earlier. It would be even harder to have privacy now, whatever little I already had. Barely managing to hold back a shaky sigh, I carefully began setting my things down with barely a sound. Distantly, I recognized my hands stuffing my things off next to my bed, decently hidden out of sight just in case. I only managed to snap briefly back to the present to plug in my phone, remembering it was completely dead.

I peeked into the hall again, still seeing the dim light from under Ryan's door and the muffled shower sounds. For a moment, a small bubble of hope glimmered in my chest that maybe I could actually be in the clear.

My bed, by now, was growing more and more hard to resist despite all of this, and without much thought, my feet shuffled over to the side of my bed before my mind had consciously realized it.

I really just need to go to sleep.

I couldn't even list the reasons why, my mind was so scrambled with thoughts. Still, my limbs managed to pull me into bed and under my blankets, and at that moment, I felt like things would be okay. Even if for a little while, things would be okay as long as I stayed where I was, in my blankets and mattress...

Eventually, I woke up to faint light filtering through my curtains. Peace washed over me as I slowly came to, starting to move and stretch a little before settling again. I didn't even dare to open my eyes, the moment feeling far too serene. The warmth surrounding me, the dull ache in my body relatively placated by the mattress and the trapped body heat from beneath my blankets felt far too good to ruin the moment by disturbing it in any way.

Several quiet moments passed before those quiet little thoughts began to creep in, the dark little tendrils that permeated the back of my mind.

This wasn't real.

I curled into my blankets a little more, letting out a heavy sigh before finally steeling myself to open my eyes. Blearily, I scanned the room in my half-awake state, nothing other than the door displaced. Despite that, the growing pit in my stomach wasn't going away at the familiarity of my surroundings.