Dusk til Dawn | n.mikaelson (book one)

XXXVIX: Stand By Me

As soon as she looked down at the child, the crying stopped. It was like everything had gone quiet. Briana let out a small, slightly relieved smile, looking down at the baby girl. Her dark eyes accompanied the few hairs on the back of her head. 

She let out a breath as she reached into the crib to grab the baby, "It's okay sweet girl, I'll protect you." She cooed as she cupped the baby's head. 

Suddenly, Briana couldn't breath and there was a stabbing pain in her stomach. She reached down to where her stomach hurt and was horrified to see her red stained hands. She clutched her throat unable to bleed as she began coughing up blood. 

She tried to regain her composure so she could save the small child who calling out for help with her cries. They grew louder, and louder, and louder as Briana was forcefully turned to come face to face with a man who shoved a hunting knife through her stomach. 

"All of you must die." He sneered as Briana's eyes were full of fear as she continued to choke.

Briana looked at the man with confused eyes, silently begging for her life like the woman in the kitchen. The man slammed Briana back into the wall, placing his knife up against her neck. 

It was only then that Briana noticed a second crib on the other end of the room. She tilted her head slightly to better see inside, she felt the cold blade against her skin. 

To her surprise, the other child, slightly over a year old, was sitting there. Silently. Briana was amazed at how calm the child could be, and slightly frightened, but she noticed the child's eyes were fixated on her sister who screaming in the other crib. Like she wanted to jump out of the crib and save them both. 

Briana tried to fight the man but she was too weak and could barely breath. As she squirmed in his grip he slowly started to slide the knife across her throat, a small drop of blood slowly starting to pour out as Briana tried to scream.

And suddenly everything went dark. 

Briana shot up in the bed she shared with Klaus, she was gasping for breath. She felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest as she she clutched it. Small beads of sweat formed from fear on her forehead. 

"Briana. Hey, sweetheart, it's me. It's me." Klaus spoke frantically but calm as he sat at Briana's side. He placed his palm on the side of her face trying to calm her down.

Briana was disoriented from the nightmare. Her breath was still staggered still not believing she wasn't in the house.

"You're okay. You're safe." Klaus spoke calmly and watched as Briana's breathing returned to a normal pace. 

Briana closed her eyes to regain her composure. She was no stranger to the process of calming herself down from a nightmare, 'It was just a dream' she told herself, 'It's not real.'

Klaus watched with concern in his eyes as Briana closed her eyes, silently muttering to herself. He stroked her hair to try and keep her calm but she was frightening even him. 

When Briana opened her eyes again, everything was clear. For years as a child, she would have that exact same nightmare. She was in the dimly lit house when all the sudden peace disappeared, the lights went out and madness started. She would wake up sobbing in a full body sweat. As the years went on, and the same nightmare became more frequent, Briana knew how to cope upon waking up. She knew it was a dream even though nothing had ever felt more real. 

"I'm okay." Briana whispered, avoiding eye contact with Klaus from her own embarrassment, but she could tell he was worried by the grip he had on her arm.