Winged

Nightmares

Falling again. I open my eyes and see dozens of people around me falling. Angels falling from heaven. I look around and I see him. Etheriel falling, unconscious. I look down to see the ground nearing. Its pouring rain and I am soaked. My heart is beating furiously against my rib cage and then I hit the ground and everything goes black.

I jump awake as thunder shakes the house. It's 1:00a.m. on Monday morning. Last night, I had the exact same nightmare as I had the night before that and tonight. Over the past three days the most sleep I have got is eight hours and I am exhausted. The nightmare keeps getting more vivid the more I have it. I roll over and attempt to try and fall asleep again even though I know it is no use. Lightning lights my entire room and for a split second I think I see Nathan standing in the corner, but once I blink he is gone. Great, now I am hallucinating. Thunder booms causing me to jump again. I tip toe across the hall to the bathroom and turn on the light. The sudden brightness blinds me and it takes a minute for my eyes to adjust. I look in the mirror and see that I have very dark circles under my eyes and I am pale. I sigh and decide that I should go ahead and get ready so I turn on the water to fill up the tub. Since I have five hours I decide I should take a relaxing bath. When the bath is filled, I carefully step in and lower myself in the hot water. I close my eyes and lean my head back against the wall. I sit like this for a while hoping that maybe I fall asleep, but I don't. I open my eyes and sit up. I look down and instead of the clear water it's a deep red... like blood. My heart skips a beat and I suck in a deep breath.

"No, this isn't real." I slowly stand and look at my skin to see it has the red stuck to it. My breathing quickens and I try to get out of the tub as fast as I can, causing me to trip and fall out of the tub. I lay on the tile floor for a while before regaining my surrounds and pulling myself up to stand. I lean against the wall, gripping it for support because I am terribly dizzy. After the dizziness goes away, I glance back at the tub to see it is back to normal. I look down at myself only to see droplets of water clinging to my skin. I give up on the bath idea and drain the tub. Wrapping a towel tightly around me, I exit the bathroom going to my room. As soon as I walk in and flip the light on, Etheriel is standing there emotionless. Shocked, I quickly turn to shut and lock the door but when I turn back, he is gone. Yup, its final, I am hallucinating. I look at the clock to see I still have three hours until I need to leave for school so I put in headphones and listen to music.

Two hours later I take out my headphones and get dressed. After getting dressed, straightening my hair, and putting on some make up to try and hide the dark circles (which didn't help at all), I go down stairs and eat some cereal. By the time I finish eating, I should be leaving for school. I put on some converse and walk out the door. I am walking down the sidewalk when I swear I see someone laying face down with pure white wings a little bit in front of me. I jog to the spot looking around for someone and when I look back. No one. My breathing picks up and I jog the rest of the way to school. I quickly go to my locker and grab everything I need before rushing to get to class to sit down. I get there and Nathan is there. He notices me and instantly smiles at me. I sit down in my seat next to him and he turns to face me.

"You look terrible." He says still smiling.

"Ha ha. I feel terrible." I say in an unenthusiastic voice he smiles a little bit more.

When school is over, I gather my thinks and walk out of class. While walking, I lose my balance and almost fall, but Nathan appears at my side and catches me.

"Whoa now, be careful." He says and wraps an arm around my waist to keep me up straight. We walk past a bunch of faces, but one catches my eye as it passes, making me stop and turn.

"Etheriel?" I whisper. I look around, but don't see any sign of him.

"What are you talking about? He isn't here. This is school." Nathan's voice brings me back. I look at him and nod. He frowns, but his eyes look like he is smiling. He walks with me out of school with his arm around my waist. We walk down the sidewalk like this too. When we arrive at my house, he helps me up the porch stairs and into my house also helping me up the stairs to my bedroom. He gently sets me down on the bed and takes off my shoes for me.

"Get some sleep. You need it." He smirks and walks out. I close my eyes and eventually pass out.

I don't remember what I was dreaming about, but I wake up screaming and panting covered in sweat. I frantically look around and realize that Etheriel is sitting beside me on the bed and is looking down at me terrified and shocked. He pulls me to his chest and shushes me.

"It's okay. It was just I nightmare." He holds me tightly. I calm down some and just rest the side of my face on his chest. "What was the nightmare about?" he asks quietly. I sit still for a while thinking about the nightmare it probably was.

"People falling." I whisper. He looks down at me confused. "Angels falling." I add and he starts looking worried. "Was it storming?" I ask.

"When?" he asks.

"When you fell?" I reply. He is silent.

"Yeah, how did you know?" he finally speaks.

"It was in my dream." I answer. He stiffens a little.

"You shouldn't be dreaming about The Fall. You weren't there." He pauses for a while. "How long have you been dreaming this?" he asks and looks down at me.

"Since Friday night." I say quieter.

"You haven't been sleeping right since Friday?" he asks in a surprised worried tone. I nod.

"You must be hallucinating by now, are you?" Once again I nod. He lets out a loud breath and tights his hold on me. "What are you seeing?" he asks. I close my eyes and think if I should tell him I have seen him twice.

"Nathan standing in the corner, blood, someone with wings laying on the ground... and you standing in my room, and walking in a crowd." I say the last part quieter than the rest. He whispers Nathan's name questioningly.

"We will talk more about this tomorrow. You need to sleep." He says and positions back to a laying down position.

"I can't. The nightmare just comes back." I say. He stares at me then nods. He stands up taking off his shirt, he was in shape and still flawless. I give him a questioning look and he goes over and locks the door. He walks back over to the bed and motions for me to scoot over. I do so and his wings unfurl as he lies next to me. He pulls me to him and allows me to lie on his wing. It is extremely soft and comfortable. He lies on his side and brings me closer to him and his wings wrap around me, blanketing me in softness and I suddenly feel very sleepy and pass out.

Sometime during the night I wake a little out of sleep and shift my position to be more comfortable. Without realizing it, I unintentionally rub Etheriel's wing gently and he lets out a soft moan in his sleep causing me to quickly shut my eyes and relax into his feathery pillow. Soon after, I fall back asleep.