"Don't shout at me, I promise that I will actually read the recipe this time," Luke laughed as I entered the kitchen, eying him by the oven. I attempted to force a small laugh out of my parched throat, but this wish wasn't granted, leaving me to simply smile. Luke, however, soon took notice of my lack of energy as he raised his head, putting his cookbook down and walking over to me.
"How'd you sleep?" He questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly.
"Okay," I replied. "I hadn't even meant to take a nap."
"I would've left you longer, but Ed is unfortunately due at five," Luke paused, taking a moment to observe my features. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired."
"The tear stains under your eyes tell me something different. I'm not stupid."
"It's nothing, you know what girls are like," I said, looking away from his harsh gaze.
"I know what you're like too, you keep things bottled up and they eat away at you. Please just talk to me."
I stayed silent for a few moments, hoping that he would realise I wasn't going to talk about it. I turned to leave and had made it to the door when he spoke again, "It was another dream wasn't it?"
Pausing, I turned around watched him with apprehension. "Adelaide, please come and sit down." I took a hesitant seat at the worktop bench, while Luke went to collect a glass of water. "I know you don't exactly feel comfortable going into detail about them, but I'm not going to mock you if that's what you're afraid of. I'm not going back to that, you don't deserve to be alone in all of this."
"I don't want to be a burden Luke, they're just dreams."
"Night terrors, Adelaide. The state you were in after that first one was enough to send my mind into frenzy, never mind yours and I don't even understand what goes on in them."
"They all seem to follow on from one another, as if they're part of one big story but I'm only getting sections of it." I paused. Luke moved to stand in front of me, still taller despite me being sat down on the countertop. "I'm outside some warehouse, with crates and boxes surrounding me, like a port somewhere. It's pitch black, I can't see anything, apart from when their torches flash my way, then I can get an idea of my surroundings."
"Who's torches?"
"I don't know who they are. I just know that they are trying to find me, they're shooting as well. There's this constant stream of bullets and you get accustomed to the sound. The worst bit is the person I can hear screaming my name though-"
"Do you know who it is?"
"I have no idea, he just keeps screeching 'Adelaide'. It sounds like he's in just as much pain as I am, yet I know he's moving because I can hear him getting closer. There's this really sharp throbbing in my right side, near my hip, but I think the bleeding is coming from my head because in the first nightmare I remember waking up, finding myself on the gravel floor with my head in sheer agony. In the one I had last, I was just purely listening to the voice, I feel like I know it, but all I could focus on was the fear in it. Then the gun shots started firing again."
The room then fell silent, Luke in his own bubble, seeming to trouble himself about something. I suddenly found myself feeling uncomfortable for getting upset over something so ridiculous.
"I'm sorry, it sounds so silly getting upset over this," I said, going to jump of the counter, but Luke took a swift step forward, moving to stand in between my dangling legs.
"Adelaide, this is far from silly. Like I said I saw how it affected you the first time round. These are not just your average bad dream. This has physical effects on you."
