Chim - Don't Help Me

Chapter 14

(Cheryl's POV)

Darkness, a glimpse of light, then, darkness again. A surge of pain rushes to me temples as another blow is landed. The figure hovers above us, menacing and... dead.

There is no light in its eyes as it holds us down, gnarling it's teeth and gripping the collar of my coat. Staring into me eyes, it raises its fist again and lands the final blow, drenching us both in sweat and me own blood. Then the monster lets go, gets up from it's position kneeling on top of us, steps into the light, and turns one last time, it's mouth curling upwards into a smirk.

A light shines behind it's head, through squinted eyes, I see it's face. His face. And his knuckles. Bruised and spotted with blood. His and mine. The nail in the coffin.

He sees us glaring at him, and he turns once again, the light behind him casting a shadow, staring into the eyes of my devil. It spits in me face and raises its fist...

(Kimberley's POV)

Something to my left shoots up, tearing the sheets off my body in the process. I stir, and feel the cold breeze on my side, the side which she was keeping warm. I look over my shoulder and see a figure tossing and turning, ripping at the blankets in pain. My eyes adjust to the darkness and I see her, Cheryl.

Thrashing, thrashing, from side to side, gripping on to the side of the bed post for dear life, soaked in her own sweat. I make a rash decision to wake her, feeling somewhere in my gut that she genuininely is in pain, one way or another.

I slowly turn and just watch for a moment. Her face twisted in pain, her body glistening with sweat, with each movement rising the temperature in the room. I reach over and tap her once, to no avail. So I do it again, but she continues thrashing from side to side. I grip her shoulder and shake her violently, hoping that she will be able to distinguish between her dreams and reality.

She screams, and bats my hand out of the way, sitting bolt upright and in the process, pushing me away from her.

"Oh my goodness Kimba! Are you ok? Wh-" She trails off and raises her hand to my face, assessing the damage, apologizing over and over.

"Relax Chez, you didn't hurt me."

"Are you sure?" I roll over to face her, her brow raised in anxiety, reaching my hand up, I stroke the dampness away from her forehead and smile.

"I'm sure babe. You didn't hurt me."

"But I hit you didn't I? While I was...sleeping."

"I was trying to wake you up. You were having a dream remember?" She grimaces and rolls onto her back again.

"Yeah, yeah I was."

"You gonna tell me about it?"

"Not much to tell." She whispers out quickly.

"Cheryl. Really? I doubt it."

She sighs and grabs my hands, rolling me on top of her and looking me straight in the eye.

"Promise us something?"

"Yeah?"

She looks at our entwined fingers and for a second a look of worry crosses her face, but she fights it.

"Promise us that you'll never hurt me?" It comes out as more of a pleading question than a statement.

"Promise." I smile, "Promise me something?"

"Yes Kimba?"

"Promise you'll tell me what happened?"

"Kimberley. That's not a promise, that's a question."

"And yours wasn't?"

She nods,

"No, it wasn't a question, I already know you have no intention of hurting us, but everybody changes..."

"But I promised."

"So did he."

She looks me dead in the eye as she says this, eye-contact not wavering for a fraction of a second. Then she breaks it, and her eyes focus at a spot on the cream wall.

"Can you, can you hold us? Just normal? I'm not making sense."

She rolls me off her and lays me next to her, wrapping her arms around me and holding on for dear life, and I feel as though I am her shield, though truly incapable from deflecting any bullets that may come her way.

"You were on top of us. Like him in me dream."

It all starts to make sense in my mind, connecting the dots, she doesn't need to explain now, I know who 'him' is. I turn to face her, missing the look of her eyes, the emotion, and I slip my arms around her waist.

"Do I need to ask?"

"I assume that you don't have to."

I don't. I have a fair idea about what that dream involved. Who that dream involved.

"Can I tell you something?" She asks, biting on her bottom lip nervously, as if she is about to make a confession.

"The dream. I have - I've been having 'em for a while, and I never understood why. But tonight, with you, that was the first time I...saw his face. What the fook does that mean Kimba?"

I giggle, even in the most serious of situations she still is adorable in one way or another.

"What ya laughing at?"

I look straight at her, biting the inside of my cheeks to keep from cackling,

"Nothing. Well, you. How are you so cute?" She pouts.

"I'm not cute. This is serious Kimba."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Kimberley, what does it mean?" I shake my head.

"I have no idea Cheryl. I really don't."

"God. If you could see the shit in me brain, I'm telling ya, you would get lost in there. I get lost sometimes."

She pulls me closer into her, if that is humanly possible, and rests her head in the crook of my neck, our limbs now all thoroughly entangled,

"But I'll find my way out."

I smile, and at exactly the same time she looks up at me, a cute little grin on her face.

"Everything seems so clear right now. Not at the time, but in this moment."

I nod and kiss her on the forehead. Of course this isn't true, this is the most chaotic my life has ever been, but when I'm with her, everything seems so clear.

I'm sad or I'm happy.

I stay or I leave.

I save or I don't save.

But there is one question that I can't answer.

She snuggles further into me, her body fitting perfectly into mine, and I resist the urge to lean in, and taste her lips again, an urge that really doesn't make sense in my head at all. I stroke her back lightly, moving further and further down. I feel her naked flesh under mine, she must have stripped down to her underwear before bed as well, this thought sends tingles through my body, tingles where there shouldn't be tingles. She moves her lips to my ear and whispers.

"Get some sleep babe."

And there are those tingles.

I sigh and lets my arms rest on her waist, trying desperately to let sleep take over, but my thoughts keep interrupting. Then she gives me one last look, a dazzling smile, her eyes twinkling for the first time in a long time, capturing every bit of light in the room.

And suddenly, everything is simple again.