Secrets Intertwined

XXI

Tamani prowled along with Jackson, checking the territory from the occasion intruder they found. After skirting the border a couple of times, Tamani gestured to Jackson that they could go back home, the first morning light was just beginning to light up the sky.

"It's been really quiet rec-" Tamani was cut off by a bloodcurdling scream.

Spinning around, Jackson frantically searched for the source of the sound but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Within seconds of the scream being heard, they could see Logan jogging toward them. "Who was it?" he shouted.

Tamani, who was still scanning the trees, replied, "I don't know."

An eery silence followed, as the three of them split into groups up and began to quietly search the clearing. After several minutes, another scream could be heard and Tamani yelled, "It's coming from the Community house!"

Jackson could feel his heart skip a beat and he raced to the house, yanked the door open and ran up the stairs towards Aislyn's room.

Throwing her bedroom door open, he frantically looked around her room and looked for the danger.

There was no one there.

But Aislyn lay on her bed, tangled in her covers, soaking in sweat, thrashing around. Jackson ran to her side and shook her by her shoulders.

"Aislyn!"

Her eyes flew open and in one fluid movement, she launched herself at him, gripping his neck between her hands. Flying backwards, Jackson landed on his back on her bedroom floor as she crouched over him, snarling in his face.

"Ais," he choked out, "It's me!"

Aislyn gasped and threw herself off him and edged backwards long the carpet, so her back was against the wall.

"Jack?"

Coughing, Jackson rose to his knees, hand pressed against his neck. He kept his eyes trained on her even as he could see that the others had arrived.

Scrambling to her feet, Aislyn barged her way through the onlookers and straight into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Logan rushed over to him and helped him to his feet, "What happened?!"

"I don't know," he replied in a raspy voice, "I think she was having a nightmare."

He could hear Tamani banging on the bathroom door, demanding that Aislyn open it.

Jackson walked over and gently shoved Tamani out of the way.

"Ais? Are you okay?"

He heard a humourless laugh before she replied, "I should be asking you that."

A few seconds passed before he heard a click of the bathroom lock, taking a step back, he looked at Aislyn who ignored him.

She walked past everyone else, and into her bedroom. She straightened out her covers before climbing into bed, where she sat, arms crossed staring at everyone.

Before anyone could get the chance to get a word in, Aislyn said, "Sorry, I usually manage to wake myself up before it goes too far. I must have been in a deep sleep."

"'Wake yourself up'?"

"Yeah. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be going back to sleep now. Don't forget to close the door on your way out!" And with that, she lay down and pulled the covers over her head.

Tamani stormed over to her side and yanked the covers off her, ignoring her splutters on indignation.

"No!" he snapped, "You can't just say something like that and just expect us to go along with it! It's time you started explaining yourself."

Wordlessly, Aislyn sat up and stared back at Tamani, tilting her head with a calculating look.

In a quiet voice, barely louder of a whisper, she replied, "I had a nightmare. Now unless you are a clueless idiot, you know what a nightmare is. And you know that it isn't a pleasant thing."

With unshed tears, glistening in her eyes, she snarled, "Respect my privacy. If I don't want to talk about something, there's a reason for it."

Tamani stood wordlessly, staring at her shaking form, her whole body was a sickly grey colour and her eyes were a dull colour.

Aislyn turned to Jackson and Logan, who stood outside around her bedroom door, and said, "Sorry for waking you."

Cutting off Jackson, who had opened her mouth to reply something, Aislyn said, "Goodnight."

"But-"

"Goodnight."

With one last lingering glance at Aislyn, the onlookers slowly backed away from her door and Aislyn could hear them quietly walk out of her house, talking between themselves.

Narrowing her eyes Tamani, who still stood in shock next to her bed, Aislyn grabbed her pillow, lay down and shoved it over her face. "Goodnight," She mumbled.

Without saying a word, he left her room, followed by Jackson and Logan, who turned off the light and shut the door on his way out. Aislyn took the pillow away, pulled up the covers and lay back down, rubbing her sore eyes, ignoring the throbbing, dull aching in her tired limbs.

Just as she got comfortable, her door abruptly swung open and Aislyn shot up, eyes trained on the figure looking in the doorway.

"Shut the front door, you son of a biscuit!" She yelled, words garbled by the shock of the surprise.

"Why are you back here?" She demanded to know, crossing her arms.

She was taken by surprise as Jackson marched over to her and pushed her along the bed so that she was lying in the middle, rather than in the side.

"Jack!"

Hearing a noise, she turned her head to her bedroom door where she saw Logan walking in with Tamani in tow.

"What the fuck?!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Ignoring her, both Tamani and Jackson pulled back the covers and got in beside her, Tamani lying across the foot of the bed. As Logan lay down and rested his arms behind his head, Aislyn was left sitting up, spluttering remarks that went on unhearing ears.

Nudging her brother's shoulder, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her.

"I'm here so that I can wake you up from your nightmares."

Blinking, Aislyn stared at him, her face expressionless.

"You're not alone. I'm not going anywhere."

She turned to Logan who already had snuggled under the duvet, "ditto."

"Yeah," came another voice from the bottom of her bed

Nodding, Aislyn lay back down, facing the ceiling and fell into a dreamless sleep, a smile plastered across her face.

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