Those That Slither | ON HOLD

Nineteen

The waters that were the night were whirling around her as Leah sat barely alert on the edge of the couch. What she had seen, who she said seen was one of the biggest shocks since it all began. It left her spirit digging for answers she wasn't sure she wanted. The ensemble of confusion she wore weighed her down as she fell further into thought.

Her nightmares had gone from snakes to figures to her late mother, and now her brothers face was placed upon who had been sentencing her. It had been so long since she'd seen her older brother, Derek.

The entirety of their relationship was simple and not very close. Being years apart, most of their contact was fighting over juvenile things or purposely trying to ignore the other. They didn't have an unbreakable bond some siblings were lucky to have, and the gap between them always left her wondering why.

After the accident, they were pushed even further apart. But Leah had grown distant from everyone at that point and she didn't have the time to try to mend an already incomplete relationship.

Did that have something to do with her dream? Had her subconscious pulled faces from her past to include in the dark crafted nightmares or was there something she was missing?

Deep inside Leah, there were walls around walls surrounding secrets she never wished to discuss nor rekindle their origins. Had it come time to dig them up?

Anything is possible now.

Daniel sat beside her, taking her mind back to her living room. He rest his hand on her knee, "I put some tea on the stove for you."

She nodded her head, "Thank you."

He stared into her with a deep lingering worry in his eyes, "You're not all the way here, are you?"

His question pulled her closer. Leah wet her lips and raked a hand through her hair, "Is it that obvious?"

"To me. You just look so... gone."
I wish I was. She tilted her head allowing her hair to fall past her shoulder, rushing below her breast, "I'm so lost right now, I don't think having a map could help me."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know if it will matter, nothing is going to change until this is all over with."

"Yeah but it might make you feel better."

"Doubt it."

"Don't," he grabbed her hand, "Try me."

Behind her glazed eyes, she yearned to talk to him until everything locked inside of her head was spoken into the night. There was such a longing to be relieved of the pressure of keeping things in the cellar of her soul.

They had come such a long way in such a short time. He seemed so kind and selfless; so warm and inviting. If it felt good just having him around, how wonderful would it be to dive in and not come up for air until her cripple soul was relieved?

Leah sighed, eyeing his hand holding hers. He was raised to be a good man. Good men didnt belong beside a basket case, abandoning their good lives to save someone who might not be able to be saved. She swallowed in guilt, "I... I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"Its too much," her hand broke free of his grasp and she looked away, "This is all too much."

"What do you mean?" There was a hint of hurt in his voice that swirled into her ears. She leaned forwards and tucked her head into her palms, "Im sorry. "

"Why?" He inched to the edge of the couch when she didn't reply, "Why are you apologizing Leah?"

Her eyes were wet, mind racing between the man in her dreams and the man beside her. Two very different emotions rolled around in her stomach, fighting for spotlight. The fear and the frustration it brought would determine the rest of her life.