◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈
◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈
THIS WAS BEGINNING TO BECOME TOO FREQUENT. For the last three nights of sleep Astrid had gotten, every single time she shut her eyes, her brain haunted her with terrors that she'd grown accustomed to seeing. It wasn't like there was anything she could do about it, she awoke, stuck in a nightmare, unable to wake up until she saw what her brain wanted her to see.
Here she was, staring at a reflection of herself on a shiny black wall. Everything about herself made her look wiser like she'd seen something that would haunt her forever. Her once vibrant green eyes dim like mud caking a once shiny emerald. Her hair was let down like a waterfall flowing down smooth rocks, however, it wasn't as clean as it used to be, not with all the baby hairs sticking out.
The skin of her cheek was pink and her chest heaving in the white ball gown she was in–she was clearly running from something before she had entered whatever place in her mind this was. This revelation shook Astrid's lungs as she backed away from the shiny wall, frantic eyes sweeping her surroundings.
All around her were tall and shiny black walls, some accessorized in white lights. Her hair swished as she turned her head both left and right. They looked identical–both leading to a turn. Which way was she supposed to run?
But her question wasn't unanswered for long. Heavy footsteps echo down the hall, coming from the right end of the hall. Astrid's stomach churned as she quickly moved her feet in the opposite direction of the incoming footsteps.
Her head spun with thoughts, one prominent one was, how does she leave this night terror? She was so done with these games, all she wanted was a peaceful rest. Her eyes began to burn with building tears. A ball of frustration builds in her throat as she takes the turn only to find a similar hallway.
Her legs began to feel a small burn as her feet hauled her further down the hall, the heavy footsteps behind her not stopping. Quickly glancing over her shoulder, her heart began to race as she saw the figure that was chasing her, the built-up tears sliding down her smooth skin.
They were terrifying. A shiny black mask covered their face, carved into their facial features. If side by side, Astrid knew he'd tower over her. But she noticed one thing that made her heart beat even faster.
The chestplate technology.
It was part of the suits from her previous night terrors. Was Anakin under the mask?
Astrid wasn't keen on finding out, so that brief moment glance at the towering man only encouraged her to move faster. Her lungs screamed for some relief, leg muscles on fire from the constant motion, the corset tied around her ribs digging into her skin from each rigid breath–her body wanted to stop.
But she didn't.
The thick skirt of her ball gown blew behind her, she cursed at herself for putting it on, it added so much weight. Her hair copied the dress's motion, sweeping over her bare shoulders and onto her back. She was thankful for the lack of shoes on her feet, heels would've made things much harder.
"You can't run forever, my flower," a garbled voice comes from behind the running girl. Astrid had paid no mind to any sounds other than her heartbeat and his footsteps, but now that she was pulled from that gaze, she heard the same mechanical breathing from her very first nightmare.
"Like hell I can't," Astrid mutters under her breath, arms lifting the heavy and thick skirt of her dress. The drag of it on the ground only slowed her down. The tears falling from her eyes slightly blurred her vision. Every hall looked the same.
"Baby, you're wearing yourself out for no reason. Just stop running," his voice becoming more cold and demanding. Before, though it was strange, it was soft, almost teasing, but now, whoever it was, they were getting angry.
Astrid didn't waver at the shift in tone. Her fate was sealed if she stopped running, so might as well try to get the hell out of wherever she was. "Please be a doorway or something," Astrid pleads in a quiet whisper as she makes another turn.
However, it seemed like the galaxy was laughing at her, taunting her, using her for entertainment. In front of her was a duo of troops, much like the Clone troopers the Republic had. But there was something wrong with them.
Their weapons were aimed directly at her. This wasn't the troops she was thinking about. Her feet slid to a stop, legs wobbly from the exertion. Her breath came out loud as she struggled to take in any air, resulting in the constant rise and fall of her chest that just so happened to be constricted by a corset.
"I told you not to wear yourself out," a gloved hand touches the small of her back. Astrid jumps in fear, tears speeding down her face. The man places his hands around her abdomen, spinning her around to face him. Her breathing hadn't calmed down a bit, she was now beginning to feel faint and restricted.
Astrid felt small and vulnerable. Her watery eyes looked up at the masked man frantically, loud gasps for air slipping from her lips. Just as suspected, he towered over her, she had to look up to meet his mask's lenses.
A hand raises to her chin, tilting her head up by his pointer and middle finger. His thumb leaves feather-light brushes against her quivering bottom lip. "There's no need to cry, my delicate flower," his mask dips closer, the one hand on his waist pulling her flush against the computer on his chest, "I only want what's best for you."
"Who–" Astrid cuts herself off with a few harsh breaths, tears obscuring her vision of the masked man. His hand on her waist moves to rub the small of her back soothingly almost as if urging her to keep trying to talk. She manages to choke out, "who are you?"
"That's a question for another time," his head lifts to look at the troops, his grip on her chin and body not moving. Astrid could feel the sudden anger coming off in waves from the man. "I gave you direct orders to not harm the girl, why are your guns out?"
Before anyone could answer, a loud choked grunt echoed down the dim halls. Astrid wanted to turn to look at what was happening, but the masked man held her head still by her chin. He looks down at her, the wheezing and choking noises not ceasing.
"I don't need your innocent eyes to see this," he says, voice light, a stark contrast to the clone had faced, "keep those pretty little eyes on me."
Astrid was beginning to realize that whoever this man is behind the mask will not harm her. He was gentle with her, both physically and with his voice. It sort of comforted her, her body relaxing slightly under his hold.
Unbeknownst to her, the little relaxing of her muscles had sent a burst of serotonin throughout Vader's body.
Then a loud bang echoed through the wall. It was deafening, but it woke her up.
◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈
𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐥.
𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰.
𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝!
◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈
◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈