Recap: "Clea, are you alright?" His tone had taken over the worry now. He could feel her grasp loosening as the part of his shirt which she had clutched loosed. "Clea." He said desperately as her hand slipped from his back and fell limply to her side.
He drew her back. "Clea." He shook her lightly but her head lolled on to her side. She had fallen unconscious in his arms.
Chapter 4
The room was dimly lit when Clea opened her eyes. The lamps on her bedside table were lit to minimum as they provided the only source of light. Clea looked around herself, the room seemed undisturbed, its majority of the part shadowed in darkness. She could make out the faint outline of the tables and chairs but couldn’t distinguish their colours.
She attempted to get up, putting all her weight on her elbows, just to recognize her surroundings but her hands did not support her weight as she fell back on the pillows. Her breath was slightly elevated as she tried to calm herself. She couldn’t recognize where she was. She looked around for any sign or thing that could tell her where she was but her mind seemed to close down. She did not recognize anything around her.
A small movement in the far corner of the room caught her eye. She narrowed her eyes in that direction wishing she could see in the dark. She could make out the heavy form of a black couch huddled against the wall. A figure lay slumped on it, but she couldn’t see who it was. The faint outline of the man was all that she could see.
She closed her eyes in terror. She didn’t know where she was, she didn’t why she felt so heavy and why her body wasn’t supporting her anymore. She tried to think of anything, anything she could remember from the day but she couldn’t. No memory came to her that could have told her as to what had happened. She didn’t know where she was, she didn’t know who the man was and suddenly she felt like she didn’t know who she was either.
She tried desperately, thinking over things again and again but she couldn’t. She was panicking as she found herself getting nowhere. A soft whimper left her as she tried to remember things. The figure on the couch moved at the sound of her whimper and his movement caught Clea’s attention. Her heart beat faster as the figure slowly got up and moved in her direction.
She clutched the bed sheet tightly into her tiny fists and closed her eyes. A tear fell from her right eye as she tried to drown out the horror that she felt. She knew she was vulnerable and helpless and that whoever he was, was going to hurt her badly.
Her nails dug into the white sheet as she heard the man’s approaching footsteps. A flash…and she got very still. She could see a small child, huddled against a corner of a dark room; a heavy man loomed over her, a leather belt in his hands. He lifted the belt and swung it hard over the girl’s small shoulder.
Clea gave out a loud cry of horror and hurt.
“Clea…hey sweetheart, it’s okay. Everything’s okay. I’m here now. Shush….calm down.” She heard a distant voice say to her. She felt someone’s hands running through her hair, attempting to calm her. She could feel the heavy breaths of the man who was doing it to her. But Clea refused to open her eyes; she was still captivated by the small girl in her dream.
The man struck again and the girl cried out and so did Clea. She could hear the man’s voice again. “Clea, please open your eyes. Don’t be scared. I’m here, nothing is happening to you. I won’t allow whatever it is to hurt you. I promise you. Please open your eyes.” She could clearly hear the worry in his voice and she wanted to open them and see who the man was that cared for her.
All her life, Clea was an ignorant child; no one cared what happened to her, no one cared about her. She wanted to open her eyes and thank the man for caring about her, to tell him how much it meant to her but she couldn’t. She was being held in her dreams against her won will; she was kidnapped from the present and tied to the past horrible memories.
The man with the belt laughed cruelly as the small girl’s cry grew louder. Clea wanted to get out of there but she couldn’t. The huge man lifted the belt again to strike the poor girl. She lifted her arms to protect her and the heavy leather belt struck her across her hands. The belt cut across her skin and blood oozed out of it. Clea screamed in horror and her eyes snapped open.
Luca's face swam into her view. Small creases on his forehead deepened as Clea stared into his eyes.
"Hey, all you all right?" He asked, his voice still etched with worry.
"Luca." She sobbed, his name coming out in a broken form as tears slipped down her face again.
"Shush....its okay. Calm down Clea, it’s okay." He shushed her as her cries grew louder.
"Luca..." She sobbed again. He extended his arms and took her in them. He rocked her for a while as she cried harder and harder.
"Clea...no baby, shush....don't cry, everything will be all right." The words came out desperately, as if he was convincing himself rather than her.
"Don't worry, I'm here for you and I always will be. I won't let anything hurt you. I promise you." That seemed to do the trick as Clea’s sobs slowly started to die down. He continued to rock her as she settled for silent hiccups.
"We'll be all right." He whispered as he combed his fingers through her hair. He looked down at her to convince himself that she was fine.
Her face was confronted in fear, fear of something he did not know, her eyes were wide and tears still slipped from them. Her hands had clutched a major part of his shirt as she held him dearly and broke into fresh sobs.
"Clea, please, calm down. Its okay. You have nothing to worry about. You are fine. Nothing is ever going to happen to you." He whispered but his voice broke at the end and he felt crushed at the state of his sister.
"Luca..." Clea managed to whisper his name in between her sobs.
"Yes, honey?" He whispered as he tightened his hold on her.
"What happened? I don't remember anything." She continued.
Luca stared down at Clea, shock evident on his face. He stared deep into her blue eyes as he absorbed what she said.
"You don't?" He asked, scared for the answer himself.
She shook her head sideways, giving him a nonverbal no. She clutched his shirt even tighter as she buried her head into his chest. Luca couldn't think of anything else. He simply rocked her again and again, too shocked and confused to answer her.
"You don't remember anything?" He asked her, his heart racing with every second she took to answer his question.
"No." She whispered. If Luca hadn't seen her lips moving he wouldn’t have heard her.
"What is the last thing you remember?" He asked softly so as not to scare her with his questions and worry.
"Going to bed." She whispered softly again, the words barely coming out of her mouth.
"Nothing after that?"
"No." Her voice shook as she whispered again.
Luca's body grew rigid and his hold tightened even more. "You don't remember coming to me in the middle of the night?"
"I did?" She asked, looking up at him, a surprised look on her face.
"Yes. I think you had a nightmare. You don't wake up otherwise. Do you remember anything?" He asked still combing his fingers through her hair.
"I don't remember anything, Luca." Her voice broke yet again and Luca hastily calmed her down.
"Its okay, no problem. You might be stressed. That is why you might not be remembering it." He said slowly.
"Hmm..."
"Okay, I think you should doze off now. You need more rest." Luca said, as he lifted himself off her bed. Before he could take a step away from her, she caught his arm.
"Luca?" She called out. He turned around to face her hastily.
"Yes honey?"
"Stay with me please?" She asked, her face turning into one of a little girl asking her father to stay with her till she fell asleep just because she was too scared to sleep alone with a thunder roaring outside.
Luca smiled down at her petite form. "Sure." He said and slid under the covers, beside her again.
"Luca?"
"Yes?"
"Will you always stay with me?" She asked, lifting her head from his arms and looking up at him once again.
Luca couldn't resist her face. He had always melted at the sight of her wide blue eyes, shining in innocence up at him. He kissed her on the forehead and whispered," Always."
Clea smiled, all worries forgotten for the night. She buried her face in his arms once again and she closed her eyes. She didn't know when she fell asleep but she knew one thing, she was not going to have any other nightmare that night because the simple presence of Luca always cleared away any darkness that loomed over her.
The next day dawned bright and fresh for Luca Walther. Of course he was worried for his only sister but he had just checked upon her and from what he saw; she was still fast asleep, with no nightmares disturbing her. Ever since his parents had adopted Clea he had always thought that she was his responsibility and nobody else's. He had never expected his mom to care for her, especially after their dad left them for another woman. Luca had taken up her responsibility completely after that. Their mom had gotten into drugs and drinking and plainly ignored and refused to accept Clea as her daughter. Luca had been her parent since then.
He collected his files from his desk and walked downstairs. He had a lot of work to do that day, lot meetings to attend and all of them had millions of dollars to offer for his company. But his worry about Clea wasn't leaving his mind. He knew she was going to be all right, he knew she was all grown up but still those thoughts did nothing to comfort him.
The sound of his phone ringing bought him back from his reverie. He lifted his phone and saw Ryan's name flashing on the screen. He smiled; Ryan was just the man he wanted to talk to. Ryan knew how to ease some of him tension, he had done the same thing, some hours ago too when Clea had fallen unconscious in his arms. He had called up Ryan and talked to him about an hour and after that he had felt light headed and positive.
“Ryan, just the man I wanted to talk to.” He said.
“Luca. How is Clea? Is she all right?” Ryan was still worried, it was clear from the way he spoke.
“Yeah, she is still sleeping. But she doesn’t remember anything from the night.” Luca’s smile disappeared as he remembered how Clea had told him that she couldn’t remember anything from the night.
“How is that possible Luca?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know, I think, maybe the day wore down on her.” Luca combed his fingers through his hair and started pacing the length of the living room.
“Maybe. But I think you should still talk to Dr Watson.” Ryan suggested.
“I think I will.” Luca started pinching the bridge of his nose, a habit when he was in tension and nervous.
“Listen Ryan, will you check up on Clea later on in the day? I have a couple of meetings to attend today but I’ll try to make it early in the evening.” Luca stopped pacing as he waited for Ryan to answer.
“Luca, you don’t have to ask. I sure will. Don’t worry.”
“Thanks man.” Luca said softly.
“No problem.” Ryan answered back.
Luca sat down slowly on the couch, million things running through his mind. He knew he would be eternally gratefully to him; it wouldn’t have been possible taking care of Clea without the constant support of Ryan. He also knew everything was going to be all right in the end but sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder how difficult that was going to be, he was a single parent after all.