The sounds of running feet could be heard. A child could be seen in boyish clothes but yet had pigtails in her dark brown hair. She ran as fast as she could. Her bare feet padding on the cold ground as she ran.
She was scared, even though she has been threw this nearly every night. The same place, the same man, the same voice, she didn't like it. Why did she fall asleep?
"Cassia? Why must you always run? We know how this ends." The voice taunted. She made a turn and went to a door. She threw it open and ran in. She ran under a bed, not even taking time to admire how beautiful the room was.
She covered her mouth and tried to stay as quiet as possible. She could try to wake herself up when he leaves the door way. She figured.
But he didn't pass. He knew where she was. He always knew where she was. She was in his world here. He had the powers to do whatever here. She knew that, yet she kept resisting. Much to his twisted pleasure and slight annoyance.
She froze seeing him walk into the room. The same man the voice from earlier belonged to. His long white hair fell past his strong shoulders. He was dressed elegantly yet like a warrior. But his weapons was missing.
But she knew he didn't need weapons. Oh no. Not him. He was even more dangerous without them.
He chuckled. "The little princess forgot I love games since she seems to want to play one now." He taunted, walking around the room. He knew exactly where she was hiding and was just making her suffer.
He finally made it to the bed. "Come on little one. Under the bed? Its original." He taunted. She shook more as he got to his knees and leaned down. His brown eyes sparkling with evil mischief. "Found you." He said
___
"Cassia!" A voice shouted, making the child jolt awake with a gasp, feeling herself being shaken. She panted looking around, she looked up at her teacher. "Cassia, this is the fouth time in two weeks you have fallen asleep in class. I am going to have to call your parents." Her teacher said.
"No! I'm sorry! I promise I wont fall asleep again!" She begged. The other kids around her giggling at her. They liked that she was in trouble. The freak.
"I'm sorry sweety." The teacher said, walking away. Lily groaned and laid her head on the desk, her tiny body shaking as she cried quietly. She didn't want to worry her parents. They had enough to worry about.
___
Lily sat swinging her legs as she, was in front of the principals office. Her parents was sitting in the office with the school councilor. She wiped her eyes of her tears. She looked up at the councilor came out. She smiled at the young nine year old.
"Hey Cassia. I want to talk to you about something. Can I sit with you?" She asked. Cassia nodded. So the woman sat. "So your teacher said you keep falling asleep in class. Is everything alright at home?" She asked.
"Miss. Bentley, nothing is wrong at home. My parents don't fight. I'm not abused. I have three full meals at home." She mumbled. "I just have trouble staying asleep."
Lilly told the councilor. The councilor nodded. The child looked up at the woman. "Can I go home?" She asked the woman. The woman nodded and Lilly hopped off the chair, and grabbed her bookbag. She gave a small smile to the woman who was just trying to do her job.
"I really am fine. I promise, if I have any problems I'll tell you." She promised. Miss. Bentley nodded giving the child a smile.
___
"Lilly, why aren't you sleeping?" The doctor asked. Lily's green eyes looked at the woman, before looking back down, playing with her hair, which was once again in pigtails. "Are you're parents having trouble at home?" The doctor asked. The question made the girl look up and smile amused.
"Why does everyone ask that?" Lilly asked. "Sometimes children, when they are around arguing parents, or if there is abuse in the household it can cause the child to become restless." The woman said.
"No, my parents don't argue, and they aren't abusive." Lilly told the doctor, who nodded and wrote down some notes. "What about school? Any problems there?" Dr. Gorski asked. Lilly's smile dropped and she looked back down.
Gorski nodded a bit and wrote a note down. "People think I'm weird. They call me freak." She suggested. "Why is that you think?" Gorski asked. Lilly shrugged. "Cause I dress like a boy, because I like books and not playing with others, cause I'm not as smart as them maybe? I'm not sure." She said shrugging.
"Lilly? Do you have any friends?" She asked. Lilly nodded. "Yeah, her name is Hannah." Gorski nodded. "Good. It's great to have friends. And sometimes having one friend is the best." Gorski told the child, who gave her a small smile.
"Your parents tell me that you sometimes scream in your sleep. Are you having nightmares?" Gorski asked her, wanting the child to tell her about the nightmares. Or maybe she doesn't remember them? But that didn't answer the question why she fought sleep like the plague.
Lilly shrugged. She didn't like talking about her dreams. They scared her. She didn't like thinking about it. Or of him.
The doctor looked at the time, seeing that their time was up, she and the child got up and went out to the waiting room. Her parents stood when they walked out. They sent her over to the couch in the waiting room while the adults spoke.
"I want to run some tests. I want to put her to sleep and do some dream therapy. You will be in the room with me while it happens so nothing happens without your ok. I think its stress that is stopping her from sleeping. But I can't be fully sure until I have more time and run tests." Dr. Gorski told them.
Lilly's parents Megan, and Charlie, looked at their daughter. "Please we just want her to have the help she needs. She's hurting herself to stay awake. We can't have that. She could accidently kill herself." Charlie said. Dr. Gorski nodded. "Ok. I will call you to set it up.
____
Charlie, Megan, Dr. Gorski, and other doctors was sitting and watching the little girl who was fighting the sleeping drug that was in her system. But with her hands and feet tied to the bed. For her safety, as the one male doctor told her.
She kept shaking her head to jerk herself awake. She looked at the mirror that she was told that everyone will be behind. "Please mommy, daddy. Don't make me do this." She begged.
Megan covered her mouth letting a sob out, she hated seeing her miracle baby this terrified. Of sleeping no less! Her husband held her and rubbed her back soothingly.
Soon the parents and Dr. Gorski relaxed seeing Lilly finally fall asleep. Losing the battle against the sleeping drugs. "Ok. She's finally asleep. She should be in deep sleep right aboooout.... now." A doctor, sitting in front of a screen, said.
"She will be starting to dream in a moment.... and there it is... she's dreaming." He continued. They all, but that one doctor, looked up at the child patient. Watching her breathing peacefully. they were pleased that she was sleeping peacefully, or at least it seemed that she was sleeping peacefully.
But soon an alert on the one computer screen went off. Her heart rate started rising, and looking at Lilly, they saw her struggling against the binds. She was breathing heavily. She started screaming. "Please stop this!" Charlie shouted hiding his sobbing wife's face to his chest.
Dr. Gorski and two other doctors ran into the room. Gorski got a needle ready to wake the child up, while the other doctors tried to get her to lay flat. Gorski put the dose of adrenaline into the child's arm and soon the child gasped awake.
She was unhooked and she quickly sat up, backing away from them all and panted loudly as she shook. Gorski came over and comforted the child.
The child looked at the doctor tearfully. "His name is Rhagnar." She whispered.