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I make chase. My heart races from the remnants of my dream and from the sheer terror in her voice.
“Doe, wait!” I round the corner and see her sprint into the guest room with Betsy fast on her heels. Knowing she has no escape, I slow my steps and take a deep breath. Cradling my pulsating wrist to my chest, I lean against the doorframe. My eyes scan the darkness until I pick out her unmoving form standing in the far corner by the window and the chair I dragged in there just yesterday. “Please, tell me what’s wrong. What has you spooked?”
Her body trembles visibly in the meager light from the moon. “It-it-it was y-you.”
“What was me?” I ask back with as much patience as I can muster considering the circumstances.
She wraps her arms around herself. “You woke me up by shouting. I-I-I thought the shadow man had found me and was attacking you.”
“The shadow man?” I ask back, glad she’s actually speaking to me and not shutting down.
“From my dreams. I think it might be a memory, but I can never see his face. Only that he has glowing eyes and he’s always in a shadow. I thought he had you.”
“Doe… I’m okay. You’re okay. It was just a dream.”
“It wasn’t a dream,” she insists, her eyes turning determined. “You were the one having the dream! You woke me by screaming. Why were you screaming, Niko? I went into your room, and you were still asleep and…and… having a nightmare.”
Embarrassment steals over me. The last thing that crossed my mind about moving Doe in was having a nightmare. I knew I didn’t sleep well. I knew I had them fairly often. Why didn’t I consider this before asking her to stay? What are we supposed to do now?
I step into the room. My chest constricts a little when she doesn’t cower farther into the corner. We’re making progress. It may be a tiny step, but it’s still progress. Still, I don’t miss the way her fingers dive into Betsy’s scruff as if that one tangible thing is holding her together.
“I am so sorry. I didn’t… I don’t…” I clench my teeth together, blowing out a harsh breath. Reaching back, I rub the tension building at the base of my skull and try again. “I have nightmares, too. Bad ones. I didn’t think about how that would affect you here. I’m incredibly sorry I frightened you. You shouldn’t ever feel afraid around me.”
“Are they about the shadow man?” she asks in a deep whisper as if speaking about him out loud will somehow conjure him into this room.
I shake my head sadly. “No. I lost someone a long time ago. They’re all about her.”
Surprising the fuck out of me, Doe takes the few steps across the room until she’s standing in front of me. What leaves me utterly speechless is that she murmurs, “Please don’t move,” and lifts her left hand until it’s level with my face. With the softest touch I’ve ever felt in my whole damn life, she puts the tip of her index finger on my cheek.
I hold my breath. My skin seems to explode from that singular point of contact with the girl who’s terrified of just about everything. I have the urge to reach out and flatten her entire hand there, to cup my cheek with my hand wrapped around hers. Some of the tension begins to leak out of me, and I have to fight against closing my eyes.
“I’m so sorry you’ve lost someone. She must have been very special to you.”
“She was,” I croak in a raw voice.
When Doe pulls away, I feel that loss of contact like a physical chill. For the first time since they started, I had someone here after a nightmare, and I didn’t hate it as much as I always thought I would. Her touch removed some of the deep shame that lingers afterward.
“I don’t want to be responsible for scaring you in the middle of the night. Or at all. You’re supposed to feel safe here. You are safe here.”
“I can go back.”
My brows dip in confusion. “Go back?”
She lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “Where I came from.”
“Do you even know where that is?”
Doe dips her chin to her chest and shakes her head without looking at me. Fuck, she’s retreating.
“I have an idea,” I mutter then flip on the bedroom light, temporarily blinding us both. “Fuck, sorry. I just need to see.”
Doe shields her eyes with her forearm. “What are you doing?”
I scope out the room, moving once I find the unpacked duffle bag beside the bed. I snatch it up and begin filling the remaining space with the toiletries and other items of clothes from the dresser. At first, the task takes all my attention, and I miss her question. “Come with me.” Hefting the now full bag over my shoulder, I exit the room. Her soft footfalls and Betsy’s alert trot follow me down the hall. When I reach the foyer, I grab my keys and cross the space to the patio door. “Come on,” I call to them. “We’re going next door.”
Something makes her trust me as she follows me out in her fuzzy slippers and pajamas. We cross the short distance, and in thirty seconds, I’m unlocking the back door to Aislin’s old place, letting us both inside.
“Where are we?” she whispers beside me in the dark.
