AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her voice was quiet enough that I almost wouldn't hear it, but I still did.
"What's that, Scarlett?"
"No matter what happens we will always be together, right?" She said, looking into my eyes with such intensity.
I nodded reassuringly and placed a hand on her face and gave her a kiss.
When our lips parted, I saw tears threatening to fall. She quickly wiped them away, but I saw them. They were tears for me and not sadness. I pulled her close and held her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go. Never again, will she leave me behind. Not again. Not ever.
When morning came, we got our stuff together and left before the sun had fully risen. We walked down alleys and back roads until we found an abandoned building that we could stay in. There was little talking as we settled in.
I guess what I meant to say was that it was too early to attempt to have a normal conversation. This wasn't a normal situation, this was war. We were fighting an enemy who would kill anyone who might oppose them. If we weren't careful, we could very well die in the battle we had chosen.
It wasn't that I was afraid of dying or dying horribly, it was just that I had seen too many people I loved go through this before. I just wanted to protect those that I loved. Protect them from harm. Protect them from the nightmares that I had every night. I would rather die than see those nightmares become reality.
When it came time to rest, neither of us could sleep. The only thing we did that night was listen to each other breathe until finally we fell asleep. Our bodies screamed for rest, but we fought against their demands.
We hadn't slept more than a few hours when the noise woke me up. I looked over at my sleeping companion and noticed the sweat glistening across her forehead. She was having some sort of nightmare. Without even thinking, I reached out and pulled her towards me. She was instantly comfortable, wrapping her arms around my chest and burying her head in my neck. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."
She mumbled something incoherent and snuggled closer to me. I ran my fingers through her hair and tried to relax her. I was aware that her breathing had quickened and the way she trembled, told me it probably wasn't working.
Eventually, it seemed that my efforts were paying off and she calmed down somewhat, though she was still shaking uncontrollably. I gently moved her so that I was laying on my back with her in my arms, my head resting on the pillow. I stroked her hair and whispered soothing words to her until she fell asleep.
I stayed awake for a long time, watching her sleep. I watched her chest rise and fall, her eyelashes flutter, and her lips part slightly. I watched her until I eventually drifted off myself.
When I awoke, it took several moments for me to register that I had actually slept through most of the night without a single nightmare or dream haunting my mind. Once I did, I stretched my arms above my head and slowly sat up, trying to remember whether I had dreamed about anything else. When I realized that I hadn't, I sighed and leaned forward and pressed my face against the warm body next to me. I heard Scarlett moan slightly at my touch and she tightened her grip on me. I smiled and continued to enjoy the comfort of being held by her.
Eventually, I was able to work up the nerve to look up and found her staring directly back at me. Her eyes were half-lidded as if she had just woken up from a dreamless sleep. A small smile appeared on her lips as her expression softened.
"Hey."
My heart skipped a beat at her soft-spoken greeting, and I smiled, unable to stop the butterflies that suddenly attacked my stomach.
"Hi.
“How'd you sleep?"
"Better than usual, considering the circumstances."
She sat up and started rubbing her neck. My gaze followed her movements, wondering what her dreams had been about.
I didn't ask but I could tell that she knew what I was wondering. After a few minutes of silence, she broke the silence.
"I had the same dream as last night."
"You were scared?" I asked.
"A little bit. It seemed like we were standing in front of the wall of flames. But that wasn't all. What happened was I had just begun running but then something stopped me. I looked back and there was a figure there with his hands outstretched, screaming 'help'. He seemed so desperate...but I wasn't sure whether it was real or a dream."
"Maybe it was a nightmare," I suggested softly, trying to reassure her.
"Or maybe it was my father. He needed us to save him. What if he is still there, waiting for us to come?"
She seemed genuinely frightened by the thought, which made me feel slightly uneasy. It was strange for me to even imagine the thought of a person dying because of us. It would be something that Scarlett would never recover from.
*We will find him, Scarlett."
