Where My Demons Hide

Chapter Two - Dragon

The earpiece crackled in my ear as my team and I moved cautiously through the massive warehouse area. The local police had been having issues with a large drug cartel and had called in my team to assist in the raid. They weren't as trained for this large scale operation.

But the deeper we ventured into the property, the stiffer the hair stood up against the back of my neck. The bad feeling something wasn't right curled my insides, leaving me almost sick to my stomach. Still, my commanding officer led his onward, clearing one structure after another. When we entered the largest of all the buildings, everything around us went silent. Then a sound, similar to a planet about to explode in a movie, filled the air. We were ordered to fall back but by that time it was too late.

A blinding light filled the space around us, and I turned my back to the madness and pushed my body in front of my best friend. I braced the side of my gun against his chest and shoved him out of the space and back through the door just before my feet lifted off the ground and I was sent flying. My ears rang but I couldn't focus on the pain of that because something else caught my attention.

The stench of burning flesh hadn't been new to me—being a soldier, it was something we'd experienced before. Only now, the flesh was mine. Everyone liked being warmed, but there was nothing like feeling your skin leaving your body as debris rained down against you.

I screamed and jerked up-right, looking around, trying to breathe as the fire sucked the oxygen from the air so it could grow.

Afraid, I thrashed around, batting at my skin, trying to put the fire out but that only made the pain worse.

Then I realized I wasn't actually on fire—the nightmare had always been real ever since I almost died nearly a year before. Weak from painful memory of the incident, I was covered in sweat as I buried my face into my hands. The nightmare left me physically exhausted.

For a while, I remained in that position, desperately trying to calm my breathing. Eventually, I flopped back to my pillow and turned my head to look at the clock on my bedside table. It was barely four in the morning. After swallowing the lump in my throat, I pushed from the bed.

It was no use even trying to go back to sleep—I knew my body. Whenever the nightmare really took hold, I wouldn't be able to sleep for the next few days. Instead, I hauled on some workout clothes and descended into the gym I'd created behind my small home.

I began my workout—most people believed I workout for my body. The truth was, I did it to run—the demons chased me even when I was awake. They frolicked inside my head, reminding me when everyone else died, I was still alive. They taunted me, called me a cowered and if I was too tired, my brain couldn't conjure them.

It took hours to silence them this time and by the time I showered and dressed for the day, I felt refreshed. While making breakfast, my father called. Though I was tempted to ignore it, I knew what would happen. He'd show up and banged on my door until I let him in. Because of the nightmares, my father worried over me. He said it was because I was his son and worrying was his job. But I knew better.

He worried because he thought my mind was broken and eventually, I would harm myself. The truth was when the pain became too much—I thought about it.

More than once.

But while it would stop my pain, there would be my father—left behind.

I closed my eyes and answered his call. "Sawatdii khrap, Pa."

"Sawatdii." He replied. "How did I guess you would be awake now?"

I chuckled. "I actually got some sleep last night. You don't have to worry."