Their sunshine

Chapter 16

James's POV

Today I woke up really early. I haven't had a peaceful sleep. The memory of my wife dying repeated in my mind every night. Her death was quick, I would say she hadn't felt any pain. At least not the pain she could feel in our world. But her cries for help in my dream make me want to rip my head off.

I stood up and walked to the kitchen. I drank water and swallowed a pill to ease my headache. Once I was feeling a little bit better I decided to do my routine. I walked around the house, checked guards, and looked inside each bedroom, so I would know my boys are safe.

To be honest, I almost forgot about Anna. I walked around her room to go into Ryan's, but her scream stopped me. I pushed the door open and ran to see what was going on. She was curled up asleep in her bed. I sat next to her and tried to wake her up. The words coming from her mouth made my blood boil. She was begging 'madam' Marry to stop her torture, promising she would be good.

My words came to deaf ears. She was too deep in her nightmare. Shaking her also hadn't any effect. I was panicking. Wanting my only daughter to be out of her own hell, I slapped her. She woke up gasping for breath.

She looked around not knowing, where she was. Once she noticed me, she broke down. My little sweetheart was crying her heart out, and the only thing I could do was hold her in my lap and whisper soothing words. 

After some time, she looked ready to fall asleep. I put her down, kissed her head, and tried to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"You need to go to sleep again. I will be in the living room."

"Please don't go. I don't want to be alone."

"You won't be. I promise I will be guarding your room. If anything happens, I would be here within a second."

"But ... Can you ... Can you please stay with me?"

I really wanted to say yes, but from when I stayed with boys I know, they would talk all night long. Especially Will.

Apparently, I took too long to respond.

"Please?" she said, giving me those puppy eyes. "Please, I will be good. I just don't want to be alone. I am afraid I would be there again. Please."

I sighed and sat back on the bed. She scooped away to give me more space and told me to lay down.

I started to play with her hair. Shocking me, she didn't talk to me at all. I hummed her a lullaby. Her eyes closed, and she fell asleep. I don't know how, but I also end up sleeping.

When I woke up again, my sons were already gone, and my princess was nowhere to be found. I literally looked at every corner in our house three times.

My thoughts were screaming in my mind about the possibilities of her being kidnapped. Being optimistic, I shut them up and continued looking for her. 

Come on, James. It's not possible to lose someone here. Can't you look a little bit harder?

I am an idiot.

Can you tell me how I could forget that I live in a well-protected mansion? In every room (not the bathrooms) is a camera, guards walking around 24/7, and here I am, running around searching. I could just sit down, and I would know the answer within a minute. I really should consider handing my title over to Vince.

I found the princess in a garden. She was sitting on the grass, deep in her mind. Her face was showing distress.

"What's wrong, Anna?" I asked when I walked to her.