Dark Dreams, Bright Nightmares

Chapter 31

My legs burned as I raced over the path I faintly recognized, somewhere, in the back of my mind. I heard my ragged breath and the pounding of my feet as I made my way between the tall trees and thick bushes.
When I looked behind me, my heart skipped a beat. He was still there. Why couldn’t I lose him? Another question burned in my mind, but with all the adrenaline and nerves, I couldn’t grasp onto it enough to fully form it.
Looking forward again, I tried to speed up without tripping. My legs were tired and felt like lead, but with the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I managed to keep it up just a little longer.
Just mere seconds later, I heard my name being called. Not by my pursuer, but by someone else. I wanted to close my eyes to wish him away –to a safe place, not anywhere near me– but didn’t, since I didn’t want to take the risk and end up stumbling. Why did he follow me? I cursed him inside my head, ignoring his desperate calls for me to come to him, while I tried to do the opposite: lead my pursuer away from him.
In a blink, I was on an open field, the grass tickling my back as I stared up at the person I was running from. I don’t think I’d ever seen him this angry, or upset. His light eyes glared down at me, the white now a slight red. His dark hair hung in his face, messier than I’d expect from him. His strides were long as he came at me, his shoulder broad, his back hunched over ever so slightly.
My eyes went from him to the place around me, and back to him. His hands were clenched at his sides, his knuckles white.
In a desperate move to get away from him, I crawled backwards. Of course, this didn’t really help. He reached me quite soon and threw something he had had in his hands before, but I had failed to notice: a knife. It landed right above my left shoulder –which made me stare at it in terror for a second–, efficiently stopping me and give him the opportunity to sit down on top of me to hold me in place. He took hold of my wrists when I tried to take the knife, grinning down at me with a creepy grin as he lifted the knife himself, holding it above my face tauntingly.
And just like that, he was thrown off of me. I looked to the side to see him. Why was he still here? Didn’t he get the hint when I didn’t come to him, when he had called for me to come to him? And now he was risking his life to save mine.
The two guys rolled over the ground. Menacing growls and tired grunts filled the air as they attacked each other, the knife forgotten and lonely somewhere in the grass.
My pursuer –not the one who helped me– got the upper hand and landed a good punch on my helper, leaving him dazed. He was conscious, yet not fully aware of everything, as his face hovered inches above the ground, as if he was trying to hold it up, but wasn’t strong enough.
My pursuer shot one last condescending look at him before making his way back over to me with a scowl. That’s when I remembered that I could’ve and should’ve stood up when I had the chance, and I would’ve, had I not been too caught up in my confusion and fear.
And I had to deal with the consequences now.
I tried to crawl away again, this time on hands and knees as I tried to scramble off the ground, but my pursuer grabbed me by the hair –which was a real low blow– and threw me on the ground again. The back of my head hit the ground and my vision clouded with black spots. When it cleared again, my pursuer had already taken his previous place on top of me. He didn’t have the knife this time, but I couldn’t find it either.
I tried to hit him or push him away or anything that would help, but he pinned my wrists next to me. That sickening, crazy grin returned on his face as he slid his hands up to my shoulders gently, in a stroking manner that made the bad kind of shiver run up my spine, before his hands reached my throat. I clasped my hands over his wrists when the pressure increased. I struggled against his hold, saw my helper reach for me from the corner of my eye, with his hand held out for me as he mouthed the word “no”, but it all faded when I didn’t have any air left. I blinked rapidly, trying to fight the dizziness that was consuming me.
The last thing I saw were my pursuer’s crazy, light eyes.

~

I gasped and sat up quickly. My hands went to my throat as I started coughing uncontrollably.
Next to me, Tony immediately woke up. He rubbed my back as I doubled over, tears springing to my eyes from coughing so much. I could still feel the pressure on my neck and those eyes haunted me when I closed my eyes. I felt like I still couldn’t breathe.
‘Louise? Are you okay?’ Tony whispered when I calmed down. I nodded and he pulled me closer to him, sighing in relief. ‘What happened?’
‘Nightmare,’ I whispered back, clutching his shirt as I rested my head on his shoulder.
‘It’s okay now, it’s ju-…’ Tony cursed softly. ‘It’s not just a dream, is it?’
I shook my head, the tears welling and my throat burning, but this time because of the crying I tried to keep in. Tony caressed my hair as he lay down, his other hand on the ground to steady us, as he kept my head in his shoulder. With my knees on the other side of where my head was, I just lay there, replaying the dream in my head even though I knew I probably shouldn’t if I didn’t want to break down crying – again.
‘I’m going to die,’ I whispered, ‘I’ve had this dream multiple times, but in all of them, I die.’ My heart felt heavy when I spoke, my voice breaking. It was hard to admit out loud, especially now that I knew the meaning of my dreams. It was going to come true.
I heard Tony’s sharp intake of breath, as well as I felt it in his chest, as he wrapped both arms around my shoulders. When I peeked up –which was quite hard with his grip– I could see him staring up at the sky. ‘I can’t let that happen. I’ll come for you, I told you I would.’ He hugged me tighter so my face was pressed against him, but not before I saw one single tear slide down the side of his face. ‘I have to.’ He whispered.
I tightened my hold on his shirt as we lay there. Those light eyes appeared again, but changed to chocolate brown when I felt Tony’s lips press to the top of my head.