Light of Stars [2]

Chapter Ten

♕ Silver Lining ♕

She had slept for too long. Had slept so peacefully and profound it had taken her too long to hear the screaming. She had been too far away to hear her cry before it started, and too far away to stop them before they got so loud they pierced into her soul like daggers.

Sybilla tripped over the sheets of the bed as she rushed out of his room into the hall. Aubrette's screaming cutting as a sob interrupted halfway. For a moment she dared hope she was still asleep, that she was trapped inside a nightmare she could wake her away from. That her screams were not due to this reality they all lived in.

When she burst into the room, Aubrette was curled in the corner of the bed, clinging on to the pillow with both her hands. Her face was red, her eyes shut close so hard their lids were red enough to start bleeding. She was sweating, turning as if she was in pain. No. Turning because she was in pain. A forgotten book laid on the floor, along with every sheet that had  previously rested neatly above her body. Bree screamed, her throat hurting just from hearing the ripping sound. Sybilla felt fear taking over her body.

Pure anguish filled the room, even when she had seen her break for nights in a row never had Aubrette given in so willingly to the pain, never had agony taken over her face.

"Bree" Sybilla whispered shaking her shoulders as softly as she could, not wanting her to think she was in danger. "Bree, I'm here, you're safe, I'm here" she said, not knowing what else she would do if Aubrette decided to not let her in. Not let her help.

The screaming stopped, but the silence was somehow worse. The emptiness was tormenting. Sybilla breathed in deeply, trying somehow to breathe for her, to calm the unsteadiness of her shoulders as sobs come out of her mouth uncontrollably.

After a while, Aubrette opened her eyes, and stared up into the ceiling, her whole body frozen. Sybilla moved to the side, letting her breathe for a few seconds. Aubrette gasped and searched for her empty bucket of water, burying her head in it before Sybilla could even process something was wrong. Sybilla crawled across the bed, and held her hair back, rubbing her back and giving her comfort the best she could.

"Its okay, you're safe. It's over. It's over." Aubrette shook her head uncontrollably, wiping her mouth.

Her hands were shaking. The skin of her cheeks as red as her eyes. The memory of her smile lost in the past.

"I want to go back" Aubrette said, her voice breaking as she forced the words out. "I want to go back" she said again and Sybilla felt her heart stop.

Back to Regno. Back into the midst of the sea where days got longer and night grew colder. Two months stuck in the ocean's mercy again. Her blood burned at the thought.

"Back where Bree?" She asked, fearing the thought of returning home, of returning and facing what they had left behind.

Aubrette simply closed her eyes, as if she was picturing herself somewhere else, anywhere else. "Inside my mind" she said, holding her breath until her body stopped shaking.

Sybilla held in her breath. Watching her, the lost look of her eyes. That look that never seemed to leave them, not at night, not in daylight, not when it was just the two of them.

"Why?" She asked. Not knowing how... how she could want to go back somewhere that caused her so much pain.

Aubrette looked at her, a sort of understanding hiding behind her expression. "Its not the nightmares I fear" she whispered, intertwining her hands together in her lap. "Its the waking up that breaks my soul apart" she said, her eyes closing instinctively, a frown appearing in the middle of her brows. "Its... its realizing the dreams aren't real... that they get ripped away from me in a second." Tears fell from both her eyes to her lap. "And I want to go back" she said, her voice breaking. "Do I not deserve it?" She asked. "Do I not deserve to be happy? Why can't I sleep forever?"