Mission: Derrick Wells ✔️

Nightmares Only Bring Guilt

He walks closer and closer, and with each step he takes towards me, I take back.

This is the man who haunts my dreams and mind with every breath that I take. The man who makes me want to scream, cry, vomit, die, an kill him all with one glance.

"Miss me Lizzy?" He asked, a smirk playing on his face as his eyes glint with some devious emotion.

"How are you here? How did you get in here?" I asked, without asking if he killed everyone.

He gives me a knowing look, "I think we both know how I got in here." then he moved so fast I couldn't keep up, and was right in front of me before I could scream for help. "Ad I think we both know why, too, don't we?" He asked, a scandalous look in his eyes as he grinned down at me.

"Please, just let me go." I begged, turning my head away from him as he reached a hand up to touch my face.

Caressing my face with false gentleness, I cringed as I felt spit spray my cheek as he spoke, "Why? After all the fun we had? I still don't understand why you left me last time... We were having a blast!" He leaned in, but before his lips met my skin, his fist connected brutally with my ribs, earning a spine tingling crack.

I let out a scream, and suddenly, Derrick was at the door. "Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" He yelled.

The man turned around angrily, pulling out a pistol and shooting without thought. The bullet flew through the air and straight into Derrick's chest. Derrick stood there a second, before actually dropping to the ground, but he didn't die until a few more minutes later. He was alive long enough to ear the sound of my sobbing and screams to be left alone as the man continued his assault on my body and mental state. Derricked lived long enough to hear my suffering, feel guilty for it, and know he could do nothing but lay there helplessly as I was attacked.

*******

But then I shot up in the bed, tears streaming down my eyes as I felt hands on my shoulders and someone calling my name.

I turned my head and found Derrick and Timothy beside my bed as they both looked at me a if I'd jut killed their gerbils slowly in front if them.

I felt like my lungs were on fire, and I couldn't control my breathing. My body acted as if it was one of those vibrating pillows you put your feet on after a long day of work, nonstop shaking, an I didn't know how to stop it. My head was pounding and my cheeks were a mixture of sticky and wet. Lips chapped, clothes wet from soaked with sweat... I was wreck.

But still I put on a strong facade and tried to play it off.

"Why are you guys h-here?" I asked, a stutter jumping in on my words.

They both gave me a blank look, then looked at each other, then back at me. The two Idjits just stared at me a moment before either actually spoke to me. And I knew what was coming.

Finally, Timothy spoke. "Eli, you were screaming bloody murder from something happening in your dream."

I gulp and shrug, "Just a bad nightmare, I'm awake and fine. It's ok." I say trying to get out from under their penetrating gazes.

Derrick took my arm in his hand and looked at me with such intensity, I wanted to look anywhere but at his face, but that would give myself away. So, instead, I raised and eyebrow at him. "Yes?" I asked.

He stared at me a moment longer before shoving my arm away and storming out if the room.

Not what I was expecting...

I look to Timothy with a questioning look, but he just sighs. "The guy was worried sick when you were yelling the way you were. We all thought you were being tortured, or murdered." he says, running a hand through his hair. "And now with you acting like its nothing when it obviously is, has him a little upset." Timothy explained.

"Why? Why get upset with me not freaking out over some nightmare?" I asked.

Timothy gives me the look that told me he thought I was truly an idiot. "Because we all know it scared you half to death. We all thought you might have a heart attack because of your nightmare."

"That's nice and all but why is he so upset? I don't understand why he stormed out the way he did!" I raised my voice, hoping to possibly get my point across.

Suddenly Derrick is at the doorway, looking beyond pissed. "Sorry to break it to you, Sweeteart, but because I care about you! And when you hear someone you care for screaming like the way you were and you break the key in the lock, making it just about impossibly to get through a heavy door like that one, you tend to get worried real easy." He yelled, frustration clear in his eyes.

His yelling had me flinching back as I remembered not only the nightmare, but my memories.

"It only made it worse that you were calling for me, and I couldn't get in there to wake you up. But even before we got the door open I didn't know you were asleep, I thought someone was in there hurting you." he said softer.

I see tears form in his eyes, and all I can do is stare at him as he tells me all this. I just watched as my vision gets blurry with my own tears.

"And after worrying so much, all you do is act like your not terrified, and it's so frustrating to not to be able to help you get over this fear when you hide it away the way you do. How can I help you when you don't let me in? When you don't tell me about this past of yours that gives you such violent nightmares?" He asked, trying to come closer, but I just looked away.

I hear him sigh and then begin to walk away. Before he leaves, he must have looked to Tim as he said, "Maybe she'll open up to you and you can help her." there was a pause, and I thought he'd left, but then he spoke again. "Maybe she'll actually let you care for her." and then the sound of his retreating boots.

Silence followed, and all I could feel was guilt.

Well, that was until Timothy spoke. "You really screwed up, didn't you?"

After that I felt announce towards Timothy and guilty for making Derrick say and feel all that.