Mark On My Heart ~ Sequel to 'Mark Of The Star'

Part Four ~ Chasing Hope

You open your eyes and see an all too familiar face. He's standing over you with a evil grin and an entertained look. You instinctively flinch your arms, only to realise they're chained down to the cold metal table you're laid down on. No, no, no. Not this again. You can't be back here.

You see him pick up one of the shivs on the table and clean it with the hem of his shirt, before holding it up to the light and inspecting it.

"We're gonna have lots of fun."

You wake up with a sudden shock, and shoot up in your bed, breathing heavily. You try to calm yourself down and remind yourself that it was just another nightmare. Realising you somehow took Bucky's jumper off in your sleep as you're now just in the comfy top you were wearing underneath it, you brush the hair out of your face and notice you've been sweating. You sigh and put your head in your hands, still trying to catch your breath.

You check your phone and notice it's 3am. Still feeling pretty panicked and scared to be in your dark room alone, you open your phone and make a split decision. You open your contacts and go to your recent calls. You scroll down a little until you see his name and tap on it. Bucky.

You hear the phone ring a few times. Then a few more times. Then a voicemail. You knew it was a long shot that he was going to pick up, it is 3am, but a small part of you hoped he would.

Deciding it's best to try and have a hot shower to relax you and make you feel tired again, you put your phone down on your bedside table and walk into the bathroom, then turn on the shower. After it heats up, you step in and bask in the heat, which instantly relaxes you.

You were really sick of the nightmares, but you were really glad you had Bucky to help you deal with them. Although it happened almost 9 months ago, the nightmares make it seem like it's really happening in that moment, and you're reliving it all over again. You hated having them without Bucky around. You would normally talk a little or move in your sleep when you were having a nightmare, and he would always be there for you waiting for you to wake up so he could look after you. He was a light sleeper, being a trained killer and an Avenger, and you always felt bad for waking him up but he constantly reassured you he didn't mind at all, and actually liked that he could be awake for when your nightmare finishes. You helped him get rid of his nightmares, and he wanted to help you get rid of yours. You missed his comforting cuddles and kisses when you were away, especially when you had your nightmares.

After you feel calmed down again, you turn off the water in the shower, and hop out, wrapping yourself in a towel. You dry yourself off a little and walk over to the mirror, wiping your hand across it to get rid of some of the condensation. You look at yourself in the reflection and sigh. You take your hair out of the loose bun it's still in, and re-tie it so it's out of your face.

You walk back to your room in your towel after drying yourself off a little more, and throw the shirt you were wearing before in the laundry pile in your room. Shivering a little, you throw on Bucky's jumper again, and smile at the warmth it immediately brings you. You yawn, crawl back into bed and pull the covers over you, trying to drift back off to sleep.

*Time Skip*

You open your eyes slowly when you hear the alarm on your phone go off. You sigh and roll over to turn it off. Once you do, you rub your eyes and lift your phone up to look at the time. 9:15am. Your eyes scroll down to your notifications. You have 3 missed calls from Bucky, and 5 texts from him. You unlock your phone and read the messages one by one.

7:14am
'Did you call me? Is everything okay? x'

7:20am
'(Y/N/N)?'

7:28am
'Did something happen??'

7:30am
'Do I need to come get you, doll?'

7:45am
'I'm worried. Call me when you can please.'

You scoff jokingly at how he thinks you'd be awake at 7am, when he knows you're not a morning person. You didn't mean to worry him, you just missed him and wanted to talk to him about your nightmare. You decide you should call him back to stop his worrying. You dial his number.

"(Y/N)?" He picks up almost immediately.

"Hey, Buck." You reply, not being able to help the smile that creeps up onto your face when he says your name.

"I was worried about you, did something happen? Another nightmare?" He asks, and you were grateful he knew you so well.

"Yeah..." You let out a shaky breath. "I wish I was with you."

"Me too, (Y/N/N)." He says, but he sounds a bit nonchalant, which you find a bit suspicious.

"Bucky...what's wrong?" You ask, not sure if you really want the answer. There's a pause while he figures out what to respond.

"You know me too well..." He responds after a few more moments and then sighs, which gives you a bad feeling in your gut. "There's something I need to tell you."

"You know you can tell me anything, Buck."

"Okay, just...are you sitting down?" He asks and you're getting antsy waiting for him to tell you.

"Bucky, just tell me." You reply and hear him sigh one final time, before he says only 5 simple words, each one sending dread, fear, and anger throughout your entire body.

"We found Chase. He's back."

Hi everyone!

Sorry about the cliff hanger hehe but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so so much for reading and I hope you're liking the story so far!! <3

Have a good rest of your day or night:) Love you all!!