The Female Sigma - Book One

Chapter 6 - Dreams as nightmares

C H A P T E R
S I X

Dreams as Nightmares

I went back to my room, silently slapping myself for not asking for the little girl's name when we spoke earlier. I didn't eat dinner since I didn't have the courage to face my family after Tyler's disagreement, so I went to bed early.

Following Skye's death, I avoided early nights for a long time. Early nights meant longer dreams, which meant more 'what ifs' and 'should have' and 'shouldn't have' scenarios. My dreams had progressed to the point that I had to set an alarm every five minutes to keep from dreaming about that day. Maybe I shouldn't say it out loud in case mom, dad, or Tyler hear me.

I closed my eyes and welcomed the darkness as my mind became clear. I envisioned Tyler's seventh birthday with the pack. It felt as though i was a guest and no one noticed me.

As we raced to the edge of the fence and back to the table, I saw young me with black pigtails and a familiar girl sprinting alongside me. Her blond hair flew back in the breeze, her smile contagious as I saw a mirror image of it on my face, and her little hand intertwined with mine. She vanished as soon as we got to the table, and I was placed next to Tyler, who was waiting to blow out his candles with a goofy grin on his face. Except for the birthday cake, everything seemed regular.

The birthday cake was supposed to be a pirate motif, but it turned out to be crimson - blood red. Little Tyler took the knife and positioned himself to cut the cake once the candles were blown out. I waited for him to cut the cake, and when he didn't, I peeked up to see him staring at me before looking down. I followed his gaze, ignoring the thrill that ran down my spine, and my breath caught in my throat when I realized the cake had vanished. Instead, a recognizable girl dressed in a deep red gown and holding a knife to her throat was substituted. I glanced at the tiny Tyler, begging with him not to do it, and her sky blue eyes begged me to save her.

I tried to get closer so I could yank the knife away, but I was instead engulfed by powerful arms.

"It'll be fine," they said, "remember the good times," "just don't look," "close your eyes when it happens," "run away like you always do," "Why didn't you fight for her?" "Why weren't you strong enough to save her?" "Why are you so weak?" They all had the same faces as the countless psychologists and therapists I'd visited over the years.

As he glanced up at me, the small version of Tyler stated, "Watch me kill her again so you know how it feels." I yelled, but no sound came out of my mouth. I couldn't tolerate the tears streaming down her sky blue eyes and wanted to save her.

"Please, sweetheart, take a deep breath Summer! Eric, Eric, Eric! "I was relieved to hear someone call out because something told me I wasn't at Tyler's seventh party anymore.

I screamed as I heard his voice say, "Here give her water mum." It wasn't an angry scream, but rather a terrified scream. Tyler dropped the glass of water in his palm, causing it to pour all over the rug, only to cover his ears as he winced. Mom tried to conceal the sound by putting her palm over my lips, but it didn't work. I could only come to a halt when I ran out of air.

Dad's voice pierced my ears as he said, "Tyler, get out of the room son."

Because my vision was fuzzy, I relied on sounds. I stopped screaming, but not deliberately; it was my brain that did it.

I figured Tyler had left when I heard mom question dad, "How did you know?" to which he said that he had no idea and that it was instinct.

Mom stayed there with me cradled in her arms for fifteen minutes, while dad placed his hand on my knee to let me know they were both there and to encourage me to take calm breaths. I should've known better than to go to bed early.

I knew the pack doctor was on his way the moment I felt the cold metal in my leg. As the liquid was injected into my bloodstream, I gasped for air.

When I was finally able to talk, I asked my parents to go. As it came out, my voice was hoarse and scratchy, but I didn't want my parents to see me like this. I didn't have the strength to argue with them, so all I could hope for was that they would follow my requests this time.

Fortunately, they were able to do so. Mom kissed my head before taking dad out with her when I glanced up again.

I let the tears fall when they were out of earshot since there was no way I could fall back to sleep now that they were gone and I was alone with my thoughts.

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Author's note:
The next chapter will be written from Tyler's point of view.
I'll attempt to keep everything to a bare minimum and condense it into a single chapter. I'm not usually one for POVs, but I decided to write this one so you could get a sense of Tyler's personality & character.