As They Lay Dying

Run....

They were closing in on her. She could hear the tortured wails gaining on her as she sped through the dark. The ground was slick with mud from a rain that she hadn't seen fall. Her sneakers slid across the ground, soaked though and ice cold.

She felt the ground beneath her give way as she tried to turn, sliding face fist into a tree that she didn't remember being there. The air exited her lungs in a loud 'whoosh', leaving her gasping for air. Sinking to the ground, she groaned in pain, her knees now buried in freezing mud.

She slowly rose to her feet, looking around while she took in deep painful breaths. Something was missing here. Her brow furrowed, listening intently for the sounds that were no longer there. The wailing had stopped, the only noise in the night being the last smattering of rain drops hitting the foliage. She looked around frantically, searching for any sight of the creatures that were chasing her.

She peered around the trunk of the tree in front of her, into the darkness. There was nothing there to be seen. Her head felt like it was ringing.

The feeling morphed into sound as she bolted up right in her bed, her alarm blaring from her phone on the bedside table. Her chest rose and fell quickly, her heart hammering against her ribs at an alarming rate.

What the hell were those things?!

Her mind was running a mile a minute, trying to wrap around what those creatures could possibly be. She let out an exasperated sigh, looking over at her phone,the loud, jarring noise still blasting from it's speakers. She grabbed it off the table and ended the alarm, breathing deeply in and out, trying to slow the erratic beating of her heart.

Letting out another heavy sigh, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed, preparing herself for the day. She looked over at the phone, five o'clock gleamed back at her, making her feel even more tired. She got to her feet, wrapping her heavy blanket around her shoulders, using it as a shield against the crisp morning air.

She felt around under the edge of her bed with her foot, searching for her slippers. Her came in contact with the warm, fuzzy material, slipping into them easily. She turned towards the door and slowly padded over to it, the slippers keeping her toes warm.

She slowly opened the door into the hall, cold air crashing down on her. She pulled the blankets around herself tighter as she quietly slipped into the hall, closing the door behind her. Sluggishly, she toddled down the hall, the monstrous blanket dragging across the tile floor behind her. At the end of the hall, she came up to a black door. She grabbed for the handle, the icy cold metal making her shrink back. She wrapped her hand in the blanket and grabbed it again, twisting it slowly.

She heard a soft click and pushed slowly as the door creaked open. She cringed at the noise as it echoed down the hallway. She stepped into the dark room, trying to adjust to the lack of light. Creeping forward she made her way in the direction she thought the bed was in.

Suddenly, her shins made contact with the chest at the end of the bed. Struggling to hold in her scream, she sat on the floor, rocking back and forth, biting her lip. She filled her cheeks with air and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to lessen. She opened her eyes slowly, getting to her feet gingerly and carefully maneuvering around the chest. Her eyes had adjusted enough to the dark, to where she could see the tousled head of hair sticking up above the covers.

She reached the head of the bed and slowly pulled down the covers, a hand shooting out to grab her wrist. She followed the arm up to the same rat's nest of hair and two gleaming, forest green eyes smirking at her.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." A blush crept up her neck and across her cheeks, turning her attention anywhere other than that smirk.

"Could have fooled me. I thought you were making all that noise on purpose." His smirked widened as she looked at his hand nervously. He looked over at his alarm clock and back at her. "What's wrong? Why are you in here so early?" A look of concern flashed across his face.

"I just had a nightmare is all. I was hoping to sleep in here with you without waking you." She rubbed the back of her upper arm nervously, his hand still loosely gripping her wrist.

He let out a sigh and tugged at her wrist. "Get in here." He drew back the covers and pulled her down into them.

It had been like this since they were kids. She would have a nightmare in the middle of the night and crawl into his bed to make her feel better. Rhyze had always been there for her, even though they weren't really siblings they had grown up like brother and sister. It had been a while though since she had came to sleep with him after a nightmare.

He hugged her a little tighter, pulling her up against his chest.

"Hey Lill?" A little bit of concern settling into his voice.

"Hmmm?" She sleepily replied, getting comfortable.

"Was it bad?" His thumb unconsciously rubbing across her shoulder.

"It was...... definitely not pleasant." She shivered a little as the sound of the creatures wailed in her bounced around her memory. She felt his hold tighten a little, a sigh fluttering through the hair on the nape of her neck.

She relaxed against him as she felt sleep tug at her eyes. They fluttered shut as she listened to his rhythmic breathing, his heart beating slow and steady against her back. She felt her breathing and her heart slow and match his as she slipped back into unconsciousness.