Valkyrie

Nightmare

~~*~~

Now I lay me down to sleep

Hope someone's watching over me

Pray the Lord my soul to keep

'Cause I-I-I'm, I-I-I'm

Living in a Nightmare

Living in a Nightmare

Is there anybody out there?

~~*~~

Stella slowly walked through the main room of Guardian's HQ, the lights dim, her eyes straining to see what was in front of her. But she could feel the eyes of other people on her.

"Holly! Joseph!" Stella called into the room, turning in a circle as it seemed that the lights only got dimmer and dimmer. "Immortal!"

"It's your fault." Stella jumped at the heavy Russian accent next to her ear, the faint red outline of Red Rush taking slow steps around her. Stella sighed, knowing she should be relieved that it was just Joseph being stupid but the hair on the back of her neck stood up straight and her stomach churned.

"What?" Stella breathed, head whipping around to follow Red Rush as he continued to circle her. The clinking of metal on metal made Stella whip around in a complete 180. Seeing the glint of low light reflecting off of War Women's mace and armor only intensified the feeling of sinking. "Holly..."

"It's your fault." Holly's voice hissed at Stella, a tone the woman had never held with her before.

"I'm sorry I-"

"Apologies are useless." The eyes of Immortal glowed as he arrived on the scene, the silhouettes of the rest of the Guardians stepping into focus around her.

"You failed." Darkwing's grave voice barked out.

"It's your fault!" Green Ghost shouted.

"You killed us!"

"It's your fault!"

"Failure!"

"You failed!"

"No, no, no," Stella shoved her hands over her ears, her diadem getting in the way. When did she put her costume on? She shook her head, ripping off her diadem and throwing it to the side. Clapping her hands over her ears as the voices continued to escalate into a cacophonous gory sound of screams and breaking bones. "Stop, please stop, stop it..." Stella chanted, voice unable to go louder than a whisper, her stomach churned, and her limbs felt like lead as she crumpled to the ground.

"STOP!" Stella cried, voice breaking as it echoed like a bell in a cathedral, "Please, just stop." Her sobs play out like a tragic aria.

And then...

Silence.

Stella sobbed, caving in on herself, tears racing down her face and chin. Shaking like a leaf in the fall. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

"You killed us Valkyrie."

"No, no, no."

"You killed us, Stella!"

Stella shot up out of bed, gasping, shaking, and nauseous. A cold sweat drenched her skin and soaked her sheets.

"Fuck." She cursed, peeling the bedding from her body as she swung her jittery legs over the edge of the bed. Elbows resting on her knees as she held her face in her hands. "It was just a dream. It wasn't real." She muttered to herself. Taking deep breaths to fight the tears prickling at her eyes.