Side Effects |a Sebastian Sallow story|

Troubled Memories

 POV: Sebastian Sallow

Content Warning: Depictions of violence, death and implied non-consensual acts of intimacy. 

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'You are so handsome' a finger grazed along his jaw before hooking under his chin to pull his face up.

Sebastian felt chills run down his spine at the voice, causing him to toss and turn in his sleep. It sounded so familiar but he couldn't place where he heard it before. 

He'd been having situations like this lately, where a voice or scene played out in his head and Sebastian couldn't tell if it was a memory or something his sleep addled brain conjured up on its own. 

The blurry figure, that he assumed was a woman based on the lilt of the voice, kept touching him in slow movements, as if tracing the shape of his body to learn every detail. It made his blood run cold. Sebastian felt trapped inside his own body when this happened, his own voice screaming at him to move or fight back or do something, but he couldn't. His body wouldn't move. 

Sebastian's pulse rose with the tingling fear he felt and he tossed again in his sleep.

The blurry woman pointed a sharp object at him and whispered 'Incarcerus' with a wicked grin.

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Sebastian woke up screaming and clambering around in the bed, grabbing at the sheets to pull up over himself. His lip starting to quiver during the heaving breaths he was taking, unable to stop the sob that broke out. 

The door to the room opened after a small knock and in strode Mrs. Knight with a worried look on her face. Sebastian instantly felt guilty for waking the rest of the house with his dreams. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." his voice cracked as he still trembled slightly in the bed.

Mary shook her head. "Nonsense, Sébastien." she waved her hand to dismiss the words. 

Sebastian deflated a little, suddenly feeling guilty and embarrassed at causing such a scene. He glanced up at the clock on the wall and noticed it was just after two in the morning, and felt even more guilty for disturbing the Knights. 

"What's going on, kid?" a deeper voice spoke from the doorway, causing Sebastian to flinch. He internally cursed himself for being so jumpy. 

Scoffing at her husband's lack of ability to be understanding, Mary shooed him away. She turned back to Sebastian and gave him a small smile. "I'll be right back dear." She gave a pat to his leg and got up to make her leave.

He sat there in the bed still trying to catch his breath, eyes darting around wildly. Despite the protests of his body and mind, Sebastian needed answers. 

"Mister Knight?" he called, voice raspy from the panic. 

Theo turned around in the doorframe to face the trembling teen, raising his brow and giving a small nod to encourage the boy to continue. 

Sebastian swallowed. "I-I think something happened to me. But I don't know what it is. It's like my body remembers, but my mind doesn't. Sometimes I get these images that are too hard to make out, and often they're accompanied by muffled voices."

Looking back up to the man with a pleading expression, Sebastian was resorting to begging for answers. "Do you have any explanation that could help me understand?"