Breathe

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Marlena chased Stefano's deep laughter through the foggy night. Everything around her was cast in silver, and she could hear Hope's screams, and Avi's weeping. It echoed in her ears, and it reverberated through her body. With her arms out in front of her, she searched in the darkness, following the sounds. She had to find them. Thorns and brambles scratched her skin, and her hot tears slid across her cheeks, and down her neck. Suddenly Stefano was in front of her. His dark eyes shone with glee, as he said in his deep voice, "You will never find them, Lena. Did you think you would?"

"Please!" she gasped desperately. Her small hands gripped the arm of his satin smoking jacket in desperation, and she nearly fell to her knees as she stared up at him with wide, frightened, amber eyes. Her heart was breaking into millions of tiny shards as sharp as glass. "Please! Bring them back to me. My son... and Hope, I need them. I won't survive without them!"

"You should have considered that before you defied me. You called for help. You have brought this upon yourself." Stefano shook her arm off as if he were embarrassed by her begging. "The ISA and Roman will never outsmart me, and that is your folly, Lena. You trust blindly. You believed that Roman would come for you, but you are dead! You are dead to him, and you belong to me! You will never see Hope or your precious Avi again." He gave her a feral smile, and then he said, "Or perhaps you will. Perhaps I shall wipe Hope's memory completely, and then give her back to you. It might be interesting to turn Avi into one of my mercenaries... after all, his father was such a good soldier."

Her legs collapsed. She felt the sharp stones cut the skin as she landed in the dirt below. Her arms scrambled to hold onto Stefano, but he kicked her away, as she cried, "No! Oh, G-d, Stefano! Please! NO!"

"Defy me again, and I will kill them," he spat in disgust.

And then he was gone, and Marlena crumbled into a heap as Hope's cries of "Marlena!" filled her mind, and Avi's high pitched screams of "Mama!" tore at her heart.

A long scream tore from her chest into the dark and silent bedroom. Marlena's body arched up off of the mattress, and then her eyes opened wide as she was jolted from her sleep violently. Her nightmare was still fresh in her mind. Her skin still strung from the scratches she received from the brambles. Her knees ached. She was stuck between the dreamworld and reality. Clapping her palm over her mouth, she bit her skin near her thumb, and then closed her eyes tightly trying to erase the images that continued to assault her - Stefano shaking her off, and the disgust on his face as he shook her off... the evil in his eyes. She opened her eyes, and looked around the darkened room recognizing nothing. She closed them again in confusion. Breathe. Breathe. But she couldn't. She couldn't. She was still fighting off a panic attack when she saw her bedroom door open slowly, and immediately she thought it was Stefano in the dark. Another loud, piercing scream escaped her. He was back, and she would never be rid of him. She shook, and tears flowed from her eyes. She was stuck somewhere between the past and the present, as she rocked her body back and forth. "No.No, no, no, no, no...." she sobbed. "No, no, no... oh, G-d...."

Kim rushed forward. She recognized immediately that Marlena was having a PTSD episode. Speaking softly, she whispered, "Marlena, you're safe. You and Avi are in Seabrook, Washington, and you're safe."

Dragging gasping breaths into her lungs, Marlena sobbed, "He took Avi...he took Hope! He took them! Where are they?" Marlena started looking around with eyes unseeing. "Oh, G-d! Where are they? Hope? Hope! Avi!" Her body continued to rock, and her arms wrapped tightly around her body as her knees pulled up underneath her chin.

"Avi is safe," Kim said softly, but firmly, kneeling beside her bed. She didn't reach out to comfort her. Knowing her touch wouldn't be welcome at that moment. "He's here, in this house with us. Hope is safe. She's in Salem with Bo." Kim reached for the flannel shirt beside Marlena, the one she knew belonged to John. Putting it near Marlena's cheek, she said, "Take a deep breath... what do you smell? Take another one... another. Yes, just like that. Slow them down. Concentrate." The brain's anatomy and the olfactory system were closely linked to memory, and she hoped that having Marlena inhale John's scent would bring her back to the present. Kim continued to watch her, and then turned towards the door to see Avi push past his father's hip. Having him there was less than ideal.