EgoManiac

The Nightmare.

The Nightmare:

Danny held me in his arms for what felt like forever, and I never wanted it to end. Eventually, I let go, and we walked to the living room; we sat on the couch. "Rose, what's going on? Who was that on the phone?" asked Danny, looking at me with concern. "Danny, I can't. I can't tell you if I do. Everything changes, and you won't look at me the same way... I can't stand the thought of you thinking of how you will when you find out. I need some time to figure out how to handle this. Okay, I'll talk to you about it when I do, but for now, can you  not ask me any questions and forget the phone call happened, please?" I said, never looking toward him. "Okay, it never happened, but whatever it is, you don't have to face it alone," he said, putting his hand on mine. "I know, and thank you," I said, finally looking at him. This look in his eyes was trying to speak to me, but I couldn't figure out what it was saying. "um, well, I guess I should go before your parents get home. I don't wanna cause you any more problems," he said, standing up. "yea, okay, I still need to clean up the bathroom too," I said, walking him to the door. I opened the door. As he stepped onto the porch I said "thank you for tonight Danny" "no problem Rosette, message me if you want to hang out again" he replied with a smile. "I definitely will, '' I replied. "Alright, well, um, night," he said, walking down the porch steps. "Wait," I stepped onto the porch and hugged him. "Good Night, Danny," I whispered as he hugged me back. "Goodnight, Rosette '' he whispers back. I let go and walked back to the door. I stopped watching him walk away until he was out of sight.

#

I walked down the road, throwing quick glances back at Rosette as she watched me. Once she was out of sight, I felt a pain in my chest; I couldn't help but wonder what that phone call had been about. I knew it couldn't have been anything good, considering her reaction. I hated knowing someone or something had hurt her, and she was vulnerable. She was so sure no one would notice and take advantage. I may have promised not to ask her any questions regarding that phone call, but that didn't mean I couldn't ask Brad or her friends. Oh man, I'm hoping Brad doesn't remember coming home tonight, or he'll kill me. Tomorrow is going to be a long day...

#

I closed the door behind me, and I could feel the pain in my chest returning; I knew the tears would be returning soon. I went towards the bathroom. I quickly clean everything up and grab a wet cloth. I went to Brad's and slowly opened the door. I sat on the edge of his bed and quietly cleaned off his face. Before I knew it, I was crying again. "I'm sorry I let you down; you worked so hard to prevent this from happening; I was so stupid. I shouldn't have ever let him think it was okay to do this; it's my fault I'm in this position; I wish I could tell you..."

I whisper. With a deep breath, I get up and walk out. "Rosette..? Is that you?" I hear Brad ask. By the sound of his voice, he was still half asleep and at least buzzed. I slowly turn around and kneel beside his bed. "Yeah, it's me," I say gently. "I'm sorry about tonight. I'm the older Brother. You shouldn't have to take care of me like this... You need someone to look up to, and I'm not doing a good job. I don't want to see you throw your life away. I'm sorry I've been a disappointment to you. I am willing to do better, " he says, slowly drifting back to sleep. "You've never disappointed me," I say, holding back my tears. I kiss him on the forehead and walk to my room.

It's around 4 in the morning before I manage to fall asleep. And suddenly I'm in school. It's empty, and I can't find anyone anywhere. I start to feel a bit on edge as I continue searching. I'm about to give up when my phone goes off; it doesn't say who it's from to check the library. I slowly walk to the library. I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. My gut was screaming don't go in there, but something was pulling me in. I step into the library, but I don't see anyone. The doors close behind me, and I hear someone say, "Took you long enough." Suddenly, I can't breathe. He's standing before me, smiling, watching me silently. Then he walks closer to me. I urge my body to step back, turn away, and run, but it won't budge. Within seconds, his face is inches away from mine, "please don't do this, please," I whisper, tears running down my face. He leans down, places his lips against mine, and pushes my head towards him, forcing me to kiss him. I'm fighting to escape him, but he's not moving. I try to scream, but nothing comes out. He pulls away for a moment and bends down, kissing my stomach, "you're going to be beautiful," he whispers before kissing me again. I can't take much of this. I'm screaming at what should be on the top of my lungs, but still, nothing is coming out. Then something draws me to look up at those amazing green eyes, and for a moment, I'm memorized, but then I hear my name being yelled, and he disappears. Everything around me goes black, and I hear Brad yelling my name and a baby crying. I can't see anything, and soon, I'm screaming Brad's name but can no longer listen to him.

Suddenly, I'm standing in a nursery, and I hear crying again slowly as I walk towards the crib. I look down and see a beautiful baby girl lying there. I pick her up, and I'm rocking her, telling her it's okay. She looks away and back, her eyes changing from blue to green. I suddenly realize that they're his eyes, and he appears next to me, taking her from me, "I told you she'd be beautiful; I mean, those eyes aren't amazing? They'll always be there to remind you of me. You'll never be able to forget me now" he says with a smirk before disappearing again with her.

Now I'm standing in a kitchen with a bloody knife in my hand. I look around, but I don't see anyone. Where did this blood come from? I look around again more thoroughly and see a pair of feet sticking out from behind the food pantry. I slowly walked towards them and stopped dead in my tracks; there lying on the ground was the baby girl I had just held in my arms but older and her eyes missing... What did I do??? I hear sirens as I fall to the ground. Everything around me is shaking and slowly disappearing.

I jolted awake, breathing heavily, and tears covering my face. Brad grabs me, "It was just a bad dream, okay? I'm here. Nothing is hurting you," he says, kissing my head. I started balling like crazy, and he held me as tight as he possibly could. I felt a few tears land on my head, and Brad was crying, too.

We sat there for a few minutes, and when I finally thought I had things under control, I pulled away. just looked at me and asked, "Do you wanna talk about it?" "not really," I reply, getting out of bed. "Okay, but I'm here if you need me, and I will gladly kick some ass if needed. You shouldn't be screaming in your sleep like that and waking up in tears and having trouble breathing. There's something wrong, but I won't push it. I trust you'll come to me if things get terrible, and remember, I have bail money under my mattress. It's been there since that Zeke Guy was laying his hands on you; still waiting for him to show up again, so I can kill the fucker" Brad says, walking out of my room. I flinched at his name and the memories that followed. Suddenly, I was in tears again. I grab my bag and dump everything out. I unzip the hidden section and pull out the Baggie... It had been so long since I had done it... But I need him out of my head. I need to feel the relief...