Holes

C13: Nightmare

Chapter13-Nightmare

Mya's POV.

Being around Alvarez was a nightmare of its own. But having him in my dreams was worse. He could make me scared, could make me sad, he could do anything to me. He could hurt me, torture me. I was helpless.

The dream started out as that: just a dream. I was sitting in my bedroom at my own house. There were kids running and laughing outside, a ball bouncing on the pavement. My parents were talking in their bedroom, the door left open.

Everything was normal and human and exactly what I wanted it to be.

Then Alvarez showed up. The voices stopped, the ball fell silent, and screaming followed. The lights flickered before busting and going out, leaving everything completely dark and scary.

Hands grabbed my hips and fangs sunk into my neck. The sound of his laughing filled the air.

"Mya, it's just a dream. Mya, wake up."

Going to the voice and following it was like reaching my hand out to something just out of reach.

The hands moved to my shoulders and I screamed. Whether it was in my dream or in reality, I didn't know. I threw my hands out and pushed. The hands disappeared and the body left my grasp. As did the voice.

I blinked my eyes open and saw Michael sitting on the floor, against the wall. But he wasn't just sitting there, he was slumped against the wall. Burn marks in the shape of hands were on his chest, burnt straight through the shirt he was wearing.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

He smiled a little. "I hate admitting it but I think Jack's right. We have to remove that tattoo."

My eyes widened as I realized what that meant. No. No way was I going to let him burn that huge tattoo off my chest.

"He can track you with that tattoo. A vampire can track their blood in a human."

The thought of a vampire being able to do that, any person being able to do that, was sick. It took away a person's freedom.

"Mya, we have to do this."

I started crying and my chest was heaving with each breath I tried to take.

He came to my side and pulled me into his arms. I knew he didn't want to hurt me but I knew the pain that came with burning off a tattoo. And this one was too close to my chest and too big for me to be comfortable with it being burnt off.

"I just want you to be okay, Mya." He said softly, his lips brushing against my hair. Chills ran down my back.

"It'll hurt." I whispered.

He pulled back and wiped the tears from my face. "I can help you sleep through it."

"Won't I feel it?"

He shook his head. "Not with compulsion."

"Okay. Hurry."

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There was no way I was ever getting another tattoo after that pain. The tattoo Alvarez had given me was so large and painful that removing it was twice as bad, if not worse. Though Michael promised it wouldn't hurt, it still did. The pain came after I woke up, after the burning of my skin was done. There was a dull ache where the tattoo had been and a new pain on my forearm where my new tattoo was.

"How do you feel?" He asked as I woke up.

There was an ice pack on my chest, numbing the bright red skin. I was grateful for it but it also made the rest of me cold. "I've been better." Every time I had been better was when vampires were just imaginary creatures. But I didn't want to tell him that.

"I'm sorry." It sounded like he was being careful with what he said, like his words would hurt me. It was weird to hear him act that way.

I sat up, holding the ice pack still against my chest. "Why?"

"You're hurting because of me."

I smiled a little. "You haven't hurt me at all. You saved me, really."

"I wouldn't call it that."

"Don't beat yourself up."

He turned to face me and his expression changed. "Why were you scared of me? When we found you."

"I thought you were mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?" It was a weird question for him to ask. He had plenty of reasons to be mad. And since he was a vampire, he didn't need to explain the reasons either.

I looked away, my fear still coming out. Maybe he didn't want me to be afraid of him but I was. I wasn't sure if it was a predator-pray thing or not. "I thought that you thought I'd ran away. That I was disobeying you."

He walked over to me and took my free hand in both of his. "I don't want you to be afraid of me."

"I can't help it." I whispered.

Slowly, his fingers threaded with mine.

I looked up at him and he was watching me, his expression a little guarded. I couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling.

"I should go." He said softly, releasing my hand.

Every time he got close to... feeling something, he'd run away from it. He kept running away from me. But why?

"No, stay. Please."

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

"I'm more afraid of the other vampires out there."

"I'll keep you safe, Mya. I promise."