Glowing Eyes || Adopted by Josh Dun

chasing nightmares away

People typically grow out of nightmares once they get into third grade. Other than the occasional nightmare because of something stressful or traumatic, they're an abnormal thing past then.

Granted, I had nightmares all the time when I still lived with my mom. I also get unreasonably stressed about general things, so that printed a bunch of nightmares, too. I thought it would change when I moved away from that place, but it's worse. I wake up in the middle of the night sweating, terrified that I'm back in that bunk bed. That this whole thing was just a dream.

Some are worse than others. I've had a few where I'm alone in my old house, or where I'm being asked by my mother and brother where I was for the last few days (you know, they're all mad and interrogation-like). The worst one is reoccurring, though. I'm stuck in my living room, and the windows and doors are replaced by walls. I run from my mom screaming at me and attacking me, and as time goes on she gets bigger and more animal-like. She grows claws, then cat eyes, then canines. It gets worse by the second, until she's so big and terrifying that I'm pounding on the walls. Then I wake up.

•••••••

I screamed out loud, bolting up in my bed. I looked around, panicking. Where was I? I bolted out of the bed, breathing heavy as my heart beat out of my chest. You know that feeling when you're going down the stairs and you miss a step? How your heart plummets for a split second? It was like that, but for so much longer. I was dizzy and panicked, grabbing at the door knob to leave the room, when it opened for me.

A large figure stood in the doorway, and I screamed. I backed up to the window before the figure turned the light on. It was Josh.

I stopped screaming when I realized where I was, but I was still shaking and breathing heavy. I backed up into the far corner of my room, near the window, and slid my back down the wall. I shuddered and pulled my knees to my chest, tears brimming in my eyes.

Josh sat down next to me, putting an arm around me and hugging me to him. "Hey, it's okay, it was just a nightmare," he whispered softly. "It's okay, you're okay. You're safe here, it was just a dream."

He repeated words and phrases over and over, and kept his warm arms around me the whole time. It felt foreign. I'd never had a parent or a sibling help me through a nightmare, I've never had anyone before. His company felt warm against my cold skin.

Finally, I calmed down and he let me go. I wiped the tears that never left my water line and whispered, "I'm- I'm sorry for waking you up."

The red-haired guy shook his head, "No, it's fine. It's what I'm here for." He paused, looking out at his feet sprawled in front of him. "You want to talk about it?"

I laughed sadly, "That doesn't sound too bad."

He nods, smiling warmly, "I know what you mean. So what was the nightmare about? If you want to tell me."

"It was," I took a deep breath, running a hand through my hair, "It was about my mom. We were in my old living room, but all of the windows and doors were just walls. I was running from her and she was... hurting me. As time went on she got bigger, and more wolf-like. Until I was hitting the walls trying to escape. And then I woke up." I looked up at the ceiling.

There was a long silence, comfortable silence, before Josh finally said, "I'm so sorry, Lynn."

I shrugged looking over at him, "It's not like I can change it, you know? But, thanks."

He smiled back, "Any time, kid."

•••••••

For the past week Josh and I had fallen into a schedule. We would hang out around the house, he would usually practice the drums, and then we'd leave for his shift at the coffee shop at noon.