Rebel: A Monstercat Fanfic

033 - Dreams

Song of the Chapter: To The Stars - Braken (Drumstep)

Remember the black feathers.

(Tristam's POV)

I tug against the restraints snapped around my wrists and my underarms, but I can't move. I cry out silently, and am answered by the man - that horrifying man Phantom called Jensen. I'm on my stomach, my back facing him. He laughs and bushes his hand down my bare skin, and I shudder at the tingles his touch brings.

"Leo ..." he whispers gently. "Flight would be so beautiful ..."

I try to break away again, but I'm helpless and can't move. Something's touching me - not Jensen, but something else, snaking around my waist and under my arms. I can't stop it, I can't fight it.

Something else - no, feathers, black feathers - creep up to my face, tickling my nose and covering my mouth. I find it hard to breathe. I keep inhaling them, and I can't breathe them back out. My heart pounds harder and harder and I start to panic.

"You are so perfect," Jensen whispers, leaning in close. I feel a shock of ice on my back, by my shoulder blade - where the black lines are. It feels like some sort of scalpel. "Flight will look so beautiful on you, don't you think?"

"No! No no no no no - " I beg, but my protests are in vain and unheard, muffled by the suffocating feathers.

Jensen plunges the knife into my back and rips me open. I let out a silent scream and arch my back, but he still cuts me, and I can feel the blood trickling down my back. I yank and pull and cry but I still can't breathe and I still can't move and I'm going to die here -

I wake up with a terrified gasp for breath, my eyes snapping open. The feathers aren't feathers; it's Braken's hair in my face. He's wrapped his arms around my waist in his sleep and is resting his head against my chest. I can still feel something dripping down my back, so I detach myself from him and run to the bathroom, clawing the shirt off over my head.

There's nothing there. It's just sweat. I breathe a massive sigh of relief and slump against the closed door. I'm not bleeding - not even the gash on my right side or my wounded arm. The black lines are still on my back, but they're faded, washed off by the rain, the shower, and my own sweat.

I turn on the cold water and splash it in my face, hoping to refresh myself before I go back to bed. As an afterthought, I try to scrub off the lines on my back, but I can't reach them well enough to make a difference. I just make myself frustrated, so I give up and put the shirt back on, turning off the light and exiting the bathroom.

No one else is awake, so I walk as quietly as I can back over to the bed and climb under the covers. Braken's curled up, hugging a pillow instead of me. I lay down on my side and watch him for a moment as he sleeps. He looks so peaceful when he's not having nightmares. I try to swallow the lump in my throat, with no luck. I know I'm going to be tortured with dreams for a while after this. I shift my position and catch my breath in pain as I rest on my wounded arm.

"Are you okay?" Braken whispers, and I jump in surprise. I thought he was asleep. His long mop of hair covers his eyes, but he pushes it out of the way to look at me.

"I just hurt my arm, that's all," I answer back, smiling the best I can.

He doesn't believe me. "No, you woke me up by jumping out of the bed and running into the bathroom. What are you thinking about?"

He knows me too well.

I sigh, giving in. "I had a dream about that man - Jensen. It was nothing."