Savoirs

Adam

When I woke up I saw Jason and Jaclyn sleeping over in the corner and smiled. They were good for each other and Jason would look after her I knew. I stood and walked into the kitchen. It was a small room but had quite a few pots and pans. I opened the wood stove in the corner and tossed a few logs into it for the room was freezing. I searched for something to make a fire with and came up empty handed. I sighed and went back into the other room to find the fire burning brightly.

I heard Jason mutter something in his sleep and then Jaclyn was screaming. I ran to her side and Jason sat bolt upright, wide awake in seconds. Jaclyn was still asleep but was trying to push something away. I knelt next to her and called her name. I heard footsteps pounding somewhere in the house and Jason was shaking Jaclyn's shoulder. She screamed again and I saw Serena standing a few feet away and Joseph was getting to his feet. I couldn't see Lia and Jaclyn hit me. I cried out and Jason grabbed her wrists.

"Jaclyn! Wake up!" He exclaimed and she screamed again. Millay and her mother and father burst into the room and Millay cried out. Jason pinned Jaclyn's arms to the floor and she fell silent. Her breathing was labored and then her eyes flew open and she struggled against Jason's strength. One of her arms got free and she hit him. He let her go and a red mark was already forming on his face. I stared at him and he stared in shock at Jaclyn who sat up and brought her knees to her chest. She put her head down and I heard her sob. Lia appeared next to me and I looked up at her. She was just as shocked as the rest of us and Jason put a hand on Jaclyn's shoulder.

"Leave me alone." She mumbled and shrugged his hand away. He just did it again.

"What happened?" He asked gently and she shook her head.

"I-I don't know." Her voice broke and she sounded so hopeless it broke my heart.

"Can you try to remember?" He asked and she nodded. She picked her head up and stared at her feet.

"I was dreaming that I was running through the forest. Something was chasing me but I didn't look back. I tripped and fell but I wasn't in the forest anymore. I was at the castle. Everything was ruined and I thought I heard Jason say something behind me but when I turned around it was the man. I screamed and he laughed. I felt like I was being torn open from the inside and it was unbearable. I fell to my knees and the man knelt in front of me and grabbed my shoulders. I tried to push him away but I couldn't. The next thing I know I'm waking up and hitting people I know would never hurt me." Her voice broke at the end and a single tear ran down her face. She wiped it away quickly and Lia put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright." She said reassuringly. Jaclyn shook her head.

"What if I hadn't just hit him though? What if I, you know, hurt him worse?" She looked up at Lia like she would have an answer but she didn't. Jason sighed and stood.

"Jaclyn. It's alright. We promise." He says gently and then walks into the kitchen. I stood and went after him. There was a fire going in the fire place and he was pacing the floor.

"Jason, what are you doing?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I'm thinking. She said that in her dream she thought she heard me behind her. Well I was dreaming as well and I saw her with her back to me. I said something and then I wasn't there anymore. It wasn't something that she is scared of happening." He says and I nod.

"So, you think that man did it? Maybe he wanted to spook her." I said and Jason shook his head.

"No, all he's done so far is hurt her so why just scare her? He wanted to hurt her. How is the question." He paces the floor faster and I think for a moment.

"Maybe.....he wanted to hurt her emotionally." I said carefully and Jason stopped in his tracks. His face was pale and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"I think you're right." He says quietly and we walk back out into the room after a few more minutes of talking and find Jaclyn sitting with Millay in her lap. She was humming and Jason went over and sat down next to her. I walked out of the door after grabbing my bow and arrows to hunt.