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Nightmares

Ash's P.O.V.

"You go alone."

"Katie! Why do you have to be so rude!?" Andrew whines and I scrunch my eyebrows in annoyance.

"Because I want peace and quiet without you. You are not easy to live with, you know. Go kill some stupid humans or something."

"Wow, I mean, I'm not dense. There is something going on between you and Ash." I raise my head with an eyebrow raised.

"Whatever. Just get the fuck out of here. I need a nap."

"You two need to get those sticks out of your asses," Andrew says and I just look away, loosing interest in the conversation again.

"Fine! I'll fucking go with you! We need dinner anyway. Ash, you want to stay here?" I nod my head to Katie and she just shrugs. "Well, take your nap; you deserve it after the last couple if days."

"Sure."

"See you later, Ash!" Katie shouts as she shoves Andrew out the door. I have to thank her later; I had a rough night last night....

I was running and running, the flames lapping at my paws and my fur. The hot asphalt burned my pads and the ashes stuck in my fur, making my body feel hot. Where is Nash!? Where is Brooke, and Maria!? I have to find them!

Just as I was finally able to reach the house in the distance, something plowed into my side before I could leap through the window. I looked at the small animal that had taken me down and recognized her instantly. "Brooke!?"

"How in the hell do you know who I am!?" she hisses in my face, showing me her sharp teeth.

"Brooke, we were friends! Practically family for the short time we knew each other! We were clo-"

"I don't remember you. It all sounds like lies." I then heard a yell of pain that sounded an awful lot like Maria.

"Brooke, please!" I plead, but she just digs her claws deeper into my skin.

"W-wait... Finn!?"

"Y-yea!" I say, joyful that she remembers. "Now, I need to go find Na-"

"You betrayed me."

"Hu?"

"YOU FUCKING LEFT ME! And now, I'm going to make sure you suffer! You just left me and Nash and Maria! You left us! They are dead! Now live with the guilt and die from it!" I can't believe what I'm hearing. Did I really leave them? Do they really hate me? Why couldn't I protect them!? "Now feel the pain that we did! Feel how we felt! Enter the world of pain and never stick a paw out of it!" I don't fight back; I can't. I can't fight her.... My heart hurts so much... please... why did I make them suffer?

Brooke then pulls her paw back, claws unsheathed, and strikes towards my....

I sit up suddenly and fall off of the table I was perched on and onto the floor with a groan.

I have been having that nightmare for the past week straight... it is slightly different every time, but it seems to get longer the more often I have it; I see more of it. The more I see the more it hurts. My heart aches. I just want to crawl into a corner and cry.

Betraying me, a tear slips from my eye and I rush to stop it. I have to hold it in. I can't show weakness. That all goes to hell as more tears flow down my face and I full out sob on the dirty floor.

What the hell have I come to? "Ash!" Suddenly, the door is ripped open and the smell of blood meets my nose. "Ash, we are ba- Oh, gods...." Katie comes to my side and brings me up into her lap. Katie gently wipes the tears falling down my face and brings me in for a hug which I return. "You don't always have to hold it in, you know. I'll be here for you; always. I won't leave." I probably seem so pathetic....

"Ash...." Oh, Andrew is here too.... "What's wr-"

"Shut up," Katie snaps and immediately turns her attention to me again. "Just let it out."

"It hurts," I croak, giving into her words while she shushes me and tries to comfort me. "My h-heart. It h-hurts s-so mu-" I trail off, unable to talk anymore.

"Just let it out. Think of the future: the good times we will have. We will find your friend and he will be so hap-"

"But I betrayed h-her. I b-betrayed Brooke, a-and Nash, and M-M-Maria. They are n-now p-probably all d-dead because of me...."

"Nonono! You tried to save them! It wasn't your fault! And I'm sure Brooke is okay. She is out there somewhere, making a difference to change this world. She is happy and is also looking for you." That's why I never travel far: I hope that she will eventually come back, looking for me where we parted.

"B-but I don't d-deserve that...."

"Finn, yes, you do." I look her in the eyes. Her beautiful yellow eyes are filled with pain and worry and something else that I can't quite place.

"I-I'm not F-Fi-"

"Yes, you are Finn. You were Finn, you are Finn, and you will always be Finn. Nothing can change that." Tears start to fall from her eyes: Katie, who has never once been seen crying, and we cry in each others arms. "Ash, Finn, whatever you call yourself, you will never change, and that is great! I'm so happy I have known you for as long as I have! I'm so glad we didn't kill each other," Katie chuckles while still crying and I do the same; calmer now.  "You are so kind, caring, and strong.  I wish I could be like you, so much."

"I'm nothing great.  Just your everyday split."

"Shut the fuck up. You are irreplaceable, Ash."

"So are you, Kat."

"That's it!" Andrew shouts suddenly, making me and Katie look at him while wiping our tear-stained faces.

"What?" I say, my voice still deep and hoarse.

"I've heard both of those names before!"

"It was just a coinc-"

"I don't think so. Was your Brooke a black cat split?"

"Energetic, spunky, kind?"

"More like quiet and submissive, but if she is the same girl, she is in trouble."

"Andrew, what do you mean?" Katie asks.

"She was being held against her will by a group of men, and she didn't look so happy," Andrew says with a frown and I take a while to process that it is very possible that this Brooke might be the one I knew six years ago as a child.

"... what can you tell me?"