Demonfire Drabbles

Nightmares

     The raven haired princess carefully dragged herself through the halls of Wayne manor. For all she knew, no one was there, and she was scared. Only moments ago dreadful thoughts danced through her dreams, convincing her that her beloved father and uncle were dead. Damian, an uncle that she believed to be dead, was the only one that remained out of the bat cave and within her reach.

     She made her way over to the boy's room, creeping in past the tall oak door that stood in front of her. As soon as she made her way over to his bed, she knew he had sensed her presence. Her  uncle was pretty good at doing just that. She climbed onto his bed and found her way besides him. She felt silly doing this at the age she was, but she need reassurance, and more importantly... she needed him.

     "Dear God, Grayson's Gremlin is here." He muttered, rising up from his former resting position only to scowl at her. This made her frown.

     "Uncle Dami?" She asked, completely ignoring what he had just said. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight...?" She asked cautiously, wiping her watering eyes as she prepared to hear a big 'no'.

     Instead, the older boy had just glared her way, a deep sigh parting from his lips. "Don't call me 'Uncle Dami'." He started, gesturing for the ten year old to move out of the way as he pulled down the blankets opposite to him.  He watched her situate herself underneath the blankets, making sure she was all snuggled up before he could ask what was bothering her.

       "Why are you in here?" He pressed, icy blue eyes glancing down into her unearthly green ones.

"I got another bad dream."

" What could have possibly scared you? The only monsters truly worth being frightful of are the ones outside the manor."

"It wasn't about a monster!" She shouted. Her emotions were on the fritz and she really didn't need his attitude right now. That was something he understood, but chose to rather ignore.

"Then what the hell was it about?"

"I dreamt that you and daddy died." She muttered quietly, tears falling from the young girl's eyes.

     His expression remained the same, yet his view on the situation changed the slightest bit. He himself had thought about his death several times, and the death of his brother figure as well. He almost felt sympathy for her. He now knew why she had come to him: she was scared he was no longer living.

      A small sigh escaped the young hero's lips. He almost felt sympathy for her. He knew she didn't take easy to this kind of thing.

"Mar'i, I need you to listen to me."

     She looked to him, a few warm tears sliding down her cheeks. He offered her the faintest ghost of a smile, quickly thinking of how to word such a sensitive topic.

"There may be a day that I will die. There may be a day that your father will die. In fact- the topic is inevitable.  Though the death of others is never something you should be afraid of. When I was young... my mother told me that when our loved ones die they become stars. And I know you know how beautiful stars may be. You also know how close they are. How safe they are from harm. When our loved ones die... they'll be okay." He tensed a bit, feeling embarrassed to ask what he was about to. "Now... do you want to come here?" He asked cautiously, opening his arms to the young girl in front of him.

     Mar'i of course didn't turn down this offer to hug to boy who had always seemed so cold. "And Mar'i... we'll never leave you. We will always be here for you under any circumstance. And even as we grow older, no one can lay a single finger on us. We're far to skilled to let any of the psychos out there harm your father or I. Okay?"

     The young girl nodded in agreement, refusing to let him go anytime soon. Damian understood this, and pulled the blankets over them both. Mar'i was half asleep, tear stains decorating her tanned cheeks. Damian sighed once more as she curled up against him, a quiet 'I love you, Uncle Dami' parting from her lips. He wished he could've protested against the pet name he hated so much. But instead, due to the heartfelt moment the two just had, all he did was was mutter back 'I suppose I love you too, Grayson spawn.' And with that, they both fell asleep. Mar'i didn't have another night mare for quite a while after that.
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    Seven years had past. The girl who was once short, sassy, and a bit annoying was 17 now. Many things had changed since that fateful night the duo had spent together, but one thing that had remained, and that was Mar'i's awful nightmares.

    Over the years, they had gotten worse too. More violent. More graphic. More realistic. She had stopped going to Damian for support after he moved out... though tonight the tides had turned. Only hours before, the young princess had been officially informed that Damian had died almost ten years before, and this broke her heart. However, it also triggered her nightmares.

   Terrified of the thoughts that had just haunted her dreams, Mar'i ran to the older boy's room in hopes that he'd be there sleeping. She opened the door, tears streaming down her face as she carefully made her way over to the sleeping boy. She climbed in his bed , quickly grabbing his wrist as he woke. She pressed her fingers to his wrist, slightly relieved to feel his pulse.

"Mar'i- what the hell are you doing"

     "Oh Dami!" She cried in her usual dramatic way, holding her head in her hands as hot tears slid down her tanned cheeks. His eyes widened the slightest bit with shock. He hadn't seen her in such a weak state in quite a while. He sat up, resting his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to be supportive.

"Y-you died. You were gone. You died in my arms and I couldn't save you. I tried everything to keep you with me, b-but I failed. You were dead and it was all my fault! I let you die!"

     That's when he came to a realization. It was another nightmare. He had heard her father go to comfort her after screaming and crying in her rest, but it felt like forever since she had personally come to him for comfort.

     "Mar'i." He started softly, flicking some hair away from her face. "I'm alive." He stated simply, which caused her brows to furrow a bit in disbelief.

"H-how do I know I'm not just d-dreaming again? Your pulse, what if it's just a-"

    "Mar'i." He cut her off, taking her warm, delicate hand in his own. Her tear flow had steadied as she looked up at him, surely confused and convinced this wasn't real. He sighed, wishing he could say something sarcastic despite the fact that he knew he shouldn't.

     He carefully placed her hand against his chest, right over his heart. Her crying had been reduced to just tears sliding down her cheeks at this point. She relaxed the slightest bit, keeping her hand on his chest, counting his heartbeats until she could safely say he was still living.

     "Thank X'hal..." She whispered, glancing down at her lap as a few tears still dared to roll down her cheeks. "I'm not letting you die, Damian. Even if it means I have to stay up all night. Even if it mea-"

    She was cut off by him again. "Instead..." he began, pulling down the blankets so she could wiggle in besides him. "Why don't you keep your head on my chest as we sleep, that way you could hear and feel my heart beat until day break. That way you know that I'm alive."

    Mar'i nodded in agreement, wiggling besides him so she could rest her head on his chest. She sighed quietly, content with the pleasant results of tonight's horrid nightmare. Not only had she gotten assurance that Damian was alive... but she had also been invited to cuddle with him. This was something not only incredibly rare, but it was also something she liked very much. Damian had always been special to her, though at this moment she knew what she was feeling had been different to all of her previous feelings for him. Could she like him? No way. She thought to herself as she felt Damian's arm securely wrap around her waist. She sighed, and kept thinking about the night as she drifted off to sleep. But then she woke in his arms she knew one thing was definite. She was convinced she may or may not have the tiniest crush on him.