Angel of Silence

2)Nightmares

I was walking with one of the older girls from the orphanage because the woman who ran the orphanage when I was 6 was really nice, and she let us go for a walk. We lived in New York at the time. The older girl's name was Alice, and she was 17 at the time.

On this day, Alice and I were going out for ice cream, then going to the beach since it was the middle of summer. While we were walking, a man ran up to us , snatched Alice's purse, and ran into the alley nearest to us.

"Stop!" Alice yelled, then picked me up and ran into the alley. I screamed when she started to sprint into the dark alley, which was strange because it was the middle of the day in summer. Suddenly, Alice put me down.

"Okay, Lily, you have to stay right here until I get back. Got it?" Alice asked me.

"Yup. I have to stay right here, Alice."I repeated to show that I understood.

"Good." Alice said, then ran in the direction of the man.

I stood in that spot for about 10 minutes before I heard a sound coming from where Alice had run.

"Alice! Did you get your purse?" I asked her.

After a few seconds, a man slowly walked out of the shadows, holding a gun to Alice's head to one hand while the other was holding her in place. I gasped at the sight and dropped to my knees, sobbing into my hands.

"Please don't, please!" I yelled to the man. He game me an evil smile before the sounds of gunshots went through my ears. I screamed at the top of my lungs before the man grabbed me. I was trying to get out of the man's grip and he was shaking me. I heard someone whispering my name while I was being kidnapped. The voice kept getting louder and louder until it was yelling at me.

"Liliana. Liliana. Liliana. Liliana! Liliana! LILIANA!" The voice yelled at me.

When I woke up, I immediately curled into a ball and started to sob. I felt the ground underneath me disappear, so I looked up to see Steve holding me. Natasha was rubbing my arm softly and Clint was opening the door to an apartment building. Steve walked in and put me on the couch before sitting down and pulling me into his side. I finally calmed down after a few minutes of Steve rocking me back and forth.

"Liliana? What happened?" Steve asked me.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It was only a dream. A nightmare.' I signed.

"It was only a nightmare." Natasha told Steve, who nodded almost immediately. I fell asleep to Steve still rocking me back and forth, huddled in his side.

STEVE'S POINT OF VIEW:

We were still listening to the music that Liliana, my new daughter, likes. Other than the music, we were all silent for about an hour in the car. We were about 10 minutes away from my apartment when I heard a whimper from the back seat. I pulled over and turned around in my seat to see Liliana having a nightmare. She was trying to talk in her sleep, but she couldn't because of her damaged vocal cords. She was silent for a few seconds, so I drove back. About 7 minutes later, she started to whimper again. I sped up a little bit in the car so we got to the house in 2 minutes instead of 3.

The car stopped, and I heard a gasp, so I turned around to see Liliana curled up in a ball, sobbing. I tossed the keys to Clint and he knew what to. I ran to the back seat and opened the door. Once the door was open, I pulled Liliana out of the car and carried her upstairs. The whole time, Natasha was rubbing Liliana's arm. When we got into the apartment, I set Liliana on the couch softly, then sat down next to her. I pulled her into my side and held her there while rocking her to calm her down. After a few minutes, she stopped crying, and was still sitting next to me, not willing to move.

"Liliana? What happened?" I asked her. She used sign language to tell us something, so I looked to Nat for a translation.

"It was only a nightmare." Natasha informed me, and I nodded.

I know that. I wonder what the nightmare was about. I thought to myself. I looked down at Liliana to see if she was okay, but when I looked down, she was already fast asleep. I didn't want to move her because that may wake her up, so I just stayed there. After a few minutes, I was half asleep, and the last thing I felt before falling into the darkness of sleep was a blanket being lied gently on my and my daughter. I thought that I also heard a small voice whisper to me--a voice I have never been able to hear.

"Thank you, Daddy."