Of The Dark

Chapter 7

A long night pursued after Herr Diedrich's fiery outburst. I expected him to pass out after all the glasses he had downed, but much to my dismay, he was still awake an hour after he told me how regretful he felt.

I did not know whether to believe it or not. He was drunk and behaving irrationally as it was. He had sisters. He knew the kind of pain and trauma he could inflict from even before he did it. And, after all, I was just a spec of dust drowning in a sea of all the girls he had been affiliated with. Only, I was dropped in the middle, directionless.

I questioned whether his words were his untainted thoughts or simply false. It would explain why he had been giving me the silent treatment for over a month. It would explain why he would not look at me unless it was absolutely necessary or to shoot me a scowl.

The troubles of that matter fell to the back of mind, encaged between the dreadful memories of that night and the imminent palpitations provoked by my long held fear.

I was locked in a frame of tremor.

My face was sodden with sweat and my hands were trembling by my side. I could feel the oxygen rushing in and out of my lungs as my chest rose and fell in rapid motion, misaligned with my irregular heartbeats screaming in my ear as blood flushed through my body.

"Hana," came a gentle voice next to me. "What's wrong?"

My head snapped to the direction of the sound to match a face with the voice. The incoming moonlight casted a silhouette over his head but was too faint to keep the room alight.

When he places a hand on my shoulder, I realised that I was crying.

Streams of tears flooded down my face. The ache in my eyes caused a heaviness to my head that pulsed with every heavy breath. I clutched the duvets tighter to myself, discomfort pervading every corner of my body.

"I'm scared." I croaked out, too vulnerable to cover it up. Eyes set on the wall with my mind somewhere else, I couldn't catch his reaction.

"Of me?" His voice was strained, as if hurt. I twisted my head to face him again, the deafening silence torn apart by my futile cries.

"No." The word was almost a whisper, every other sound being caught in the cobwebs of my throat. "Of the dark."

After a moment of silence, an arm leaned over my body to turn on the bedside lamp, instantly flooding the room with a golden glow.

A soft sigh escaped his lips. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

My lungs lost the capacity to utter any more words. I lied down silently, leaving his question unanswered as I tried to calm down my fluctuating heart rate.

Light.

There was light again. The room was lit with the soothing waves of a single light bulb, emanating its comfort, which I clutched onto with dear life. The off-white walls adorned the dancing shadows as the mirror echoed the light across the room.

I felt safe again.

Or at least, safer.

---

My sleep broke in the early hours of a Sunday morning as the blazing sunlight trickled in through the gap in the curtains, blinding me.

I blinked tightly, finding it impossible to escape the imperious flood of light overtaking everything in my vision. Reluctantly, I force myself out of the invitingly warm bed and push myself towards the window. Fresh morning dew had settled on the window pane as the sun welcomed in the new day.

Light.

It felt so comforting.

"Good morning." I jumped at the sudden sound, accidentally hitting my wrist hard on the windowsill. Cradling my arm, I turn around to see the familiar voice. "Did I scare you?"