Secrets We Keep

8

MAL POV

That night as I lay awake in my bed trying to fall asleep, I hear Evie's labored breathing. I miss Jay. He's only three doors down, but I miss him like crazy. As I fall asleep, I hear someone laughing with an evil machanical tone, like a robot or an evil witch. I ignore it, and fall asleep not knowing what happens next. 

I awake to someone screaming. A moment later I realize it's me. I jerk up and I'm shaking and I'm still screaming. Evie and Ben come running over to me. Wait, why is Ben here? I try to roll my eyes, but it doesn't work. I shake harder and my skin is ice cold. I realize I'm crying as well. Ben kneels down to meet my eyes. "Mal, what's wrong?" he says with concern. I need Jay. 

I mumble the words, "I...........need........Jay." "What did she say?" Ben says cocking his head to one side. "I think she said she needs Jay." Evie says from my other side. Ben's face hardens, but he nods. "Go get him." Ben says to Evie pointing towards the door. "No need. I'm already here." Jay says from the doorway. 

I look up, and Jay sees me. He comes over causally, like this sort of thing happens everyday. Well, it kind of did for a while back on the Isle. I would have really bad nightmares and wake up screaming, crying, ice cold skin, shaking, and sometimes I would wake up bleeding and Jay would be soaked in it because of me. 

Ben and Evie move away from us to the open door, and Jay leans back against the headboard, and his strong warm arms pull me gently back to him. He presses his lips to my forehead, and he says into my ear, "What happened baby?" I collect my voice and say, "Nightmare." "Ah." Jay says as his arms wrap around my waist. 

"What happened in this one?" He says and he kisses my forehead again. I snuggle into him and just by this slight gesture I'm feeling warmer already. Jay just has that natural warmth. I recount my nightmare, which was the reaccuring one. It starts and ends the same. Whoever gets tortured is different though. That's the scary part. My nightmare starts out in a grassy clearing in the middle of the woods. Nothing surrounds me, and all it is is grass in either direction as long as I can see. 

I walk around trying to find my way out, and I can never seem to find my way out. After what seems like hours of walking, I reach a building that is all black. There's no light coming from it either. I walk inside and my mother stands in there, and she always tortures someone I love. Most times it's Jay. This time though, it's not my mom that's doing the tortouring like usual. A Ben with cold pale blue eyes walks into the clearing, and he's smiling with a scary grin. 

I back into the door, and I end up knocking into a cold paled blue eyed Ben. Everywhere there are scary looking cold paled blue eyed Bens. What's even scarier, all of the scary Ben's have a hole where their hearts should be, and they are holding their bloody hearts that are torn in two in their hands. I run out the door and run as far as I can. My nightmare always ends with me meeting up with Jay, who isn't really Jay and the fake Jay always ends up dying, which makes me think I just lost the boy I love in the whole wide world. 

That's when I start screaming. After I finish my recount, Jay kisses my forehead another time, and brushes a strand of my purple hair back behind my ear. "I'm here now. That fake Jay won't hurt you anymore." He says hugging me to him. That's when Ben clears his throat. Him and Evie come over to us, and he says, "How come I'm the bad guy in your dream?" I tense up, and Jay puts his hands on my shoulders to help me stop tensing. 

I relax after a bit, and I shrug towards Ben. I yawn really big, and Ben says, "Jay, you should go back to your room now. Mal's falling asleep." Jay shakes his head. "Nope. I'm not leaving." "Why not?" Ben says his eyes narrowing. "Because I love Mal, and if she happens to have another nightmare, I'm right here." Jay says glaring at Ben. I put my hand on Jay's arm. "Don't start a fight Jay. It's not worth it. I love you." I say, and I fall asleep in Jay's arms. Jay kisses the top of my head and the rest is blurred into oblivion.