Case Closed

• Twenty •

Like a bullet, she shot out of bed. The next few seconds were a blur of fear and pain and panic, interspersed with bursts of violent shaking and crying. When it was over, Lucy found herself curled in the corner of her room, frozen in place. She didn't know what to do.
The apartment was empty and silent, a trap of terror that she didn't want to be caught in.

Instinctively she reached for her mobile and scrolled through the contacts, searching for a name. Upon finding it she hit the button until the screen flashed to black and a faint buzz came from the speaker. She raised it to her ear.

It rang once, twice, five times. Then a burst of static and the Prof's voice that made her collapse into a fresh wave of tears and shaking.

"Lucy? Lucy, what's happened?"

She didn't reply.

"I'm coming over, are you at home?"

Choking out a yes, she hit the red button and placed the phone on the floor beside her.

She tried her best to regain some form of self-control, but nothing would work, so she thought back to what the depths of her mind had created. After all, it wasn't like she could get worse.

He had shot her. The one person she trusted had shot her.

It was only a dream, or nightmare, but she couldn't help realising that the brain had to have some kind or storyboard - something to base the dreams off of. So some part of it had to be true. He wouldn't. He wouldn't.

In the dark, Lucy lost all sense of time - she might have been huddled in that corner for seconds, or hours. It was impossible to tell. The simple act of moving the clock to face her seemed to make every muscle in her body freeze. She couldn't even blink, instead staring straight ahead at the bedroom door.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs of the apartment block. She heard a non-too-gentle bang on the front door, but couldn't move, or call out in reply. A string of obscenities drifted to her ears, along with the muffled sound of fumbling. It was only then that she remembered the other nightmare, from a few days back. It was him, always him. And now he was coming for her.

The shaking started up again, so violent that it took all her will power to stay in one place. Tears leaked out from her stinging eyes and ran in rivulets down her cheeks. This was something she'd never thought she could experience, and yet it was so painfully real. It felt like she was burning up from the inside, standing on a ledge, ready to explode. Or fall.

"Lucy? Lucy."

There was a faint click, and the sound of the door swinging open. She held her breath.

His face appeared around the bedroom doorway. And lie that she snapped. Jumping up, she ran over to him and collapsed into him, not bothering to hide her tears. He tended slightly before holding her tightly. Leading her over to the bed, she sat her down gently, by didn't let go.

"Shhh," he murmured, running his fingers through her knotted hair. As much as she hated to admit it, it worked. She felt her breathing slow and her heart return to a normal rhythm.

"What happened?"

"I-I can't. Not now."

"Ok."

After a couple of minutes, he said, "Do you want me to leave?"

The answer was easy. "No."

"Go back to sleep. I'll be next door.''

When he was gone, she lay down again and sighed. What had she just done?