vicious ↠ sweet pea [2]

|| TWELVE ||

"Wake up," a gruff voice spoke into Lauryn's ear as she slept, causing her eyes to open instantly. A wave of shock hit her as she turned her head.

She sat up suddenly, shaking the entire bed. "Dad?"

There he was knelt, wearing his vintage Serpent cutte, his fingers clad with tacky rings, and cheap gel sweeping his short dark hair to the side. He nodded, a smile widening across his mouth.

His face was scarred and bruised, and his forearms were grazed. "I'm back, little one."

Lauryn's mouth opened with horror, but she couldn't scream, she jumped up, but he pushed her down effortlessly with an arm across her chest. "No, you're dead!"

"Calm down," Jackson told her. "You'll hurt yourself."

"H-How are you... How did this happen?" she asked, her voice trembling breathlessly.

"I had some help getting out of that ditch," he explained, and a dark figure appeared in the doorway. Lauryn narrowed her eyes as she tried to make out who it was in the dark.

The face was recognisable as the moonlight seeped through the curtain, and Lauryn felt her voicebox tear a cord.

"No!" she screeched. "Get out!"

Skye laughed darkly, a bloody knife in her grasp, shining wet. "It's nice to see you."

Lauryn covered her eyes, finding herself unable to move. "I'm dreaming, this isn't real!"

"Ah, but we're real in your mind, aren't we?" Skye said, and she sat down on the bed. "You can't get rid of us, Lauryn. We'll always be with you."

Lauryn realised Sweet Pea wasn't sleeping beside her any longer, and her face crumbled as she realised she was caught in a nightmare, with seemingly no escape.

"Wondering where your man is?" Jackson asked her, grinning at Skye.

Skye lifted the knife, wiping some of the blood on Lauryn's chest. "You feel that?"

Lauryn closed her eyes, shaking her head as she swallowed. "This isn't real. You don't scare me. Sweet Pea's fine."

"Is he?" Skye whispered. "If I can't have him, no one can, Laurie."

Skye slowly drew the blade of the knife up towards Lauryn's neck when she felt the cold and agonising slow puncture of the metal into her skin.

Lauryn found herself gasping for air when she woke up finally, clasping her neck as she barely comprehended that it was a dream.

She broke into a sob, jumping out of bed when she realised Sweet Pea again, was not beside her. Worried she was still in a dream and something horrible had happened again, she bolted from the bedroom, the door smacking into the wardrobe with a thud.

Sweet Pea jumped up from the kitchen table when he hear her running, his face whitening as she threw herself onto him tightly.

"What the hell happened?!" he asked worriedly, stroking her hair frantically. "Lauryn, baby, what happened?"

"I had a dream," she sobbed, her voice muffled by his shirt. "You..."

Sweet Pea swallowed the lump in his throat when he realised what thoughts were floating around her head. "I'm right here, Angel Face. Everything is fine."

She took a breath, and her chest stopped heaving as briskly as he rocked her gently. "I saw... my dad, and Skye. They were saying the most awful things."

"It wasn't real, baby, you're okay."

"It felt so real, though," she said, wondering if she'd ever be able to sleep again knowing her mind was capable of thinking up such despicable things.