We Meet Again (Thomas Shelby)

Chapter Fifteen: The Nightmare

3rd person's POV:

"Give me your hand!" A soldier yelled over the sound of the whirling plane, reaching his hand out towards Sorina, who was being escorted by three other solders. Her delicate hand latched onto his as he pulled her inside. Sorina's eyes went out the doorway, catching a glimpse one more time at the Shelby brothers' who stood to watch her leave one last time. She gave them a weak smile before the doors closed. Her heart started to ache again as the realization hit; this was the last time she would see those brothers. They had grown quite close over the few months she was camped at their station, and it was sad to see them disappear out of sight. "How are you feeling?" The corporal screamed towards her. "I'm alright, thank you, sir!" Was her polite reply. "Your next station is in Germany! We have a discrete base behind enemy lines that requires immediate assistance!" A file was passed toward her so she could read the information on her own. "The location is worrisome, sir! Nobody has been able to step foot passed our own vantage point! How are we so sure of its discretion?"

"Don't worry, miss! You'll be more safe there than this camp! It's not on any records, any messages back home! The camp is a ghost, I promise! I promise!"

"I promise." Sorina whispered in her sleep, her breathing becoming slightly rapid as the memory played out further. Her face scrunched slightly as she tossed her head to the side, beads of sweat forming at her hairline.

Sorina walked quietly around camp reading a novel her new friend Nathaniel had lent her to get her mind off all the despair she was far too familiar with. She had barely made it to chapter five, where the plot began to slightly thicken before she heard a twig snap in the woods beside her. Her entire body froze as she looked to the side, trying to find the source of the noise. Moments passed and not another sound was heard, but for a strange reason, her stomach tied in knots."

"Something's wrong." She grumbled as she tossed her head to the other side, her breathing becoming heavy. The Shelby brothers' stood downstairs, continuing their conversation, completely oblivious to the nightmare taking place upstairs. "Something's wrong.'" She whispered again, whimpering in her sleep.

Sorina continued her walk back to camp, taking notice to the eerie silence around her. There were no sounds of birds or crickets. It was as if the entire camp was placed in a soundproof bubble and somehow she had become self aware of it. 'Maybe I should head back to the nurses tent.' She thought as she smiled lightly at a cadet that was unfortunately lost in his own thoughts. She couldn't imagine what that poor man has been through, and she could only pray that God would help him heal in the best way possible.

"She's been asleep for hours!" Arthur frowned as he looked around at his brothers. They were all sitting around the kitchen table smoking their cigarettes in silence. They all had to admit, waiting was getting irritating, but John knew that the poor girl was going to wake up with one hell of a hangover. Might as well give her a little extra sleep. "I say we get 'er up." Thomas shook his head. "She'll wake up when she's ready." Arthur rolled his eyes and stubbed out his cigarette, pointing an accusing finger towards him. "You just want to avoid the conversation." Thomas stared at his elder brother carelessly, taking a drag of his own. "We've always let you sleep in on nights like that, Arthur. Let her sleep." Arthur's leg bounced up and down impatiently as he stared at the table. "I can't take it! I'm going upstairs!"

"Don't you bloody dare!" John leaped to his feet. "Arthur-"

Meanwhile, upstairs, Sorina's mind began to race as the dream become more and more vivid. The PTSD began to come in as the event of that night hit her like a ton of bricks. "There's a bomb in the tent." She whispered, fear crippling her. Her body began to outwardly feel the pain of the explosion, the wooden fragments that hit her skin as she struggled to hide under boxes.

"Sorina!" Nathaniel yelled from across the lane, looking at the poor girl that curled in between two stacks of boxes. Her hands gripped her hair as she cried, trying her hardest to cover her head. He waited a moment longer, waiting for a safe opportunity to get to his friend. His hands grabbed onto her upper arms as he forced her to look at him. "Come with me, now! We're falling back!" Sorina sobbed as she looked around, seeing soldier after soldier drop dead five to ten feet from her. "Don't focus on that! Look at me!" He forced her to face him. "You are to stay by my side and do everything I say, do you understand!?"

Suddenly, the brothers' froze at the sound of Sorina's terrified screams. "Sorina!" They all ran towards the staircase, taking the steps two at a time. Thomas ripped open the door to find Sorina thrashing around like she was fighting something off of her. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled to breathe. They immediately knew what was happening; a PTSD induced dream is always the worst. You could take a million nightmares and it wouldn't compare to one of these. Thomas went to go grab her, but she struggled fought against him as hard as she could. "There's a bomb in the tent!" She screamed.

"Nathaniel!" She screamed as her friend laid bloody and dead at her feet, a foreign soldier on top of her. "Get off of me! Get off-"

"Get off of me!" She swung on Thomas, punching him hard on the cheek. He grunted in pain, but chose to ignore it. This situation is far more important than a punch to the face, and he knew it. "Sorina, wake up! Sorina!" Her eyes ripped open as she pushed away from him, falling off the bed. She scooted her entire body into the corner of the room and sobbed into her knees, her entire body shaking violently. John slowly made his way over to her with his hands held out in front of him. "They're all dead. They're all dead. They--they--" She couldn't finish repeating herself before her cries interrupted her. He slowly got on his knees and went to touch her, but she tensed up. "Hey, it's me. It's John. You're not there anymore. We're home...we all are." She slowly looked at him, her bottom lip quivering as she looked at her friend. John gently took her hands and pulled her into a hug, allowing her to bury herself in his suit. He looked at his brothers', struggling to figure out what to do from this point. 'She wasn't jokin' when she said we had no idea what she's seen.' John thought to himself, sighing quietly to himself. Arthur pulled Thomas into the hallway, closing the door so they wouldn't hear their conversation. "What we goin' do, Tommy? We can't ask 'er now." Thomas looked at his shoes for a moment, debating in his head the best thing to do. For the first time in years, Thomas was stumped. He had seen Curly have his episodes, Thomas had nightmares every night, but never to that degree. There was nothing he could say to her that could make anything better. There was one person..."We could go to the Church." Arthur gave him a confused look, looking at his brother as if he had grown two heads. "You've got to be bloody jokin'."

"She's religious. Who else will she speak to other than a priest?" Arthur pondered this for a moment, clearly not liking the idea. After all, who's to say the plan would even work? "If you think it's best, Tom." Thomas nodded his head and opened the door, allowing the pair of them to look in one last time. She was still clinging onto John for dear life, but she wasn't crying as hard. John was gently running his hand through her hair and whispering in her ear. John is a good man, there's no doubt about that. It's no wonder why he was the married one out of the three. Thomas stared at the poor girl a little longer, taking in her pale, sweaty complexion. The sight almost broke his heart...so much so, the Great Thomas Shelby turned around and went back downstairs to indulge himself in a glass of whiskey.

 

Hi everyone! Long time no chapter, huh! Well, I'm happy to say that I am back in action! I'd like to apologize for completely going MIA. Life has been absolutely crazy and I haven't had either-

a) the time, 

b) the energy, or 

c) the location 

-to write anything and for that I am honestly and truly sorry. Luckily, life is sorting itself out and I'm finally in a place where I can start doing the thing that I love the most; writing! Thank you to every one of you for enjoying the story and leaving comments for me! I know I say it a lot but I love hearing from you so if would like, drop a comment and I'll make sure to comment back! I'll see you all, very soon!

T.E.C