Nightmares

Sleepy Eyes

Cole woke to a sudden tapping sound. Cracking his eyelids just a bit he saw the soft glow of a morning sun filtering through the curtains. A glance at the crimson glow on the bedside table informed him that it was 11:26 AM. There it was again— the tapping sound.

Cole quickly reached for the knife on his nightstand. It was one of the four inch ones. He flipped the blade out with a flick of his wrist, only to realize that the tap was coming from his door as his mother called out to him.

"Cole, honey? You okay? You really should be waking now dear, sleeping all day will keep you up tonight." The voice of Veronica Adder rang clear and sweet, like the little bells people ring to get service at a hotel lobby.

Cole just mumble out something unintelligible, too lazy to actually say anything. He knew she was right, but did not want to remove himself from the comfort of his so recently warmed bed.

"There's still some bacon and waffles, dear, if you hurry." With that parting line, delivered with a knowing smirk, she turned and shuffled back toward the kitchen. She hadn't even reached the end of the hallway before she heard the door click and saw a disheveled figure stumble out of the doorway she had just vacated.

She knew that would work. There was one thing her youngest son could not resist— waffles and bacon. She was an expert at making them. And with only two of them, she had found there was usually quite enough to go around these days. No matter though. Cole would eat however much there was.

After stumbling into the kitchen, freshly washed, Cole murmured something about hearing "waffles." Veronica smiled. He was not usually this tired, but it was rather cute. She handed him a plate of waffles and bacon, still warm, which he promptly tore into without a thought. Looking closely, she saw the redness of his eyes, and the black rings underneath them. "Did you sleep well last night, honey? You look like you didn't sleep a wink!"

Cole glanced up at her and in that moment she saw several things flash across his face— fear, confusion, shame, and, finally, resolution. "Just nightmares. Dreamed of running from a four-armed, ten foot tall, hairy monster all night. I feel like I really did run all night."

Veronica knew it was a lie, but figured he had likely just been texting some girl until the early morning hours. "I'm sorry, dear, maybe you should take a while and read a book or something restful..." she said with a knowing smirk.

Cole knew she didn't believe his ridiculous tale. He didn't want her to. He wanted his story to be so ridiculous that she assumed something silly like girl problems. It appeared to have worked.

He hated lying to his mother. Ever since his dad had left, he'd been close to her. He glanced at her-- following the flowing blonde hair down her back, scanning her gentle curves. She was too beautiful to be a mother. But she was, and she was stronger than she looked. But he knew that if she knew, she would try to stop him. He didn't want to put her through that. He would have to go it alone.

It was a lot to go through though. As he sat with the Odyssey open in his lap, he replayed the previous night. He saw the spraying blood over and over again. He didn't need to kill Joseph. But at the same time, it was the sensible thing to do. He couldn't clean up the city if he left the seeds of discord to grow again. Death was the only course that was met with certain success. Still, he felt so destroyed because of it.

He guessed it would become easier as time passed, which was both a comfort and a fearful prospect. He wasn't sure that being used to killing was a good thing at all. Right now, the only thing keeping him together was the knowledge that it was necessary, and that he was saving other lives. Sure, he was doing it for vengeance, but it still saved other people's brothers. His was gone, but he could keep theirs safe.

His mother's voice broke his thoughts. "Is she pretty?" She asked, assuming him to be daydreaming of a girl.

"Yeah," he shot back with a smirk to match hers. It wasn't a lie. Justice was beautiful.