The Night of the Mobs (MCSM Fanfiction - Sequel to The Secrets Beneath the Lies)

Chapter 12 - Heartbreak

A crack of thunder ripped Jesse from her shallow, restless sleep. She sat up in bed, looking around in bewilderment. The room was pitch black, her eyes not yet accustomed to the darkness. Only for another flash of lightning to illuminate everything in a white glow.

Realisation of where she was sunk in, and Jesse let out a slow, relieved breath. She sunk back into the pillows, feeling that the fabric was damp with her own sweat. It took hours for sleep to come at all, and then of course it's plagued by nightmares.

Lluna snorted softly from her position on the carpet. Jesse heard her grunt as she climbed onto the bed, the mattress sinking in beneath the llama's heavy weight. Lying down beside Jesse, Lluna gave her a comforting nudge with nose, before resting her head back down.

"Hey girl." Jesse whispered softly, stroking the llama's soft white coat in the dark.

She closed her eyes as the lightning flashed outside, waiting for the roar of thunder to follow. For as much as she loved rain, storms like that really made her uncomfortable and even... scared.

Jesse opened her eyes again, staring up at her bedroom ceiling. She knew for a fact that sleep wouldn't be generous enough to come again, not soon anyway.

It's been awful, ever since they came fleeing back home that afternoon. They're group weighed down by a new-found fear, for an old enemy. Fear and... fear and grief.

Petra hadn't shown her face again. For the rest of the afternoon she had remained in her room, where the others decided to give her, her space.

Jesse couldn't even begin to imagine how much Rascal's death had to hurt Petra. Even she, who wasn't nearly as close to the young wolf, had broken down in tears after a while. It just wasn't going to be the same without him.

Jesse rolled over in bed, nestling her face into Lluna's fur, wrapping her arms around the llama. Sensing that Jesse was upset, Lluna simply nuzzled Jesse's hair with her snout.

Jesse sighed softly, opening her eyes again. It felt wrong, still being able to snuggle up with Lluna while knowing that Petra was all in alone in her bedroom that night.

She didn't know what their next move would be. They outnumbered the Blaze Rods, and still lost. Jesse hasn't even had a moment to ponder over what Aiden and his buddies were doing back there in the first place.

Another flash of lightning made Jesse jolt, shutting her eyes tightly as she waiting for the ear-piercing thunder to follow. Yeah okay, sleep wasn't coming again soon.

Jesse sighed, blinking her eyes open again. Usually when she had trouble sleeping, she'd do something to occupy herself a bit, like reading a book. But that night, reading was probably what she felt least like doing.

Sitting up on the bed, Jesse rubbed her tired eyes. She had to at least do something else than lying there, otherwise it was going to be an incredibly long and awful night.

She slipped her legs off the bed and got up, deciding that getting herself a glass of water would probably be a good place to start.

Jesse slowly walked to the door, shuddering slightly as a drop of rainwater landed on her shoulder. Great, add a leak to the list of issues we're currently dealing with!

The moment Jesse stepped into the hallway, she spotted something that caught her attention. A thin strip of light was shining through below Petra's door. Unlike Jesse, the warrior preferred complete darkness at night, always keeping her curtains drawn.

Jesse frowned slightly, wondering if that meant Petra was awake. She didn't know if her friend would want to see her, but she was honestly worried about her.