The Wrong Harmony

eighteen.

"Where's my mommy?" Harmony questioned, holding her stuffed polar bear close to her chest as the big man paced the room. He had a lot of tattoos and his skin was really pale but it looked kind of dirty. He wasn't speaking to her and she had been there for a while.

"Where's my mommy?" Harmony repeated, cocking her head to the side as she waited for the man to answer her. The bed that she was sitting on wasn't even comfortable and she was afraid to lay down because of how dirty it looked.

"Hey mister where's my-"

"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BRAT!" He roared and Harmony cowered back on the bed as he charged towards her, afraid of what he could do to her. He was big and she was tiny.

"But I-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" His hand smacked against her face causing her to fall back against the bed and she instantly began to sob, not bothering to sit back up. She just curled herself into a tiny ball to protect herself as she violently weeped for her parents.

"I just want my mommy and my daddy," she hiccupped, rocking herself back and forth as the scary man slowly rose from the bed and made his way back over to the door before he began to pace again.

Night terrors were something that plagued her childhood, making the lives of her mom and her dad and anyone else who happened to stay over their house absolute hell. It's like she would wake up screaming and hysterically sobbing but she would still be asleep, almost like she was in a trance. She could barely register the fact that her dad was there comforting her or her mom was singing her a lullaby. Sometimes she would just get up and walk away while still sleeping. She hadn't had one in a while but being in a new place wasn't helping the situation.

"Harmony!" Wilmer heard the screams and was instantly brought back to her childhood when this was a nightly thing. Night terrors were something that kids were just supposed to grow out of, and she eventually did, but they sometimes came back.

"Harmony, wake up," Wilmer began to gently shake her but she cowered away, even though she was sitting up. She was still screaming and crying and wouldn't stop.

"Don't touch me!" She sobbed, curling into herself as Wilmer sighed and briefly rubbed his temples before Harmony suddenly stood up and began to walk down the stairs, still crying even if her screams had subsided. He followed her and got her a cup of warm milk. She was about to walk away but he picked her up and put her on the counter, smoothing back her hair and attempting to wipe away her seemingly everlasting tears as her eyes slowly opened.

"I'm scared," she whimpered as Wilmer handed her the glass of milk and she took tiny sips. He rubbed her arms as she finished it off and then he helped her off of the counter.

"Daddy I'm scared," Harmony repeated as if he hadn't heard her. The resolution to this problem when she was little was to have her sleep in between him and Demi but he obviously couldn't do that anymore.

He led Harmony back upstairs to her room and helped her underneath the covers. Once she was all tucked in, he laid on top of the covers and let her rest her head on his chest as she continued to silently cry.

"You're okay, Moni, I've got you now," Wilmer rubbed her arms to comfort her and Harmony nodded as she snuggled into him some more. It had been so long since she had done this with her dad. It felt different with her mom not being there but she didn't mind because for right now, her dad was enough for her.

After her night terror episode last night, her dad had taken a little bit of pity on her and decided to drive her to her new school. He was still gonna make her ride the bus but she could start tomorrow. She had already been through enough in the past few days, he didn't want to make her suffer anymore than she already had.