Prodigal Princess

Nightmares

"Jennifer. Jennifer! Wake up!" My mother frantically shook me awake in the early morning hours in mid September.
"Come on Jennifer. Get up!" She continued to urge me pulling my thirteen year old frame out of my bed.
"Mama?" I asked groggily shaking my head.
"Shush, my dear. This is very important. I've called upon Liam. He's waiting to meet you. Do you remember where?" She asked me helping me pull on a small peasant's cape.
"Mama..." I repeated quieter.
"Do you remember?" She repeated harshly.
"I remember." I nodded.
"You are going to be safe this way, Jennifer. It's the only way."
My mother flinched at a large crash coming from my parent's bedroom.
"Evelyn! You can't save her, Evelyn!" Luther Burgess' voice boomed through the stone hallways of Emersile's Nova Castle.
"Where's daddy?" I asked looking up into her eyes.
She didn't answer me just reached up and removed her large diamond crescent moon necklace. She fastened it around my neck.
"Never forget who you are, Jennifer." She told me as a tear rolled down her face.
"I won't, mama." I assured her.
"Go. Now. Don't look back." She turned me by my shoulders and pushed me towards my closet.
I obeyed the best I could opening the secret door in the back of my walk in closet with my shaking hands. I fought the urge to turn around when something, likely Luther Burgess, slammed into my bedroom door.
I pushed myself into the dark hidden hallway and pushed the door closed behind me a mere moment before I heard my mother scream followed by a loud thud.
"Where is she?" Luther growled.
It killed me to run down that hallway away from my mother as she screamed again.
I paused briefly to catch my breath.
"Jennifer!" Luther's voice called clearly from the entrance of the hallway.
I didn't move or make a sound until I heard footsteps running towards me.
I ran as fast as I could away from the footsteps, out the side door and towards the woods to the north. I paused again and looked back towards my home. The north tower fully engulfed in flames lit the silhouette of a large cumbersome man racing towards me. I didn't wait to see who he was. I turned and ran into the forest hoping I'd lose him in the thicket.
As I ran through the forest the branches and thorns scratched and cut my skin.
I could hear him following me as I continued to run towards our rendezvous point.
I remembered my guard, Liam telling me that even if I was being followed to come straight to the clearing and that he would take care of everything.
He was in the center of the clearing; roughly six feet tall with a muscular frame, his messy blond hair reflected the moonlight as he stood wearing all black his arms folded in front of him.
When he saw me break through the treeline his hard green eyes softened for a mere moment before he saw the person chasing me.
"Get down!" He called out to me.
I dove to the ground just before the gunshots began. It felt like an eternity before they stopped.
I chanced a look up towards where Liam stood only to find him laying on his back gripping at his chest. I looked over my shoulder to search for my pursuer and found his large body laying in the grass unmoving.
I crawled over to Liam, blood gushing out of a gunshot wound to his chest.
"Jenny. Jenny, my brother Thomas." He muttered.
In that instant hands gripped my shoulders and I screamed out.
I screamed out loud and flung myself up and out of my bed landing hard on my hip beside my Alaskan King bed.
It took several minutes for me to catch my breath as tears streamed down my face. I looked up at the clock.
3:42
I sighed and picked myself up off the floor to lean against the edge of my bed.
My long black silk nightgown clung to my body with the sweat from my nightmare. I reached up and touched the large diamond crescent moon necklace that still hung around my neck these fifteen years later.
I walked into my bathroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My green/blue eyes wide and glossy and my bright red hair tangled and wild. I ran my fingers through my hair before starting the shower.
I wrapped my hair up in a tight high bun before stepping into the shower. The hot water slowly released the knots in my muscles as I cleaned the sweat off my body.
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a large plush towel.
Once I returned to the bedroom the clock read
4:32
I looked around my empty bedroom. The house I lived in felt too big. I picked up my cellphone.
"J.J?" His voice answered fully alert instantly calming my nerves.
"How did I know you'd be awake?" I teased lightly.
"Are you okay?" He asked his voice still serious.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just had a nightmare and the house feels so big and lonely." I admitted.
"I'll be right over." He said hanging up before I could protest.
Not that I would have tried very hard to convince him not to come. I didn't want to be alone and Thomas wasn't very understanding about the nightmares anymore. I dressed in a pair of soft cotton pajama pants and an oversized tank top while I waited.
It was 5:15 when my doorbell rang.
I opened the door and he stood on my porch. His light brown hair messy but his blue eyes alert as he looked at me.
"J.J." He greeted me.
"Malcolm." I sighed.
He stepped into my doorway and took me into his strong arms. I sighed and laid my head on his chest listening to his strong, steady heartbeat.