Reyna

CHAPTER TWELVE

"You stupid slut!" SMACK! "I told you to take care of the fucking baby!" SMACK! "No wonder your mother never wanted you!"

Carlos' next hit sent her straight to the floor; the salty taste of blood flooded her tongue, and she spat it onto the floor as his boots stopped in front of her.

"At least my mother," she panted, "doesn't just keep me around cause I'm her dealer."

Wrong thing to say.

His work boot went straight into her right side. She wasn't sure if she heard the rib crack first or felt it, but it didn't matter. What mattered was the searing pain that ripped through her side and into her chest, and her scream caught in her throat. It hurt to breathe.

"Looks like we're going to have to fix that mouth again, Valentina."

"-ina! Tina!"

Val startled awake, sitting-halfway up. She was covered in a cold sweat, and she glanced around the darkness in confusion.

"Tina, I had a bad dweam."

The older girl twisted it and flicked the lamp on next to her, met with a modest guest room and a tiny three-year-old sitting on her bed, watching her with watering eyes and clutching a stuffed white rabbit.

That's right; Liza and Gil's house, the science fair, her vacation. She took a deep breath, clutching her right side as the phantom pain from the dream began to fade.

"Tina?"

Val raised her eyes to Alex, who's big brown eyes looked terrified and confused. "Did you have a bad dweam, too?"

The eldest daughter sighed, running a hand through her thick, black hair. "Si, princesa." She muttered before setting her hand back down. "Do you want some water?"

The little one nodded, and Val stood, cracking her back with a grunt before scooping the toddler into her arms. "Ok, we gotta be quiet or we'll wake everyone up, ok?"

"Otay." The toddler whispered, and Val smiled at her softly before taking her to the kitchen to get some water. The clock on the stove said 2 a.m., and Val groaned. It had been weeks since she'd had a decent night sleep; that damn tomb incident had shaken her up. Even being back in her hometown wasn't helping.

Once Alex had finished her sippy cup, Val took her to the bathroom before putting her back to bed, rubbing the girls back until she drifted off to sleep again, clutching her beloved bunny rabbit. The girl gave her baby sister a soft kiss on the head before padding across the hall to Hector's room. She tiptoed silently over to his bed; the six-year-old was curled up under his covers, snoring softly, looking perfectly content. She couldn't help but smile, bending down to give him a kiss on the head as well, and then slipped quietly out into the hall and into her own room. Sitting on the bed, she huffed softly and pulled out her computer. She wasn't getting back to sleep anytime soon, might as well get some work done.

While going through emails, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through her messages. No one had contacted her with any crazy information yet, but Val was sure it was coming. It was Mystic Falls, they couldn't have more than a week before a body turned up or a new threat appeared.

Once all the work was done Val turned off her lamp but was unable to fall asleep. She stared at the plain white ceiling above her, her mind on the nightmare she'd just had.