Novella 1: He's Still a Little Boy

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

Noah screamed and screamed in pain.

"Stop!" he cried. "Natalie, help!" he screamed. "Ahhh! Ahhh! Stop! Please! Help!" He screamed and screamed for hours. The pain was never-ending.

"Help!" he screamed.

Noah screamed walking up.

"Noah?" Natalie asked, waking up when she heard him scream.

He wrapped his arms around himself and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Natalie got out of her bed and went to him and leaned him on her and hugged him.

"It's okay," she said.

"It was terrible. It was so bad! The pain, it never ended. He was always screaming at me, and-- oh God. Please end this nightmare," he sobbed, putting his hands to his eyes.

"Noah, just let it out and relax. It'll be okay. I'll stay here until you fall asleep."

His breath was shaky and he was shivering from the pain and fear.

The door opened. It was Dream.

"Nat, it heard the screams, in the dream realm," she said. "I know what you want me to do, but I can't do anything. I can't put him to sleep or give him a good dream. His mind's closed off and his magic is protecting him. If he continues like this in the next few days, to weeks, his magic could get out of control, and we would have to put the cuff on him."

Tears came from her eyes. She looked down at Noah and saw his eyes fluttering shut. She put her hand on his warm cheek and kissed him on his forehead. "It's okay, little brother," she whispered.

His eyes closed and she soon heard him snoring softly.

She chuckled softly.

"The other Saviors haven't been like this," Dream said. "Just the occasional breakdown. Noah had four panic attacks today and almost shot his magic at Carter by accident."

"I know. And the worst part is that there is nothing that we can do to help him."

"Yes, there is," Dream said.

"What?"

"You're doing it right now. You're holding him right now and tell him that he's going to be okay and giving him the love that he has searched for so long,"

"What about the love from our parents?" she asked, confused.

"He hasn't seen them for fifteen years. He only got less than half an hour with them when the curse broke. He didn't get any love during the curse and he's been locked away pretty much his whole life."

"He's lost most of his life to The Darkness. I'm scared that we'll never get him back."

"You did today. I saw you two smiling and laughing before bed. You were with Noah. The Noah that we know and love."

"I missed him."

"We all did and do."

She smiled. "Thank you, Dream. Are you staying up tonight?"

"Yeah. The other Saviors have been having really bad dreams since last night and I was able to fix it. There are a few bad dreams here in the castle. You know, about life."

"Yeah."

"You should get some sleep. You'll need your energy for tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"