Darkness. Blood. Screaming.

Death.

Lydia woke gasping, clutching her chest. She curled forward, tears stinging her eyes and wetting her cheeks. Her throat felt as if she'd been screaming for hours; her chest felt tight and sore. She couldn't stop reliving that god damn dream. The dream she'd been having for weeks now. The dream that tormented her for days after.

The dream of Allison dying.

Lydia shifted in bed, fumbling in the darkness for her phone. The moonlight cast everything in silvery light and inky shadow.

Once she found her phone, Lydia's fingers moved automatically to type in the number of her best friend. She just needed to hear her voice, to know that Allison was alive.

It took 5 rings for her to answer.

"Lydia?" Allison murmured from the other side of the line. "What's wrong?"

"I'm-" Lydia stopped herself from saying 'I'm fine.' because she knew if she said those two simple words, she would end up hanging up and spend another night terrified and alone.

'It's nothing.' She would say. 'Sorry. Sorry I called you at 3:26 in the morning because I just saw you die for the millionth time in a dream and I had to hear your voice to make sure you weren't actually dead.'

Instead, Lydia let out a shaky breath and said, "I don't think I'm alright, Allison. Could you-"

Before she had the chance to finish her sentence, Allison was responding. "Yes, of course, Lydia. I'll be there in 10." Lydia let out a small sigh as she hung up. Now came the waiting game.

The time between hanging up and Allison knocking softly on her bedroom window was spent in a paranoid agony. Lydia's heart never slowed and the cold sweat that had taken over her body never went away. She scoured all the murky shadows in her room, looking for some creature she knew didn't even exist. Looking for the monster under her bed that would kill the love of her life.

Allison's soft knocking made Lydia jump. She got out of bed and clamored her way to the windows. Allison, of course, slipped through with ease.

"Hey." Allison whispered, and suddenly, a look of concern washed over her features. "Hey, it's okay, Lydia." She gently pulled Lydia towards her bed, letting them both fall onto it when their knees bumped into the mattress.

Allison pulled Lydia to her, and Lydia wrapped her arms around Allison's middle. That was about the time when her tears started up again.

"I-I keep seeing you d-die and I-I c-can't. I-I'm so-"

"Shh." Allison soothed, running her fingers through Lydia's hair. "It's just a dream, Lydia, I swear. I'm right here. I'll always be right here, with you." Allison looked at her, a small smile on her face as she gently wiped tears from Lydia's face. "I love you Lydia, and I would never leave you alone in this world."

Allison's words washed over Lydia and a calm settled over the room. Lydia snuggled closer to Allison, not completely fine but better than before. They both fall asleep to the sound of each other's heartbeats.

Lydia never got the dream again.