This is my first story and I'm really hoping that someone will read and comment and tell me what you think of it. I want to know if I should keep writing it or not, so any feedback would be awesome! Thanks!
"Cassie...Cassie..." A piercing cry escaped from her mother's lips. "Cassie, I'm sorry!" Her face, contorted with pain and tears relaxed at last as she sunk blissfully into a shiny, inviting puddle of warm blood. Her lips parted slightly as she tried to breathe one last time, to gasp out a last apology. Cassie screamed for her mother, held her face in her hands as the light faded from her mother's wounded eyes. A whimper escaped Cassie's lips and suddenly she was being shaken gently, being brought out of the blood tinted world surrounding her.
"Cassie, it's okay. It's okay," a voice pulled her from the deathly tendrils of her nightmare.
Keeping her tear-laden eyes shut tightly, Cassie buried her head into the shoulder of her comforter, her best friend Isabelle. Isabelle wrapped her arms around Cassie's shaking shoulders, in an attempt to comfort her sobbing friend. The bedroom door opened quietly and a young man stood tall in it's frame, peering in from a dimly lit hallway.
"Is she alright?" he stared somberly at Cassie, who still shook with violent cries.
Isabelle stroked Cassie's wavy, blond hair and nodded slowly.
"She'll be okay," she nodded again as if reassuring herself. "Yeah, she will be alright."
The young man frowned doubtfully at Isabelle. "Will she really be okay? Should I get Dr. Hensey?"
Isabelle's eyes flickered with anger as she stared up at the boy, losing her patience as quickly as the rain was falling from the night sky outside.
"She will be fine Carson. Go back to bed."
Carson shook his head and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. Please let me know if she-"
"Carson! Just go back to bed! Now!" Isabelle cut him off mid-sentence, her voice starting to rise with anger. Carson nodded with a clinched jaw and reluctantly closed the door, leaving Isabelle to fight Cassie's demons.
"Mommy, please, please!" Cassie grabbed onto Isabelle tighter and cried harder as the promise of death began to bear down on her mother. This was a nightmare that she knew she wouldn't wake up from. She couldn't.
Isabelle pulled Cassie onto her lap and rocked her back and forth, hushing her quietly and reassuringly, her hands gently cradling Cassie's head against her shoulder.
It wasn't getting any better after all. Isabelle sighed and rested her head on top of Cassie's. She thought it was going away finally. Cassie hadn't has a flashback nightmare in almost two weeks. But here it was again, penetrating the dreams of her best friend, her only friend. It wasn't fair to Cassie to have to deal with such a bitter pain over and over again, night after night. Instead of dreaming about what could have been, Cassie has to be haunted by what actually did happen.
Isabelle felt a hot tear roll down her cheek onto Cassie's soft, sleep tussled hair as she began to realize that this may never end.
Slowly Cassie's sobs quieted and her slender body relaxed in Isabelle's arms. Isabelle closed her eyes and willed the tears away, determined to stay strong for Cassie. Feeling Cassie's warm, sleeping body in her arms, she fell asleep, back against the wall that the bunk bed was pushed against. Maybe the morning would be better.
Isabella awoke slowly, her body still and sore from sleeping upright. Cassie's chin dug into Isabelle's collarbone and she shifted slightly to ease the sharp discomfort, trying and failing not to wake Cassie. With a jolt Cassie pushed back away from Isabelle, but stayed sitting in her lap. With half-open eyes Cassie mumbled a somewhat coherent apology.
"Sorry Iz."
She rubbed her eyes until she could stare clearly into the sleep deprived face of her friend. An apologetic look plastered her face as she began to realize that she was sitting in Isabelle's lap and not on the bed where she had fallen asleep the night before while they were watching a movie together.
"Izzy..." she started an unfinished question, one asked far too often, and one that she already knew the answer to.
Isabelle replied softly, knowing what was being asked. "Yeah. At 3:45."
Cassie held Isabelle's sad gaze and bit her lip. Why did this start again? Why now? Cassie frowned deeply, lines of confusion and sadness cutting across her porcelain skin. Looking into Isabelle's eyes, she knew that she was the reason her friend looked tired and defeated.
She sighed and moved off of Isabelle's legs and onto the floor. She climbed the cold metal rungs of the bunk ladder and collapsed onto Isabelle's bed just as a bell rung on the PA system. Time for breakfast.
Isabelle tiredly started to get dressed for the day, somberly tugging her favorite shirt from the old, wooden dresser that she and Cassie shared. Pulling the shirt over her head she glanced up at Cassie's still form on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, no doubt pondering last night's terrors.
"You gonna come to breakfast Cass?" Isabelle heard the door open before Cassie could answer her and Carson stood in the doorway, his hair a mess and his clothes wrinkled, but his bright green eyes shone with liveliness. Isabelle fought the urge to tell at him and his well-rested self by busying herself with pulling her dark hair into a half-hearted ponytail.
"Good morning Cassie!" Carson beamed up at her as she sat up and greeted him with a radiant smile, one that masked the horror resounding in her head from last night's occurrence. Carson's face turned serious as he leaned against the door frame.
"I just wanted to make sure that you are alright now." He and Cassie both turned to Isabelle, who just shrugged in response. Isabelle knew that Carson really did care for Cassie, but she couldn't help feeling hurt and jealous when Cassie's tired eyes lit up so easily at the thought of Carson being concerned about her.
'For God's sake, she woke up in my arms, not his. Why does she not offer me a smile, instead of an apology. She shouldn't have to apologize for everything.'
Isabelle's thoughts were interrupted as Cassie's voice brought her back.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Carson." Cassie smiled warmly at him, despite the cold feeling still settling into her heart from last night.
Isabelle stared disdainfully at Cassie as she realized that she was blushing at Carson's words. She felt a tinge of jealousy start to rise dangerously in her chest.
"Are you coming to eat?" Carson smiled again, hoping to convince Cassie to eat with him this morning.
Cassie quickly hopped down from the bed and pulled a hoodie on over her tank top pajama shirt. Carson laughed lightly and looked Cassie over, amused at her easy attire.
"Not gonna change this morning?" he shook his head, still laughing.
Cassie cocked her head and smiled slowly. "Hmmm...I don't feel like it. It's Saturday. No class today." She smiled at the thought of spending the day out of the orphanage and in the real world. "I'll change later."
Isabelle choked back unkind words as Cassie walked off with Carson, his arm encircling her waist protectively. She sighed deeply and lied back down on Cassie's bed, closing her eyes in defeat.
'So that's it. All he has to do is smile at her and she is his. This isn't fair. She's MY best friend, not his. I'M the one who holds her in the middle of the night while she shakes during her nightmares. She wakes up in MY arms, not his.'
Isabelle felt hot tears pushing at the corners of her eyes, waiting for their release, threatening to burn a hot, rigid path down the sides of her face. She tried desperately to fight the tears by rubbing her bloodshot eyes with her fists.
'She wakes up in MY arms...and she sees me there for her when she wakes up afterward...until HE walks into the room...'