Disclaimer: They do not belong to me. The title is the title of a Stephen King book.

Rating: PG-13 for now.

Pairing: Holly/Root

oOo

I wake up screaming, and I immediately grab the phone and call Foaly. He's used to my nightmares and has assured me multiple times that he doesn't wind if I call him in the middle of the night. I clutch the phone to my ear and the blankets in the other as I try not to think about the dream. It doesn't work; all I can see is the blood.

"Hello?" The voice is groggily and sleepy and definitely not Foaly's.

"Shit," I whisper.

"Who is this?" The elf is more awake now, and starting to get angry. I can see Root's face turning purple and I don't know how I'm going to get out of this and keep my job.

"Sorry, sir," I mumble. "Wrong number." I still can't think straight from the nightmare and I really need to hear a friendly voice.

"Captain Short?" Complete and total confusion.

"Yeah. Look, I really gotta go-"

"Short, are you ok?"

Apparently he can hear the panic in my voice. I take a deep breath. Just get him off the phone and you can talk to Foaly. "Fine, sir."

"It's three in the afternoon."

"I know, sir, I'm very sorry, I meant to call Foaly." My finger is on the Talk button, waiting to disconnect.

"At three in the afternoon?"

I sighed impatiently. I needed to hear a caring voice, and I needed to hear it now. "Yes. Sir, can I please go? I really need to talk to him."

"Holly, are you okay?"

I took a deep breath. Usually, Root using my first name is enough to make the rest of my night exceptionally good. Usually. Now it just added to the discomfort caused by all things out of the ordinary. "Yes, sir. I'm fine. I just need to go." I paused. "Now."

"If you're sure…" Root trailed off, and it suddenly occurred to me that he might actually care about what's wrong. There was something in his voice that wasn't usually there. That was all it took, and the dam was broken. Everything came out in a rush. "I get these really bad nightmares and I had one and it was…there was so much blood. Fowl came back and… He was terrorizing Haven. He was killing everyone and torturing those who got in his way." I paused, suddenly embarrassed. "Sir? Are you sure you don't mind me telling you this?"

"Keep going." His voice was unreadable and, mostly by reflex, I obeyed.

"He had me, Foaly, Trouble and you in this dungeon. We were chained to the walls. He had this troll in the room with us, and it was slowly tearing us apart. He…He made me watch as you were torn apart. There was blood everywhere and…"

I stopped, and silence descended. I couldn't bring myself to continue, to go into detail about how Artemis had raped me, about how Root watched, and laughed. I just couldn't.

"Holly?" Root's voice was gentle. "Do you want me to come over?"

I was shocked. Root? Come over? Foaly had never offered to come over, and now Root was? It didn't make any sense.

"Holly? Are you still there?"

"Uh…Yeah, I'm here," I managed to stammer.

"I'm coming over."

"Uh…"

"I'll be there in a couple minutes," he said, and hung up.

I sat there for a few minutes, clutching the phone. I couldn't comprehend what happened. It didn't make any sense. So I dialed the number I had meant to when I had first woken up.

"Holly, hey. I have this new thing that I can't wait to show off. Wanna come over and check it out?" Foaly's voice was ridiculously comforting.

"I can't. Root's coming over."

"What time is it?"

"Three. In the afternoon." I could imagine Foaly's eyes widening, and I stifled a laugh. Suddenly, this all seemed so ridiculous and trivial.

"Holly? What happened?"

I recounted the events of the night, but I think it came out sounding pretty strange since I couldn't help from giggling during most of it. "I know it sounds stupid, but that's what happened."

"No, actually, that sounds exactly like something that would happen to you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. "I'm just a little shell-shocked."

"You know, if you want me to come over, I can. Anytime. All you have to do is ask," Foaly said defensively.

"I know. I never wanted anyone to come over. Root's doing this all by himself." I paused. "Do you think it means anything?"

Foaly sighed impatiently. He got sick of me ranting about Root a long time ago. "I don't know, Holly. Probably. Are you sure you don't want to come over to test out my new helmet?"

The doorbell rang, and suddenly all the humor left the situation. "Yeah, I'm sure. Gotta go," I stammered, and hung up.