Ch7 Night Terrors
Well this chapter was long in the making actually. I had planned to write it after the fifth chapter and the idea was in my head all the way back in the second chapter. Anyway this one isn't really plot development for the main story, but just a little character development and hopefully potential shipping development. NickxJudy4ever. Anyway I hope you enjoy it and I plan to have a longer chapter finished hopefully by either Monday or Tuesday of next week. Work permitting that is. Chaio.
Nick opened his eyes to find himself standing in the small guest room of the Hopps house. The sun was shining and he could hear Judy humming softly outside his open door. He smiled approaching the door way and stepping through it when the scene changed before his eyes. Now he was standing at the end of a long hallway. Along the hall were thousands of doors all along either side. He didn't know where he was or what to do so he just walked on. The hall felt small and he felt like the walls where getting closer. As he walked on he saw one door, about twenty feet away, ajar with a thin strip of light shining through the crack. He approached it cautiously and pushed it open. As he stepped into the room he saw an old time video reel player and a red armchair. The video player was on and rolling and he say his name flash across the pulled down screen. He went in and sat down in the chair and watched the video. The video played and it showed him a simple memory of his mother. It was silent as he watched his mom moving around a small kitchen cooking breakfast. He remembered what she used to make for him, blueberry pancakes that were his favorite. He watched her move for a second and then the video changed to the last time he ever saw his mother. She was throwing him a small eighteenth birthday party. He had already planned to move out of the house and he looked at her worn face. She was still so beautiful. A pain blooms in his chest and he looks away, standing up, and walks back out the door.
Now he's standing in the middle of a dark room when a spot light illuminates a pedestal in the middle. He looks at it sees his collar. It looks faded and he sees something that looks like dried blood on it. He feels a strong urge to touch it and he steps forward to pick it up. As his finger makes the slightest contact he feels electricity in his veins and he jerks his hand back. The collar had shocked him when he wasn't even touching the shock part. He wanted to step away from it but he couldn't seem to move his legs. He felt his hand reach out again and nothing he could do would stop it. He firmly clasps the collar in his hand and feels the same pain as before, but his hand doesn't stop there. It lifts the collar off the pedestal and his other hand reaches forward taking hold of the collar too. He feels like his body is going to tear itself apart as his own hands, against his will, wrap the collar back around his neck. He hears a click and the collar is secured again to his neck. Suddenly his body is under his control again and he crumples to the floor curling into a ball as his muscles scream in agony. He hears laughing and voices whispering around him and then looks around to see his world has changed again and he feels like a younger version of himself. He is still writhing in pain, but now he can see he is surrounded by faceless kids of his past. They are all wearing the junior ranger scouts uniform and are pointing at him laughing. He also feels something around his face and he looks down seeing the muzzle that is encompassing his snout and he tries to scream but cant. He begins to fall through a seemingly endless abyss when he stops suddenly and wakes up.
He looks around quickly still feeling like his dream was reality. He has fallen off the bed and panting he crawls into the corner trying to clear his head. He pulls his knees to his chest and rocks slightly as his thoughts race trying to discern the dream from reality. His thoughts screech to a halt as he hears the door to his room open and he quickly looks over his shoulder to see Judy poking her head in the room. He turns away again and his thoughts resume. Was this the real Judy or some machination of his mind trying to trick him?
Judy's voice drifts into the room "Nick," she says softly "Nick I heard screaming are you ok?" He hears her footsteps as she walks into the room and he hears her drawing closer to the side of the bed he had fallen off of. He didn't care he didn't believe she was real at the moment and that he was indeed losing his mind. Judy on the other hand was trying her best to see in the semi darkness of his room. The moon had set and the poor bunny had no night vision to speak of, but she could hear quite well. She followed to heavy breathing of Nick around the side of the bed and even in the half darkness of the room she could see the fox sitting in the corner of the room facing away from her. She approaches carefully "Nick are you ok," she asks again and the fox stops rocking and looks over his shoulder briefly. Judy hadn't suddenly disappeared so this could possibly be reality. He shook his head and looked away again. Judy walked up to him and stopped putting a hand on his back and she felt him shivering. "Nick," she says softly and soothingly "what's wrong, please tell me."
The fox gives a shudder and plants his face in his knees and begins to sob silently. His dream had felt so real to him that he thought Judy was just a figment of his imagination, but he knew better than that. He felt her hand on his back begin to slowly work its way in circles as she felt him shuddering and she knew he was crying. She was trying to calm him down. He sat there until he could trust his voice not to crack and lifted his head slightly "I…I'm sorry Judy," he says his voice wavering slightly "I-It was just a really bad d-dream." He closed his mouth quickly to stop himself from letting out a noise as he planted his face into his knees again to cry some more.
Judy crouched down and still rubbing Nick's back she began to hum softly. The same tune he heard her humming in his dream. "Nick," she says after a few minutes of humming "do you think you could tell me what the dream was about. I could try to help you."
The prospect of having to remember the dream enough to tell her what happened horrified the fox, but he didn't know why but her general presence and tone in her voice was beginning to calm him and in a shaky voice he begins to recount the dream to her. His voice cracks with emotion as he tells her about seeing the video of his mother, but the hardest part was when he told her about his collar. He finished the short tale and tried not to lose himself to his rampant emotions again. He wasn't expecting the thing that came next as he felt Judy embrace him wrapping her arms around him and holding him. Her body was warm and he felt his shoulder get wet and heard a muffled sob.
Judy had tears in her eyes from hearing Nicks nightmare and she couldn't help herself as she hugged him "Nick I'm so sorry you had to experience that," she said her voice almost as shaky as his "I didn't know you were affected by those damn collars that badly." She hugged him tighter "I want to help," she says her voice becoming firm again as she stopped crying "the only thing I can think of now is to tell you that you are safe here ok."
Nick felt the same feeling he had when he looked down at her on their van ride over here and the same feeling he had when he heard what she went through to get him out of jail. He pulled away from her hug and turned around to face her. Her eyes were red from her brief crying session, but he knew his eyes were probably puffy. He pulled her into a proper hug this time and held her tightly as if she were going to disappear any moment now. "Thank you Judy," he says quietly "it's been a long time since I've had someone worry about me this much." This hug lasted a lot longer than their previous ones and when he finally let her go he looked at her.
She stands up still able to look him eye to eye even though he was sitting there on his knees. "So," she says "I feel bad about just leaving you to sleep alone in here." She looks around the small room. It was nice and comfortable, but she felt like Nick would feel alone again and might slip back into the same nightmare he was having previously.
Nick looks around too "I don't know what you can do about that," he says shrugging "not like there's anywhere else I can sleep." He felt like he would have to go back to sleep alone again, but knowing that Judy would be there if he had another one of those nightmares was enough to keep him calm.
Judy sighs then her eyes light up and she grabs his arm pulling him up "you could sleep on a pallet on the floor in my room so then you won't be alone," she says "I just really don't want to leave you in here all alone, even though I'm right next door to you."
Nick was now on his feet and looking down at the rabbit and he smiles slightly "well if you're ok with that idea than I guess I am too," he feels relief at the thought of not staying alone in this room. Judy turns to the door and walks to it going into the hall. Nick reaches over to the bed and grabs the pillow off of it and follows her out. He walks down to her door, which is ajar, and pushes it open seeing her rooting around in a closet and pulling out several blankets. She quickly pulls out enough to make a soft bed on the wood floor next to her bed and Nick stands there watching. Once done she presents it to him and he thanks her. Before laying down again he pulls the bunny back into a big hug thanking her for being there for him then lies down. Judy hops into her bed and bids him goodnight and he closes his eyes. Soon enough he slips back into his waking dreams, but this time he finds them more welcoming and filled with Judy instead of his demons.
