TRIGGER WARNING:

This chapter deals with assault and attempted rape. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 18 – Nightmare - Revised

Jacob and I walked home after a cup of coffee.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep on my back tonight," I said with a sigh as I walked in the front door.

"Will you be able to sleep?" asked Jacob, "I'll stay up-"

"You will do no such thing," I said, cutting him off, "You were on patrol all day, you need to sleep."

I walked past him into my room and he followed me, "You sure," he asked.

"Go, go on, git!" I said, trying to push him out of my room.

He stood there, looking at me with that smile of his, "You took out a vampire with that wimpy strength?" he asked mockingly.

I looked up at him, "Do you really want to get beat up by a girl," I said looking at him trying to keep my face straight and failing miserably.

"There is no way if Paul can't you- " he said but was cut short when I shoved him with all my strength to the ground. I pinned him there with my arms and legs. He looked up at me, surprised.

"Ok, I have to hand it to you, you are strong," he said.

He rolled to the side and I released my grip on his wrists in surprise. He flipped me over and I cried out. He was off of me in seconds and pulling me up.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. I looked at him and he looked like he was in pain too.

"It's ok, but between you and Paul, I'll be lucky if it ever heals," I said teasingly but he still looked worried.

I stood on tiptoe to look into his eyes, "Really, I'm fine" I said and kissed him on the cheek.

Then I turned and walked back into my room quickly so he couldn't see the blush that was creeping over my face. I tried to get into my pj's and got the pants on but didn't bother changing my shirt. I crawled into bed, exhausted, and fell asleep almost instantly.

I was walking in the forest. My parents and extended family were there, as well as my best friend Gwen, and some of my old teachers. I walked over to my elderly English teacher Mr. Crawford but when he turned to look at me he transformed into the female vampire from the woods. She began running around the group slashing the people I loved. I screamed at her to stop. She paused, looked up from sucking the blood of my little cousin, but it wasn't the woman's face that looked up at me. Covered in blood, Vance's face leered at me. His face white, his normally blue eyes now blood red, his clothes dripping with blood. He dropped my cousin's lifeless body and began stalking towards me. I tripped backward hitting the ground hard. I screamed and woke with a jolt. I could still hear screaming. It took me a moment to realize I was the one screaming. I clamped a hand over my mouth and tried to breath. I was drenched in sweat and shaking like mad, the sheets twisted around my body.

I heard the bang of a door being thrown open and hitting the wall and then the door of my room flew open. Jacob came running into the room looking around as if he expected to see someone attacking me in my sleep. He looked at me and I burst into tears. He rushed over to me disentangled me from the sheets and pulled me out of bed and into his arms. He held me tight to his chest, his breathing relaxing while mine remained hysterical. I struggled to regain control. I was in the middle of a full-blown panic attack and I couldn't breathe. Jacob seemed to realize I was struggling and gently maneuvered us onto the bed. He put his back to the wall and pulled me onto his lap.

He whispered "It's alright, you're safe," over and over, his lips against my hair.

I tried to pull myself together, focusing on my breathing.

As my sobs subsided he asked me gently, "What was the dream about?"

"It was n-nothing," I said my voice cracking.

"Arianna," he said, "People don't scream in their sleep for no good reason."

He didn't sound annoyed, but his tone was firm.

I shifted a little and he pulled me closer, pressing me tighter to his warm body. I took a steadying breath.

"It was the vampire. She… it was attacking my family and friends. I screamed at it to stop and then when it looked up at me, it was my ex-boyfriend's face, he was covered in blood…" I said, struggling against another wave of tears.

Jacob didn't speak for a moment, as if he was thinking, all the while stroking my hair gently.

"What happened, with your ex I mean?" he finally asked, "I know he took a bat to your jeep, but..."

"It's a long story," I said sniffing.

"I've got all night," he said, looking into my now puffy red eyes.

I felt something in me shift, like a wall giving way. I wanted to talk to Jacob about it. I had discussed all of this to no end with Gwen and my parents, but still I couldn't shake the bad dreams or the knee-jerk reactions to mear mentions of my ex. Maybe if I told Jacob, I would finally feel whole again.

I took a deep breath. "Can it just be between you and me?" I asked.

"I won't tell a soul," he promised.

"Alright," I said, standing up and starting to pace the room, "His name is Vance. He went to my high school and we started dating the summer after my Junior year. We dated for a few months and then he asked me to be his girlfriend. I thought we were in love. I was at least in love with him. We were inseparable and happy as clams for about six months. Then our 6 month anniversary rolled around. That's when he suggested we have sex for the first time, to honor the occasion. I told him I wasn't ready to take that step. That yes, we had been together for 6 months, but I'd never had a serious boyfriend before and I didn't want to rush things. He was disappointed but let it go. A month or so passed and he brought it up again. This time he really tried to pressure me. He said stuff like, "I don't want to be a virgin when I go to college" and "If you won't have sex with me now, will you ever want to? How long am I supposed to wait?" I told him pressuring me and making me feel guilty was not going to get him what he wanted. I guess he didn't like that because the next day in school he started telling my friends that I hated them and to stay away from me. A bunch of my friends got really pissed at me and stopped talking to me; all but Gwen. She came over to my house and told me what he had done. I confronted him the next day and we got into this big argument in the middle of the school parking lot. Finally, I told him we were over, that if all he wanted from me was sex then he could go buy a blow-up doll. I thought he was going to hit me by the look on his face but all he did was turn around and left in his car. We didn't speak after that. I was hurt but also pissed at him. I wondered if all he had ever wanted was sex and if he had just been leading me on. It was now the middle of February and my parents went out to dinner. I stayed home to finish a research paper. About ten minutes after they left there was a tap on my window. Vance was outside, crouching on the ledge of the roof. It scared the crap out of me. I didn't want to talk but he convinced me to let him in. We sat down on my bed and we talked and he tried to tell me how very sorry he was. I told him I would consider taking him back but that he had to work hard to win my trust back. That apparently registered as a win in his book because then he had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to have makeup sex. I told him to get the hell out. I got up off the bed and was walking to the door to go call my parents when he grabbed me from behind. He dragged me over to the bed..."

I stopped short as the images of that night flashed through my head; Vance pulling me across the room, Vance, telling me if I screamed he would kill me. Tears streamed down my face.

"It's ok, you don't have to finish," he said.

I shook my head violently, "No," I croaked, "I… I…"

"Need to get it off your chest?" asked Jacob. I nodded, and resumed pacing.

"Ok," he said.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, "He tied me to the bed and I kicked and yelled at him. He slapped me and told me if I didn't shut up I would be sorry. Then he was on top of me, trying to pull off my clothes. I managed to thrash around so much that I pushed us off the bed. He tried to grab me again and I kicked him in the nose. He started bleeding but he wouldn't stop, I-"

"Why didn't you phase?" asked Jacob, sounding slightly frustrated.

I looked at him startled, "I might have killed him if I did that. And what if he then went around town telling people I was a werewolf?" I asked.

"I guess you're right. Still, I would have beat the tar out of him," said Jacob somewhat aggressively.

I smiled humorlessly, "I'm sure you would have," I said, "Well, then I heard the car door slam in the driveway but he was too busy trying to get my clothes off to notice. The front door opened and when it shut again I started screaming bloody murder. He looked at me and clapped a hand over my mouth but it was too late. My dad came running up the stairs and bursting into my room with a shotgun in his hands."

"I like your dad," Jacob interrupted.

"Vance took one look at the gun and ran across the room and jumped out the window. He hit the ground so hard he broke his leg but he kept running. He got less than a couple of yards into the woods before the police caught him. He was sentenced to a year in jail. I haven't seen him since the court hearing,' I finished.

I stopped pacing and sat down on the bed across from Jacob. Any energy I had had left the building. I was suddenly exhausted. But, odd as it might have sounded, I felt relieved. I thought it must be because Jacob wasn't my best friend or my parents. He was clean. He hadn't been involved and that single degree of separation was somehow enough.

"Thank you," he said.

I looked at him confused, "Did you just thank me?"

"Yes," he said, "Thank you for confiding in me."

"Thank you for listening," I said, "I'm sorry it had to be you and not a well-paid therapist."

He smiled, "I'll wait till it's light out to give you the bill."

I laughed and his smile grew.

"Think you'll be able to get back to sleep," he asked.

I nodded, "I'll be fine. I don't want to keep you up any longer. I predict a long day of patrolling tomorrow."

I walked to the bathroom and washed my face. When I came back Jacob was just finishing untangling my sheets.

"You didn't have to do that," I said, my face growing warmer.

"I know," he said, walking over to me as I leaned awkwardly against the doorframe.

"Well, goodnight, part two," I said.

"Goodnight," he said with a soft smile, "If you need anything I'm just a shout away."

He kissed me softly on the forehead, I blinked, and he was gone.

Butterflies danced in my stomach as I crawled into bed. I was so exhausted though, I fell asleep immediately. Luckily for both of us, vampire Vance did not re-enter my dreams again.