[Ok...sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out...much like all my other fics ^^...so there's nothing new there. Disclaimer crap. I don't own the DBZ characters. I own Melissa, and my friend Halogatomon owns Halo and Paraffmon. So...here's the next chapter of Nightmares and Fears.]



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Nightmares and Fears- Chapter 5




By the time the four girls got back to Halo's, they were so tired they went straight to bed.

That night, Eighteen awoke to cries of help coming from the bed next to her. She looked over to see Melissa twisting and turning in her bed. She was tangled in the bed sheets, covered in sweat.

"Someone...help me." she cried, her voice desperate. "Please...help." Tears started running down the girls face.

'What is she dreaming about?' Eighteen wondered. No sooner had she thought that, her question was answered as Melissa cried out in her sleep.

******

Melissa was surrounded by fire. She looked up in fear at the figure before her. He gave her an evil, chilling smile. Melissa tried to scream, but no sound came out.

"I've got you, little girl." Super Seventeen hissed, "You're going to make me stronger, little girl. Your powers will make me stronger. Give me your powers."

She was suddenly enveloped with such pain, it hurt so much she wasn't able to scream. "Someone...help me." she managed to cry, "Please...help me."

She then heard other people yelling. She managed to look around to see Trunks and Seventeen.

"Put her down Super Seventeen. Right now." Seventeen yelled.

"Seventeen...help me." Melissa whispered, trying to reach out to Seventeen.

"Let the girl go." Trunks yelled.

Super Seventeen laughed, and threw a ki blast at Trunks and Seventeen. They dodged it.

Suddenly, extreme pain rung all through out Melissa's body again. She had never felt pain this immense in her life. She screamed a blood curdling scream.

"Melissa!" Seventeen screamed.

The pain escalated and Melissa found herself growing faint, Seventeen's yells ringing in her ears.

******

Melissa's eyes snapped open. She desperately looked around. When she realized where she was, she relaxed.

"Another dream." she murmured, wiping the sweat off her forehead. This was the twentieth dream she had had in the past month.

She got out of bed and went out to the balcony. The summer air felt cool on her face. She stood a moment, contemplating her situation. She watched as the sun came up, and somewhere in the house, an alarm clock went off.

Melissa went back into the room to find Eighteen had left. Melissa sighed and crawled back into bed.

Eighteen saw Melissa go out to the balcony, she silently stoke out of the room and went to see Seventeen.

"She had another dream?" he asked when Eighteen had told him what happened. "She had one two nights ago, the night we got here, while I was watching a movie. That makes two dreams."

"Actually," Eighteen said, looking at the ground, "she's been having them off and on for a while now."

Seventeen looked at her surprised. "How long has she been having these dreams exactly?" he asked.

Eighteen thought for a moment. "I think...around a month or so. She doesn't know that I know though so please don't confront her about it." she said.

Seventeen nodded his head. "I'll keep an eye on her," he said, "but just keep this between us. I don't think it would be too good if the others knew about this."

Eighteen nodded in agreement and the two of them went downstairs.

They went into the kitchen to find Trunks, Halo, and Paraffmon at the table.

"'Morning." Seventeen and Eighteen said at the same time. The other three looked up.

"Good morning guys." Halo said. "I have some news. Something came up and Gohan, Videl, and Gohan had to leave. You can move into one of the other rooms now Eighteen."

Eighteen nodded.

"Where's Melissa?" Paraffmon asked, letting out a big yawn. Seventeen and Eighteen looked at each other.

"Right here." a voice called out from behind them. Everyone turned to see a dishevelled looking Melissa. She had bags under her eyes, making her look really tired.

"Are you ok?" Trunks asked, looking concerned. "You look rather tired."

Melissa shrugged her shoulders and walked to the counter. "I've been having a little insomnia lately. I get that sometimes." she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She took a sip and suddenly remembered she hated coffee. Gagging, she immediately spit it into the sink.

Halo, Trunks, Seventeen, Eighteen and Paraffmon all laughed.

Melissa turned to them laughing herself. "Remind me to pay attention to what I'm doing just after I wake up." she said between laughs as everyone started their day.

Through out the saw, Seventeen couldn't stop thinking about Melissa and her nightmares. Every time he saw her he was tempted to ask her what they were about, but knew that if he did, he'd be breaking his promise to Eighteen. He didn't want to do that.

'Wait a sec,' Seventeen thought, 'maybe Eighteen knows what the dreams are about.' and he went in search of Eighteen.

He found her out on the balcony in her room reading a book. She looked up when he walked out.

"I need to ask you something." Seventeen said.

Eighteen saw the he was worried about something. She put down her book and patted the seat next to her. "What is it?" she asked as Seventeen saw down.

He was silent for a moment as he collected his thoughts. "It's about Melissa and her nightmares." Seventeen said finally, "Do you know what they're about."

Eighteen looked down and bit her lip. A moment later she nodded her head. "Yeah, I know. She's called out who was in her dreams many times." she said.

Seventeen nodded his head. "I thought you might know." he said, standing up. "Tell me. Tell me who's in these dreams. I need to know what's making her this way Eighteen. Please..."

Eighteen looked down at her hand in her lap and shook her head. "I can't. It's not my place to say anything.. If there is something you want to know, it's better to talk to her about it." she said.

Seventeen sat silent for a moment, then stood up. "It's ok. I understand." he said, and left Eighteen to her book.

Going into the living room, Seventeen found Melissa asleep on the couch. She looked very different from the girl she looked like just a few days before. Her skin was deathly pail. She had huge dark spots under her eyes. The way she walked around the past couple days, she was so slow and tired. Like her energy was being sucked out of her.

Seventeen walked over, sat down in the chair next to her, and watched Melissa sleep. A piece of dishevelled hair fell in her face and he pushed it away. A small whimper escaped her lips when he touched her. Soon, another whimper came, then another.

"No..." she cried softly, her mouth contoured into a small frown as another whimper escaped. Seventeen watched in interest as another dream over took her.

'What are you dreaming about?' he thought, 'What has caused this wall around you, making you distance from us? From me?'

Melissa suddenly jerked as a painful cry escaped out. She jerked again and again.

"Stop...' she cried out.

Seventeen was tempted to wake her up, but he wanted to know what she was dreaming about.

Melissa's cries and whimpers suddenly turned to screams of pain as her jerking had ceased and she started flailing and writing as she fell to the floor. The pain in her face was too much for Seventeen to handle. A second later he held her in his arms and he gently shook her. "Melissa," he whispered, "Melissa, wake up."

Melissa's screams and flails continued, but she did not wake.

"Melissa," Seventeen called, louder this time. "Melissa, it's only a dream. Wake up...please."

She still did not wake. Seventeen did the only thing he could think of. He hugged Melissa, holding her tightly against his chest. "Please, wake up." he whispered, stroking her hair.

Suddenly, she was silent. Seventeen felt Melissa grasp his shirt as she desperately clinged to him. He looked down to see her looking up at him, her eyes filled with fear as tears rolled down her cheeks. She lay trembling in his arms.

"Seventeen," she whispered.

Seventeen hugged her close to him. Melissa clinged tighter to him, still trembling.

"Shhh...it's all over." he whispered to her," It's over. You're safe."

"It hurts." Melissa whispered, "It hurts so much."

Seventeen just hugged her tightly. For some reason, Melissa found his touch comforting.

"Where...where does it hurt?" Seventeen asked.

"Everywhere." Melissa whimpered in response. Clinging tighter to Seventeen, she looked up at him. "He's coming," she whispered, fear in her voice, "he's coming for me. He's coming to get me."

A feeling of dread washed over Seventeen, and he felt his stomach flip flop. "Who...who's coming?" he asked.

Melissa just silently shook her head, tears running down her face. A moment later, Seventeen felt he go limp. She had passed out from exhaustion.

Seventeen sat there for a moment, still hugging Melissa to him. He sat thinking. 'What was she talking about? Who's coming for her?' As Seventeen contemplated that thought, he carefully stood up and made his way to the stairs and up to Melissa's room. Very carefully, he lay her in the bed and pulled the covers up around her. Looking out to the balcony, he saw that Eighteen was gone.

Seventeen went to stand and leave when he felt a hand grasp his arm. He turned to see Melissa looking up at him, a sense of terror in her eyes.

"Don't go," she begged, "don't leave me alone. He'll get me if I'm alone. He won't get me if someone's here. Please, stay."

Seventeen kneeled back next to the bed beside her. He smiled at her. "Don't worry," he said, wiping her tears away with his thumb, "I'll stay. As long as you want, I'll stay."

Melissa smiled a faint smile at him, a look of relief in her eyes. "Thank you." she whispered as she started to fall back asleep.

Seventeen got up, walked around to the other side of the bed, and climbed in next to her. As he wrapped his arms around her, Melissa rolled over to face him. She rested her head on his chest, softly clinging to his black shirt as she drifted into a deep sleep.

Seventeen pulled her closer and gently kissed the top of her head before falling asleep herself.

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[ Well...there's chapter 4. Not much to say about it...heh heh ^^!!!. I hope you liked it anyway. The story is starting to unfold. Don't worry...the action's gonna be starting up soon. Next chapter...or the chapter after. I dunno. Please review.]