Boy, I am on a roll here. :D This chapter starts off rather randomly, but there is a point to it. . .I think. -sweatdrops-
Enjoy!
--Chapter 21-Nightmares--
. . .A flash of silver. . .a scream of pain. . .
"You'll pay for what you've done, Monster!"
. . .Isis laying on the ground, cold as ice. . .glowing yellow eyes. . .
"Please," I managed the croak one last time.
. . .A silver knife. . .pain haunted faces. . .
"Get away from her!"
. . .Sharp teeth. . .a baby's cry. . .
"Ricky!" I gasped. Blood was dripping down his face, leaving fresh marks in the snow.
. . .Blackness, Emptiness, Nothing. . .
. . .I was alone. . .
I woke up tangled in my blankets on the floor, drenched in cold sweet. Shakily, I stood up, trying to make sense of what just happened. . .I'd woken up from one of the worst nightmares I'd had yet. I paced the floor feeling unsettled.
And very alone.
I needed to do something, anything to get my mind off of what I'd seen. I didn't know what though. I was honestly terrified. When I was younger, there had always been someone close by, whether it be my room mates or my parents. But now that I had my own room, in one of the more secluded parts of the castle? There wasn't anyone near me.
Except Ricky, that is.
A brief moment of hesitation later, I was in the dark stone hallway that connected our rooms. I practically ran the whole way, fighting my urge to cry. I knocked on Ricky's door urgently.
Five minutes past, and I gave up hope. After one last knock, I leaned against the stone wall, it's iciness sinking into my bare, sweat-soaked skin. My breath hitched as I let myself cry at last.
"Enna?" A groggy voice asked. Ricky was standing in the door way, rubbing his eyes.
"Ricky," I sobbed and threw my arms around his neck.
"En? What happened?"
"Here." Ricky handed me a glass filled with water. I drained it quickly and put it on his bedside table. "Ready to talk?" I shook my head and grabbed a pillow to hug tightly. Ricky sighed and went over to his trunk. He rooted around for a bit and pulled out two items of clothing. He frowned and said, "I don't have anything that will fit you properly, but these are too small on me." He tossed the clothes on the bed in front of me.
"Wha--"
"Your pjs are damp, and it's freezing out, En."
"I can't tell anymore," I mumbled. I held up the gray flannel pant and the tee shirt to inspect them.
"Go on." Ricky turned around.
With a sigh, I peeled off my tank top and pulled the large but blessedly dry shirt on. When I finished changing I sat back down on Ricky's bed.
"Are you decent?" Ricky asked eventually.
"Oh, sorry. Yes." Ricky turned and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"
I picked on one of the pillow case's loose threads. Should I tell him? I know I woke him up in the middle of the night, but at that point I was still half asleep and pretty much hysterical. I looked over at Ricky, he was watching me with a concerned look on his face.
"Mum says it's good to talk things over," he said quietly. "It helps you cope."
"Fine," I muttered. Slowly and in a very soft voice, I told about my nightmares, how long I'd been having them, and the reason that was behind it all. While I was speaking, Ricky had started to trace the scar on his face absentmindedly.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked me when I finished.
"I didn't want to bother anyone. I-it's my issue."
Ricky gave me an annoyed look. "So you let yourself continue having nightmares for the past four years?"
"Like I said, it's my problem, not anyone else's. . .not yours."
"I get it, you don't trust me." Ricky crossed his arms and glared at me.
"No, that's not it, Ricky. I just figured that everyone had enough to deal with as it was." Ricky said nothing. "Besides," I continued, tears starting to drip down my face again, "It's hard for me to talk about. I know you were there that day, but you weren't the one being threatened. You weren't the one trying to quickly grasp the fact that you could be dead at any given moment.
"You weren't there on full moon. You didn't have see Isis die before she got to see her son grow up, before she could finally trust people again. You weren't the one--" I took a deep breath and stopped talking. Ricky was staring at me, wide-eyed. ". . .I should go. Sorry for waking you." I climbed off the bed and started walking to the door. As I passed, Ricky grabbed my wrist.
"En, I didn't say that I could understand. I said that I wanted to help you." He pulled me into a hug. I clung to him for dear life.
"You already have," I thought.
I woke up the next morning feeling rested for the first time in quite a while. I shifted a bit so I could stretch, but there was an arm draped over me. I looked to my left. Ricky was sound asleep right next to me.
Why I was still in Ricky's dorm was beyond me. I had had every intention of going back to my own dorm. Thinking back, I remembered Ricky wouldn't let me leave. Something about not leaving me alone after my nightmare? Anyway, the last thing I remember from last night was feeling safe and warm in his arms.
I'd fallen asleep!
I was jolted from my thoughts when Ricky yawned, and rolled away from me a bit. His hand was now resting just below my collar bone. A few inches lower and--
I blushed at the thought.
It was nearly ten AM. Well, we were definitely late for class. In allhonestly, Icouldn't have cared less. I really didn't want to go out and face what ever problems were waiting, write another essay, or deal with misbehaving students. Because, you know what? I was sick of it.
"J'en ai marre!" I muttered a favorite phrase of Angel's to emphasize my thoughts.
"Sick of what?" Ricky asked, blinking blearily up at me.
"Did I wake you?" Ricky shook his head. "I dunno. Just about everything I guess. . .schoolwork, Head Girl duties, nightmares--" I yawned. "I need a break."
"Today's Sunday, so you have one free day left before the week begins," Ricky muttered. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer.
"I thought it was Monday!" Ricky shook his head again. Igiggled,"Your hair is a mess." I ran my fingers through his wavy hair in an attempt to flatten it a bit. It didn't help much, but Ricky didn't seem to care. He just lay there with a small grin on his face.
"How did you sleep?" he asked.
"Just fine."
"That's good," he yawned.
"I'm sorry I woke you last night."
"I told you it was okay, En. I'm glad you told me." He opened his eyes and looked at me. I smiled at him gratefully. I was in the middle of debating whether or not I should tell him how I felt when his eyes grew wide.
"I completely forgot! Alice had me promise to meet her at ten down in the Great Hall!" To my disappointment, he quickly got up and dressed in a hurry (he went in to the bathroom, you pervs). I propped myself up on my elbows, vaguely amused.
Right, Alice. She was the one person who could possibly ruin the chance I had with Ricky. Though it was my fault that he was dating her in the first place.
"Sorry I can't stay! See you later!"
"Bye," I called out faintly to the now empty room.
With one last sigh, I got out of bed and straightened the covers a bit. I wondered whether or not the house elves could tell if there had been more then one person in the bed. They'd gossip, and knowing Dobby, this would somehow get to Harry and the rest of our friends. Veronica would be trying to name our unborn, illegitimate child. Nope, she wouldn't believe that nothing happened. Nor would anyone else really.
When I was finished making the bed, I went back into my own dorm and tossed all the covers onto myown bed.They sat there in a twisted lump, and I really didn't feel like going through them. I tried to make my way over to my trunk to pull out a clean uniform, but I tripped on the end of the bedsheets that was still hanging off the edge of my bed.
Swearing very loudly, I sat up and inspected my throbbing elbow. I was going to get a nasty bruise, but I hadn't broken anything. Grumbling, I stood up, grabbed my clean clothes, and went to take a long, hot shower.
"Where were you this morning?" Maddie, Zarah, Veronica, and Angel were all following me around the castle, being annoyingly persistent.
"I save you a chocolate muffin, you know," Ronnie told me, crossing her arms.
"I overslept!" I practically shouted for the fifth time. They'd been asking me the same question for nearly an hour. It was really bothering me. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." And with that I ducked into the blissfully silent halls of the library.
Relived to be alone, I sat down on the couch farthest from the main door. I landed with a loud thump.
"Enna?"
"William?" I blinked up at the tall redhead in front of me. "What are you doing here?"
"Hiding. You?"
"Same." I gave a half-hearted shrug.
"From who?"
"Maddie, Ron, Zar, and your sister. They won't leave me alone! So what if I didn't show up for breakfast?"
"I think the fact that Ricky didn't show up either was what made them so curious." My ex-boyfriend sat down on the couch next to me. I gave him a questioning look. "Ange pointed that out."
"Ah. Well, I guess we both overslept," I mumbled and twirled a bit of my hair around my index finger.
"You're lying," William told me evenly.
Damn it! Why is it that William could always tell? Even when we were little, he's always been able to tell whether or not someone was telling the truth. "Not lying, exactly. . .just omitting certain truths." I laughed nervously. William raised an eyebrow and waited patiently. I sighed for the millionth time that day and slouched down in my seat.
"Well, the truth is, I sort of kept us both up pretty late last night," I muttered. "I had a nightmare."
"I see."
"Really? The fact that we slept toget--wait, that sounds completely messed up. I meant thatin the literal sense." I blushed and slouched as far as possible in my seat. "It wasn't an intentional thing, you know."
To my surprise, William laughed. "This is priceless. Do you know how badly I could blackmail you two with this?"
I winced. "You aren't going to tell, are you?"
"Nah, I'm not one to gossip."
"Thanks," I said gratefully. We were silent for a moment before I asked, "Find any nice girls that aren't a part of your fan club yet?"
William gave a long suffering sigh. "Not exactly. I mean there's Zarah. She's nice, and she actually talks with me instead of giggling."
I grinned widely. "You like Zarah, don't you?" His blush was all the answer I needed. "William and Zarah sitting in a tree," I teased, "Kay, eye, ess, ess, eye, en, gee!"
"Alright already!" I grinned pertly at him, but quieted down. "What about you? Find anyone to put up with you yet?"
"Well, you've gotten mean!"
"Come on, En."
"I, well, yes. . .but he's taken at the moment, so there's not much I can do about it."
"Ricky?"
"Are you psychic now too?"
"No, you, my dear friend, are just obvious."
"But I just figured out that I lo-liked him yesterday!"
"Yes, but--"
"Oh, Merlin," I muttered, recalling my conversation with Lorelei.
"He doesn't know, if that's what you're worried."
"Please don't let Maddie or anyone know that I know that I'm in love with Ricky! They'll never let me hear the end of it!"
William chuckled, "I won't."
"Thanks."
"I could talk to him. . .You know, to see if he's planning to break up with Alice anytime soon."
"As tempting as that is, I'd rather not know. If they break up, they break up. I don't want to have anything to do with that." There was a noise behind a nearby bookcase. I caught a glimpse of a blonde girl in Ravenclaw colors.
"I think you've been located," I whispered to William.
"Damn, I didn't think they'd even think of the library. See you later." William kissed my cheek and got up to leave.
"Hey, just a tip, Zarah likes jewelry," Icalled after himsoftly.
"Thanks," he grinned. "I'll keep that in mind."
hehe, I threw that conversation with William in for bograt (I hope that satisfies your fangirlish needs). And the whole William liking Zarah thing? Well, he can't be pining for Enna now can he? She's got another guy on her mind. XD
-sighs- You know, I just realized, we're getting close to the end. Mind you I still have about six chapters to write, but still, it's not to much compared to the rest of the story.
Um, I hope you all didn't take the fact that Ricky and En 'slept together' in the wrong way (actually since I mentioned nothing happened about four times should have tipped you off. ;D). I don't believe in having sex before marriage, so you won't be seeing any of that in my stories.
Now that I've blathered on,
Til' next time,
Anne