Night Terrors

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...Eight...Nine...Ten...

Why wouldn't he move? What the hell was wrong with him? LEAVE! RUN! Maddy tried calling out the boy's name once again-or at least she thought it was his name-but the words remained stuck inside her throat. In their place a loud growl filled the air and the figure standing before her turned towards the sound, curiosity and fear present in his eyes. By now it was safe to say Maddy was afraid as well, heart threatening to escape her chest as it beat at a far quicker pace than natural, even for a wolfblood. Frozen in place by the tree, her body completely numb, she was unable to aid the boy in the fight against the unseen assailant. Where was it? What was it?

Something did move, somewhere very close to her. Something dashed forward to attack and a scream pierced the night before she could will her feet...or paws...to move. Human or wolf, she couldn't even tell her shape now. Just anger and agony taking turns in stabbing her viciously. In a matter of seconds the boy was gone. And she didn't even know who he was...Or what the hell had happened? Was she next?

Yes.

...Maddy...Maddy...Maddy...

"MADELINE!"

A sharp slap across the face sent the young wolfblood rolling out of the makeshift bed, yelping with both pain and hopelessness. NO! Hands fluttered in the air for a moment fending off an unseen attacker, or trying to prevent another attack from happening, not even Maddy knew anymore. It took a while for the dizziness and nausea to wash away and her eyes finally made out the shape of Emma's concerned face towering above. There was no threat, not anymore. Arms slid back down framing her body. Spread across the stone floor of the cave Maddy struggled to regulate her breathing.

Inhale...Exhale...Repeat

"You're ok! You're ok..." Was all the mother could word as she backed away from her daughter. Worry was still gleaming in her eyes however. Nightmares had become a regular thing since the Smiths had taken to the wilderness and by that point they no longer surprised neither Daniel nor Emma. It wasn't like they could do anything about their daughter's condition, they had absolutely no clue what had triggered it to begin with. Neither did Maddy. Daniel blamed it on parting with her friends, or wilderness fever, but Maddy declined all those options. She could not explain it but she knew her father was wrong.

The nightmares were chaotic and beyond frustrating. Noting whatsoever made any sense! Everything was dark and filled with people and wolves and places she did not know. The only solid thing about the images was the fact that they frightened the young wolf to the bone. More than once she woke up screaming and kicking and it took all of Daniel's strength to pin her down and Emma's soothing words to calm her and make her realize she was wide awake and absolutely safe. A couple times her cries had even brought curious visitors to the cave door.

"Get dressed love. Max wants to see you." Emma added before disappearing out the door, leaving Maddy alone with her thoughts. It took a solid five minutes for her mother's parting words to finally sink in but once they did the brunette scurried to her feet and made an attempt to locate her warm clothes. It was most likely going to be one of those days when one wishes one had never rolled out of bed to begin with.

A/N: Maddy's nightmares are a key part in character development so i thought i'd walk you through one of the mild ones. They get worse as the story advances.