Aelita sluggishly rolled over and slammed her fist against the pillow, letting out a fretful sigh of despair. The exasperated whispers voyaged from her mouth to Jeremie's, and he whirled around his chair and curiously glanced over at her.
"Lita?" he gently spoke, trying not to break the peaceful silent of the frosty midnight atmosphere that settled in his room. "Why are you still awake?"
"I don't want to sleep."
His thin lips curled into a frown and he removed himself from the solid discomfort of his chair. Aelita lay in his bed, pressed into the corner of the wall with her back facing Jeremie. Jeremie sank into the foot of the bed and leaned backwards, applying pressure on his hands to keep himself upright.
"Why not?" he asked, glancing over at the exhausted girl.
"Because every time I close my eyes, I see his face. I'm tired of the nightmares." She continued to stare at the bare wall in front of her, tracing her fingers in circles along it's cold, compact surface.
"Aelita…" he said, scratching his head as he played around with the right possible words to say. Jeremie paused, and frowned again. "Mr. Puck doesn't help you sleep?"
She held the doll in her hands and sighed before tossing him to the side. "Sometimes. But not really," she quietly answered, disappointment tumbling off of her lips. The poor woman was drained. She had received not one night of rest since the incident, every moment vividly haunting her. Aelita had no escape.
Jeremie pressed his mouth into a fine line. The appropriate words were coming difficultly tonight, but he didn't want to end up saying nothing at all. "Well," he started, turning his head the other way. "What about me?"
Aelita trundled over, her drowsy doe-eyes glimmering up at Jeremie. "What do you mean?"
"I mean… do you think I could help you sleep?" He curved his head back towards Aelita, who was now slightly sitting upwards, leaning back on her elbows. She upraised an eyebrow at him, and he proximately regretted bringing it up.
"Well," she answered; confused. "You already do, by letting me sleep in your room and watching over me throughout the night."
"I know, I just meant that, well sometimes, when people are said, they just want someone to be close to them, and I figured maybe that… well you know, I mean…"
"But you are close to me, Jeremie. You're my best friend."
"I mean…like… I was just saying that… what if it were me next to you, instead of Mr. Puck?" Jeremie cringed at his words and mentally slapped himself across the face. He felt like a moron, as if he had completely invaded her privacy.
Aelita, on the other hand, did not mind. "I would like that, Jeremie." She daintily smiled at him before letting herself fall backwards onto the mattress, her head gently dipping into the pillow. She patted the empty spot next to her. The blonde was shocked that she wasn't even offended in the slightest, but the reality was that there was no reason she should be. Nonetheless, Jeremie always found a way to somehow put himself down when it came to the opposite sex. It was more as a result of how much he respected her and feared hurting or insulting her, not really so much that he was flat out afraid of her gender. His muscles locked up and prevented him from moving, although he more than wanted to join her side. A flood of red pigment collected on his face. Aelita simply giggled at him, and then forcefully cleared her throat, hoping to grab his attention. He snapped out of it after staring aimlessly for a moment, and then tumbled backwards into the warmth of the mattress. Immediately, Aelita nuzzled herself into him, clutching his arm tightly as if it were a stuffed animal. Jeremie let out a contented sigh of relief and rested his hand against the soft surface of Lita's glorious pink threads. He closed his eyes; letting himself float away from reality along with Aelita.
An hour or so later, a sudden gust of icy wind jolted Aelita out of her slumber. She awoke to the feeling, or lack of feeling, rather, of the numbness that overcame her little nose and slender fingers. Shivering, Lita bundled herself in the thick comforter as she raised her chilly body. The glowing clock on the nightstand read 3:23 A.M. It now seemed that sleep was a lost cause, whether or not Jeremie was there. Soft moonlight cast upon the barren carpet of Jeremie's room, the outline of the window settling on the wrinkles of the bed. Among the dark blueness of his room from the night sky, Aelita's pink hair still managed to shine.
She began to wonder where the cold was coming from. The air conditioning? No, at this time of year, all A/C units no longer switched on at night because the air outside was simply too frigid to trigger the units. Besides, those units were very loud, and Aelita only heard silence. Well, brief silence; it was soon interrupted by timid rustling. She looked towards the window to see Jeremie's white curtains swaying along the breeze. Of course, that had to have been the source of the low temperature in the room. The window was open.
Oh, no. That's exactly the problem. The window was… open.
Wide open.
"Jeremie?" She whispered, staring at the opening to the outside world. "Why is the window open?" There was no response. Was he still asleep? "Jeremie," she called again, a bit louder. Again, Jeremie did not answer. She looked next to her to see nothing but a mess of sheets and blankets. Aelita was the only one in that room.
Or, so she thought.
"Jeremie!" She shouted, throwing around the pillows, searching for him. "Where did you go?" She chucked one of the pillows on the ground, turning back to the window. Frustrated and worried, Lita crawled out of the bed and ran to the window as if she were running from a ghost. Then, she noticed that the bolts on top were still turned.
The window was locked. It had been opened from the outside.
Her mouth dropped open, the vibrancy of her face washing away. Even the color of her hair seemed to fade as she poked her head out of the window and looked downwards, observing the empty grass of Kadic. There was no one outside, and no sign of forced entry. It was simply just… open. It didn't look as if anyone had deliberately shoved up the window, so then that must have meant that no one did. Aelita tried not to overwork herself and convince her of things that were plausibly not even real. She shut the window and turned around.
"Ahem," someone coughed from the dark crooks of the square room. She spun her quivering body around, her fretful eyes meeting the silhouette of a tall, looming figure standing before her. With each step backwards, he took one step forward. Just as he had done on that night.
"Je…Jer…" she stuttered, unable to complete her sentence.
"I thought I told you not to tell anyone? Don't bother calling for your boyfriend, he's not going to hear you."
Her gaping mouth trembled immensely, her throat spasming as it tried to force out words she just couldn't vocalize. "I…I'm sorry!" she silently cried. Fear patronized her body, sparks of terror travelling down her spine. The cold no longer bothered her, because the horror had caused her to sweat. The beads that trickled off of her forehead joined with the tears streaming down her eyes, the salty mixture burning her chapped lips.
"It's a little late for apologies," he boomed in a quiet, sultry voice. He squatted down in front of her as she collapsed against the wall, sinking onto her bottom. "What am I going to do with you, Ms. Schaeffer?"
"Please don't hurt me anymore," she tearfully begged, covering her face with clenched fists. He lowered himself onto his knees and leaned forward, brushing his thick bottom lip against her earlobe before whispering against her jawline.
"I promised that I'd make sure you'd regret it if you spilled your secret to anyone. You may have broken your promise, but I don't break mine." He slowly aimed his face in front of hers and titled his sunglasses downwards. Aelita knew she was dealing with the same man when she saw those same fuming irises, lumps of coals sitting in the whites of his eyes. And so, she screamed.
"Jeremie!" She urgently howled as she began to furiously shake the door handle. She was locked inside the room. It wouldn't turn, no matter how hard she tried. "JEREMIE! JEEEREMIIIEE!"
He stood there and watched, laughed even, as she pounded against the door in desperation. Suddenly, the entrance flung open and Aelita collapsed backwards onto the ground.
"Aelita?!" Jeremie cried out, running to her side as she trembled on the carpet. "Aelita, my God! What happened?!"
Aelita crawled into his arms as he kneeled down next to her, choking through sobs. "Where did you go!?" she wailed.
"I went to the bathroom; I was only gone for a minute, Aelita… what's wrong?"
"LOOK!" She screamed, pointing behind her.
"What am I looking for?" he inquired, curiously poking his head around. There was no one there. Aelita snapped her head around, rubbing her wrist against her wet eyes.
"But…but…he…"
"There's no one there, 'Lita. You had another bad drea-"
"NO!" she ragingly cut him off. "It wasn't a dream, Jeremie! I woke up and the window was open! It was wide open, Jeremie! And then I turned around and he was there! I felt his breath on my neck, Jeremie, it was not a dream. He's mad at me for telling. I knew I shouldn't have said anything, but you wouldn't listen to me! He's going to hurt me again, and probably you, too!"
"Aelita, please, try to calm down. I know nightmares can feel very real, but-"
Aelita became furious. She pressed her hands into Jeremie's chest and shoved him away from her as hard as she could. "Why don't you believe me?" she pleaded.
"Aelita…"
"I know what I saw. He was here. But you don't believe me…" she curled into a ball against his dresser and started to whimper, heartbreaking snuffles sneaking out of her throat. She curled her head downwards, resting it against arms that she folded on top of her knees. Jeremie sat and watched her mourn. He watched her worn body shake with pure terror. Each cry from her unsteady lips chipped a piece off of his heart, and he couldn't believe that he had tried to doubt her right in front of her face. His eyes welled up; a single droplet that glimmered in the light of the moon crept down his cheek. He just wanted her to be happy again. He wanted her to stop hurting. Sometimes, he felt he was only making things worse. Jeremie, filled with regret, walked over to her and then knelt back down by her side again.
"I believe you," he uttered, caringly staring into her glossed eyes.
"Really?" she sniffed, wiping her nose. As usual, Jeremie took it upon himself to dry the tears from her cheeks.
"Yes."
She half-smiled at him, before the emotion quickly became replaced with a grimace. "Jeremie, I'm scared."
"There's no need to be. I'm right here."
"I can't get away from him, Jeremie. He's not just in my dreams anymore. I don't feel safe."
"You are safe, 'Lita. Nobody will hurt you as long as I'm with you. I'll make sure of it."
"You can't possibly spend twenty four hours of the day with me, Jeremie…"
"Of course I can. And if that's what it takes to protect you, then I certainly will. Nobody hurts my angel and gets away with it."
"You… think I'm an angel?"
"Absolutely. And even angels need someone to watch over them sometimes."
Aelita blushed, shyly smiling at him before bashfully burying herself into his chest for comfort. Jeremie always took this as an invite to wrap his arms around her, and that was exactly what she wanted right now.
"Thank you," she whispered against his collared shirt.
Jeremie leaned down next to her ear, his words quietly vibrating off of his lips. "Anything for you, sweetheart." The warmth from Aelita's blush sent her back to sleep.