Ch. 5~ Nightmares in the Waking Hour

How long had she been awake?

Jeweli's eyes were starting to droop as she continued scrubbing the Madji's robes. The clock chimed two o'clock, startling her awake. Finish, then sleep, she told herself. After rinsing out the last of the clothes, she put them up on the clothes line, where the wind could dry them, but the rain would touch.

She didn't remember the trek to her room, nor even getting into bed. But, the next thing she knew, she was falling asleep. But no matter how tired she was, he always managed to find a way to worm back into her dreams.

There he was coming, coming towards her, fists raised. Of course, her imagination always made things more extreme than they were. This time, his teeth were sharp and black, dripping with the honey-sweet venom that srew her in all those years ago. Why couldn't he ever give her a respite? Every night, over and over, he came at her, grabbing her and throwing her around. He tossed her to th eground and delivered those fatal kicks that forever changed her. The, he was on top of her, weighing her down and choking te life from her. Her clothes were pulled and torn away, her body mutilated.

"Jeweliandra," he whispered, taking hold of her shoulders. He suddenly started shaking her, "Jeweliandra? Wake up. Wake UP!"

Jeweli shot straight up, gasping and fighting against the arms that held her. "No! NO! Let go of me!"

"Wait, Jeweliandra! It's just me." She stopped thrashing about. Ardeth's dark eyes were filled with worry. "It's alright. It was only a nightmare, they can't hurt you."

Ardeth

Jeweli collapsed against him and just cried. He was a bit hesitant at first, but then put his arms around her and let her cry into his scantly clad chest. When he had heard her screaming in the other room, he'd simply pulled the shirt on and ran to the room across the hall. Just as she said, she was in there. But, something was wrong. Jeweli was tossing in her bed, then started waving her arms, as if figting off and invisible attacker.

"I have heard that it is easier to deal with bad dreams if you speak to someone about them." Ardeth stroked her hair to calm her down.

"Not for me," she mumble against his skin. "I tried. He just came back the next night."

"Who is he?"

Jeweli pulled back quickly, as if burned, and moved away. "No one. It's nothing. I'm sorry I woke you up, I know you needed the sleep."

"I can sleep when I'm dead. And you didn't. Wake me up, I mean. But, I heard you scream and became worried that you were in danger."

"Thank you, I really do appreciate it. The others are on the other side of the house, so they don't get bothered by my nightmare screams. I'm fine, really."

"When did you get to bed?" he noticed her eyes drooping as she spoke.

"I dunno...a little after two, I guess. I was finishing up your robes when the clock chimed. Well, I'm gonna go back to sleep now. And don't worry about having to come back in here, it's usually a one a night thing."

"Alright." Ardeth wasn't convinced. He had felt how clammy and covered in sweat she was when he woke her up. Something was definantly wrong. "Sleep well. *I pray for sweet dreams for you tonight*" he whispered in Arabic, "Goodnight." Suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Uh...night."

Then, he got up and went back to bed.

...

A/N: ** means it's in Arabic...which means she has no idea what he's saying. Sorry about the original chapter, Google translate sucks.

Read and Reveiw please.

AcaciaDawn