She could feel somebody's nails scratching against her skin, she could feel the grip of their fingers around her wrist and yet she saw no one. No one was around her; she was surrounded by complete darkness, no light to guide her way. It was terrifying and strangely calming at the same time. Nothing in this darkness could remind her of the pain she felt whenever she thought about her parents or the worry she felt whenever she contemplated about Ben and his future – but there was still someone trying to grab at her, brushing against her legs, the darkness making it impossible for her eyes to see what it was that was trying to get her attention. Whatever it may be had tightened its grip on her legs, trying to tell her something, but her fear won out and she screamed as hard as she could. Her throat became sore, her eyes had started to sting, and yet no sound came out. She could feel a tremor in the air around her, but no sound could be heard but the whispering coming from underneath the soles of her bare feet. She tried to move, but was rooted in place by the ghosts holding her hostage, here in this dark place, where no one could hear or see her –

Cara woke with a sweat, screaming her lungs out, desperate to know if she had actually woken up or if this was just another part of the dream. A piercing scream escaped past her lips, sure to wake up the entire wing of the base where her room was located. After she finally contained her wails of terror, she breathed heavily, a shiver running up and down her arms as she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Her dream was not an uncommon one; the only thing that sometimes changed were the whispers that came from the unseen beings. Their messages were never very clear, and as much as Cara hoped she would never have such a dream again, she needed to know what they were trying to tell her. For the first time however, she had heard a single word. A single word that had sent her mind reeling into chaos.

Suddenly, her door slammed open, the light in her room being switched on so abruptly that she had to take a moment to let her eyes adjust. Ben stood in her doorway, surveying the room, as though he was worried that someone had entered in the middle of the night with the explicit purpose of trying to hurt her. When he saw her cowering in her bed however, he quietly closed the door behind him, not wanting to give her another reason to be startled.

"Cara, are you alright?"

"No." She replied simply, a faint feeling of someone grabbing her wrists still tangible on her skin. It was as though those beings were still there, haunting her, trying to tell her what was wrong. She could not shake the feeling that she was being watched, somehow. That was what the nightmare always left her with.

"Did you have that dream again?" He asked, Cara having confided to him about her recurring nightmare often. He was just as curious as her as to what the voices were trying to tell her. He believed that dreams could contain powerful and important messages. If this dream was happening as often as it was, it must mean that something larger was at play within her mind that she had yet to understand.

"Yes. I can still feel them around me,' she said, another shiver running across her entire body, this time even reaching her toes, 'how did you even know?" She asked, wondering how he could possibly have understood that she was in distress.

"I always know when it comes to you, Cara. I can feel it."

Her lips threatened to shape themselves into a small smile as he slowly made his way over to her bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, wondering if there was anything new she could tell him this time.

"Not particularly, no."

"Did the voices tell you anything understandable?"

She hesitated before answering, unsure whether or not she should tell him the truth. It was a complicated situation, and she could not be sure how he would react. Her head was telling her not to tell him, but her heart yearned to relieve herself of this burden. After all, it was a dream – how much impact could it possibly have?

"No. I still couldn't hear anything." She said, between shallow breaths. She surprised herself with her answer, hardly believing that she had actually lied to him. She could not remember the last time she had lied to him. Perhaps that was because she never had. Nine years since they had met and she had never felt as scrutinized under his gaze as she did right now.

"Are you sure? Think back, Cara. Perhaps understanding what the voices are trying to tell you is the key to making sure you never have this awful nightmare again."

There was a wild look in his eyes, one that she only saw whenever he was hunting for some long lost treasure within the base or whenever he was thirsty for more knowledge of the awful history his parents had lived through. It worried her, because it was a look he almost never shared with her. It was not a look she wanted to encourage.

"I – I'm sure. They surrounded me, Ben. I could feel them everywhere, and yet I could not see them. Who are they? Why are they in my nightmares? I don't understand. I'm afraid, Ben. It terrifies me."

He sat down on the bed next to her, the look in his eyes softening somewhat as he took in the tired and dishevelled appearance of his friend. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the heat from his body allowed for some the cold sweat on her skin to dry out. He rubbed his thumb along her forearm, allowing them to sit in silence for a while, listening to the rain outside streaming down her window.

"Do you remember when I took you out to see the lightning storm?" He asked, snapping them both out of the comfortable silence as she turned her head to regard his face.

"Yes, of course I do. How could I forget? It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

"I'm glad I got to share that with you,' He said, the right corner of his mouth curling upwards a bit in an attempt to comfort her, 'that place is important to me."

"I know it is. I'm glad you thought I was worthy of it."

"I hope you feel I am worthy of sharing in your experiences too, Cara." He said, and it was meant to sound familial and friendly, but there was an underlying tone of manipulation to his words – as though he knew that she was holding something back and he was trying to guilt her into telling him what it was. He had always been unreasonably curious as to the nature of her nightmares, as though he knew something about it that she did not. It worried her, just as the wild look in his eyes had worried her only a few moments before. She could not let him emotionally guilt her into telling him the truth. She feared it would only serve to agitate him further.

"You know I do, Ben. I've always told you everything." She said, oddly still comforted by the feeling of his hand on her arm but feeling rather tense as well. His words were doing nothing to ease her frenzied mind, but her body was finally starting to relax.

"Yes, I know."

With those words, she knew that he was aware that she was lying to him. It hurt, because she knew that he would be leaving soon – there was no postponing his need for training anymore. She just hoped he would not distance himself from her. Not when she was just beginning to become immensely confused as to what he really meant to her. Not while this lie hovered between them.

"You grew up together." Rey had stopped running, turning around to face her new companion in the middle of a deserted hallway. Cara stumbled to a stop, surprised at the young woman's words.

"Excuse me?" She asked, wondering what that meant.

"You grew up together. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry – but you were thinking about him so hard, that memory – it was at the forefront of your mind. I could almost hear it in my own head." Rey replied, looking quite sheepish. It was clear that the girl had not meant to invade Cara's personal thoughts; and it was hard to become angry when she had let herself get so carried away in a memory while they were trying to escape this awful place.

"Yes. We did."

"No wonder he means so much to you."

"As I have said before, that's complicated."

"I won't pry – I promise."

Cara took a moment to collect herself, shaking her head in a feeble attempt to try and rid herself of the memory. She had not had those nightmares in a long time – in fact, the last one she had was right before Ben had left D'Qar for training with Luke. She never realized it until now, but it was almost as though the voices had been telling her about him, warning as to what was to come; and as soon as he left, there was no point to the dreams anymore because there was nothing she could do to stop the change that had begun to fester within him. It was yet another sign that she had missed, another signal that had been thrust in her face alluding to the conflict within him that she had somehow managed to ignore.

"Maybe someday you'll trust me enough to tell me yourself." Rey said, surprising Cara with her openness and the kind look in her eyes. She could tell that the young scavenger had secrets and severed relationships of her own that she had tried to supress, and Cara was thankful that she seemed to understand the importance of keeping some of those details to yourself.

"How can you be so sure that we will get out of this? That you can trust me?"

"I have to. What choice do I have?"

Once again, Cara was struck by the blind faith Rey seemed to have in the world. There were so many factors working against them, having experienced most of them first hand. Naïve or not, this young woman knew what she wanted and was not afraid to fight for it. Cara had felt the same once. Now, with the anger constantly building up inside of her, the conflict raging within her she had lost sight of what she was fighting for. Was she fighting to get Ben back, or was she merely fighting to keep herself close to him in whatever way she could, in as selfish a manner as possible?

Suddenly, both women froze in place, fear settling in as they heard the stomp of heavy footsteps coming down from the other end of the hallway. Cara had a feeling that it was Kylo, having no doubt been alerted as to the absence of his prisoner, scouring the hallways for her by himself, just as he was always prone to do. Cara shot Rey a desperate look, indicating that the young woman was to go on by herself so that Cara could distract him. Rey looked uncertain, not wanting to leave her new comrade behind but also knowing that it was better if one of them got out of this hellish place instead of neither. Finally making up her mind, Rey ran further down the corridor, shooting one last apologetic glance towards Cara before turning around the corner and out of sight.

Her first instinct was to hide, but Cara knew it would be hopeless – Kylo could sense her from miles away, and he would find her, only making her presence there all the more suspicious. As far as he knew, she had no reason to fear him. Her best bet was to stay in the hallway in plain sight, hoping to distract him long enough to give Rey a fighting chance before he realized what she had done.

His footsteps came closer, and she tried to steady her breathing; anything to hide the fact that she would be lying to him. It was still not something that came naturally to her, even after all these years, even after all the things that had now happened between them. Cara could barely lie to Ben, and now she could barely lie to Kylo. It was a vicious cycle that she had started herself, and Cara could feel another surge of anger rolling within, becoming angry that she had no one else to blame for her current predicament.

A/N: Again, thank you. That's all I really have to say for now. Thanks for the follows, favourites and reviews. Every new reader just makes it that much more fun to write.