Wonderland (Ten)
Wonderland
He did not know how long he had been screaming, but he felt his throat was raw from it. once again the nightmares had come and now he was sitting up in the bed and his body covered in the sweat that always came.
He could feel his heart hammering inside his chest and his breath was coming in short panting sounds, the sheer terror he had just woken from having complete control of his body.
He could feel the horror replayed over and over in his mind as he closed his eyes tighter as if trying to shut the images out, but they just kept playing over and over and he opened them once more.
From the corner of his eye, he saw something in the doorway of his bedroom. his head snapped around and he saw Melissa standing there, she was dressed in the hooded sweatshirt she wore before and had it pulled down over the top of her bare legs.
The look on her face showed the feeling she seemed to be experiencing, he thought she would turn and run at any moment, his screaming seemingly having woken her from where she was asleep in the next room.
He opened his mouth to speak but could find no words, he was not sure if it was the throes of terror that engulfed him or just his voice so broken from the screaming he could just not speak.
He watched her twitch slightly and he imagined her turning and running, could hear the sound of the front door banging closed. but it did not, she stepped close to him and could feel his body trembling uncontrollably now.
"Hey, it's alright, just calm down"
She said and offered her right hand towards him, the gesture an attempt to show she was no threat to him, not that she would have posed one physically at least. he watched her as she moved nearer and let his hands drop down to hit the bed.
"I am just going to sit down"
She said as she kept her voice low and non-threatening as she sat at the edge of the bed and slid a little closer to where he was sitting upright and trembling.
"Bad dream?"
She asked and he still could not find the words to answer her, his mouth falling open like some sort of idiot, but still, nothing came.
He watched as she reached out towards him and slid her hand over his hand, he did not recoil just looked into her face and watched as he felt his breath now coming out in shorter and deeper breaths.
She eased a little closer and he watched as she lifted her free hand to touch his face gently he could feel her fingers slide over his cheek until her hand pressed in a caressing touch.
"Lay down"
She whispered and he did not resist as she slowly eased him into a lying position, his head pressed against her thigh and he could feel the heat coming up from her body.
"Just relax, I am not going anywhere"
She whispered again and even though the shame he felt for her seeing him like this, he felt better for being here, having someone to share this moment of horror that came every night.
He could feel her fingers begin to stroke gently against his temple and she leaned a little closer to him.
"I used to have bad dreams too"
She said in another gentle voice, the fingers continuing to touch softly to his face and temple.
"When I get scared, I think of Wonderland"
She said and he turned his head to look up at her, wanting to ask her what she meant but could do nothing but listen to her.
"Wonderland, it was a crappy little theme park, my mom would take me there and I loved it"
She said and he could see her smiling at her words, her face turned away for a moment before looking back down at his face again.
"Had these wooden swings and rides, something that looked like a throwback to the Fifties, I think the Fifties, I am not that old"
She said and gave a little laugh at her statement as she seemed lost in nostalgia for a moment.
"Just find that place, just think of something that made you happy"
The words offered like some sort of unseen wisdom and he could feel his breathing starting to slow once more, the bad thoughts receding into the darkness once more and another horror seemed to be coming to an end for now.
"Melissa"
He said with a croaking sound, his throat feeling horrible and he struggled to recall how long he had been screaming.
"Shush"
She said and he felt her hand stroke over his cheek once more and he let his eyes close as he fought to find that place, that place he could find happiness in.
"Find your wonderland"
She said breathlessly to him and he felt a sense of peace come over him as his eyes closed tight and the darkness suddenly felt comforting to him and not the horror that he had fought so hard against.
