Those words… are another memory. That was the first time I knew he cared about me.
“Can you save me?”
He doesn’t get to answer. I hear the guards coming for him and just like I knew my mother was going to die, I know I’m about to see his death again.
Dmitri comes in first and takes him.
“Stop!” I cry. “Someone help him! Don’t let him kill him.”
Someone shakes me and everything starts flickering before my eyes like the fragments of reality are confused.
At first, I see Eric and then I see… Tristan.
Warm fingers flutter over my cheek and as I blink Tristan’s face comes into view. He’s hovering before me, but I can’t quite pull my mind from the nightmare world.
Eric.I think of Eric and for a fleeting second, I wonder if maybe the nightmare never happened. Maybe I’m not too late. Maybe I can still save him.
“Please, help me,” I beg grasping on to Tristan shirt. He holds me still when I try to get up. “Don’t let him kill him.”
“Isabella it’s just a dream,” he says cupping my face.
“No, please help him… It’s not too late. Please help me. My father will kill him. Please.” The words tumble out of my lips before I register what I’m saying and where I am. Or even what’s happening.
“Isabella…” he says. “It’s a … nightmare.”
Nightmare. I blink a few times and look around me, then I remember. I remember I am too late. Years too late and the last person who will help me is my captor.
That heavy feeling of loss and sadness come over me as I remember the past and present.
Yes, it was a nightmare of things I can’t change and the weight of everything that’s happened comes crashing down on me.
With that the tears come.