They finally got her into bed and where about to leave when a sudden thought occurred to her, and she blurted it out before she could think better of it. “Stay with me.” Hazel paused, blushing a little. “Please, will you sleep in here with me?”
The men both stopped, turning back towards her.
“Please?” She said again, her voice soft and pleading, and she sighed a massive exhale of relief as they stepped closer, acquiescence shining in their eyes. Before long they were all tucked in, Hazel in her giant bed and the two men on the floor, each with a pallet of blankets and pillows on either side. She had been about to offer the bed but without looking at her they had grabbed the bedding from their own respective rooms and made up makeshift cots on the floor.
Finally, the lights were turned out and Hazel pulled the quilt up high under her chin, snuggling into the down comforter and squeezing her eyes shut, trying to give in to the exhaustion that threatened to drag her under.
And she laid like that for a long, long time, trying desperately to fall asleep, but the knowledge of their presence on the floor made it impossible. Finally, she gave up, throwing the blankets off in a huff.
“Will you guys just come up here already, I can’t sleep with you on the floor.” There was a long silence before Jayce finally answered.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hazel.” His voice was quiet but serious in the velvet dark.
“Well, I won’t be able to sleep, so just get in bed, okay?” She paused for a moment, a teasing smile playing on her lips that she knew they felt even if they couldn’t see it. “I promise to keep my wandering hands to myself. Scouts honor.”
Nika barked out a choked laugh. “I don’t think that’s what he’s worried about, little witch.”
“Please, I need sleep. I’m exhausted and I can’t do that if I know you’re having to sleep on that hard floor. So, just do it, okay? For me?” She added, the last ounce of pressure they needed to have them standing and reluctantly crawling into bed with her. It was a king sized mattress, but even still they took up so much room she felt dwarfed laying there next to them.
They lay there in silence and Hazel just listened to the heavy sound of their breathing.
“Good night.” She whispered softly
“Good night.”
“Good night, Hazel. Go to sleep.” Came the muted replies. She smiled sweetly into the dark, finally at peace and able to drift off into a well needed slumber. Jayce and Nika were both awake for much longer.
This time, when the nightmare came, it was so, so much worse. No fiery figures or floods of tears greeted her in the night. She was in her house, her grandmother’s house, but everything was wrong. None of the corners met up and it made her nauseous just to try, let alone take a step in the dizzying construction.
It was dark outside, and she could hear beasts howling just outside the house, scratching at the walls, searching for any way in. Somehow she knew if they did it would be the end of her. It would all be over. She wanted to scream but no sound came out, just a choked grunt that had her grasping her hands to her throat in fear. But she immediately pulled them away as she felt the vicious claws at her neck.
Hazel stared down in horror at the crooked, talon tipped, razor sharp claws that had replaced her own normal hands. Again, she opened her mouth to scream but only a shrieking howl emerged, piercing her ears and making her skin crawl at the noise.
The creatures outside answered in a frenzy, growling louder and louder, making her skin itch uncomfortably at the hateful glee of the sound. Hazel turned, desperate to flee, but couldn’t move at all. She looked down, fear and dread like she’d never known flooding her body as her gaze landed on a pair of crooked, hair covered limbs, like the hind legs of some nightmare creature, twisted and half formed.
“Please. Please, help me! Someone, help!” She tried to cry out, but only jumbled growls came out, and the beasts circling outside answered once more. A malicious laugh rang through the house that wasn’t her home, tuning her blood to ice in her veins as she searched blindly for the source.
But all Hazel could see was the darkness. Darkness and pain and her own hideous reflection staring back of herself over and over, screaming in agony and then the screams would turn into the laughing, morphing in the darkness and starting all over again.