in her dreams she could be happy. in her dreams she could live out the life she wanted to. everything so perfect...everything so right.
and yet...those dreams seldom came.
always was sleep a nightly descent into hell. always were they there. staring. watching. clutching, gripping, scratching, tearing. screaming.
she couldn't escape them, the horrors and the ghosts. she tried.
she tried.
they chased her, they infected her thoughts. they were inside of her head. they were inside.
"go away!" she shouted at them, eyes fraught with terror and tinged with tears. "go away!"
they drew closer - blood dripped freely from some, others smoked as if they smoldered perpetually, and still others bled by way of their tears, wailing a song of betrayal.
"go AWAY!" the scream hurt her throat. they drew closer, they seized upon her - they would shred her. she thrashed about, screaming and screaming...
eyes snapped open. darkness. someone was yelling.
she realized it was herself. slowly she came to a rest; half of the sheets of her bed were on the floor, and the remainder were tangled about her. a cold sweat was upon her forehead, and she breathed heavily. the torment of her dream still clung to the edges of her mind and tugged at the muscles in her chest.
she sat up slowly. a shaking hand found the switch for the light.
click.
he sat, silent, in the chair opposite the bed, legs crossed and arms folded, watching.
he watched her.