Chapter Forty-Five

I didn’t feel afraid this time. Every time the images of my nightmares returned, they were pushed back by my day with Nina. I stuck to the images of her smile, the sound of her laugh, the little movement she made when she was thinking. They swirled around my head, dragging me around and pulling me in every direction. They guided me through the night, protecting me for anything that would hurt me, and reaffirming what I had been hearing since I woke up the very first time.

I opened my eyes and sat up, looking around at my surroundings. Everything looked familiar now. I recognized the little stains on each bookshelf, and how many each one had. I looked at the table in front of me, and how it made sense to put in that location. I felt the couch around me, dirty as the first time I saw it, but now a sanctuary of warm emotions. I smiled as I thought about the time I spent here, and how fortunate I was to experience this. My thoughts drifted to the wonderful things I experienced with Nina, and all the words we shared. As I tried to remember all of them, I felt little sharp pains in my head. A large black cloud began circling around to remind me of what happened and what I did to get here. I heard the phrases that I thought I had drowned out.

“Your fault. You deserved this.”

I saw the images of Dawn standing over me, sledgehammer in hand and a wicked smile on her face.

“Your fault. You deserved this.”

She wouldn’t leave me. I wanted to run away but my legs were frozen. The world around me was dark, hiding everything else. Dawn stood in front of me

“I told you, didn’t I? You won’t get anything anymore!” She swung the sledgehammer to my head, laughing the exact same way she did the first time. I closed my eyes put my hands on my head, waiting for her to end what I had built all over again.