Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 261: Nightmare came true.

Kael.

I woke up with a start, panting like I had just run several miles and shaking like I was having a seizure.

My clothes stuck to my skin in places that I felt were uncomfortable due to my pouring sweat, and my limbs trembled as I made my way out of bed and slipped out of my room.

The hall was quiet as I made my way through the house to the kitchen whilst basking in the goodness that was the chill of the night.

But did I feel as good as I would whenever I was having a night walk?

No.

Of course not.

Because I had just had a nightmare and this was the third time this week; which also meant that it was quite becoming too frequent now and I found that very frightening.

Would you however like to know what my dreams were always about? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

No, I guess not. But I’ll tell you anyway...

It was about Leilani! Freaking Leilani!

It was always about her and it was crazy because she infuriatingly doesn’t want to have anything to do with me!

Every night before going to bed, I couldn’t help but think about her, her scent, her face... her long silvery hair. Goddess, I couldn’t help but pray fervently for her safety— even though I was not a saint that would usually pray.

But despite this, what I was met with every night was never her smiling face.

She was never happy or healthy or living freely whenever I dreamt of her. She was always in pain. In anguish. Bleeding. Or. Dying.

Goddess, only a few minutes ago, I’d literally held her tiny frame in my arms while she bled to her death, her cold trembling fingers smearing thick blood on my cheeks as she whispered the words; "Let me go," to my face.

I had been reluctant to let go, scared that if I did, then I would be losing her forever— and I wasn’t ready for that. But my cries, my screams did nothing to save her. Even my worthless attempts at resuscitating her had been fruitless.

I could still remember how pale she had looked. How shriveled her skin had appeared. Her blood had stained the snow a deep red, it was almost black; and I could also remember the sound of her heartbeat and how it had come to a stuttering stop.

"Can’t sleep?" A voice called out from the shadows, snapping me out of my thoughts which made me jump in shock.

I turned swiftly to the sound, my eyebrows lifting into my hairline when I saw Zevran hunched over the kitchen cabinet, his fingers wrapped around a glass containing whisky— the perfect depiction of a man who has lost his sleep.

When our eyes met, I noticed the worry creasing his features and the way he seemed as though he was deep in thoughts.

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest, my voice detached as I answered; "Yes," I said, "I couldn’t sleep. What about you?"

At my words, he dropped his gaze and tilted his head backward to down the contents of his glass. "Same here." He drawled,

"Why?"

"Nightmares."

That singular word had my ears perking up. It had me leaning forward even before I could stop myself. My heart began to race for no just reason and my arms, once wrapped around each other, dropped as I rasped out through suddenly dry lips;

"Nightmares?"

"Yes," he answered without looking up. "I’ve been having them for days now, but today’s own... today’s own is a bit different. It felt a little too intense..."

"And then you decided to come and clear your head." I finished, not missing the way his shoulders slumped before he turned away from me.

"Yes."

"Did it help?" I continued, looking for an avenue to make myself feel slightly better, even though it meant interrogating him until I found out if we’re being plagued by the same demons.

His eyes couldn’t meet mine as he sighed dramatically, his shoulders slumping once more as he said; "No, I in fact feel worse."

"What was it about?" I asked and at my words, he stopped to stare at me, his face a mask of sheer worry.

He didn’t respond to me for what felt like forever and as the seconds ticked by and I soon began to feel the beginnings of desolation creeping up on me, he asked; "Why are you out, brother?"

"For the same reason you’re out." I answered, not looking at his face.

Instead, I busied myself with pouring myself a glass of red wine— red wine which coincidentally looked like blood the more I looked at it.

I tried to bring it up to my lips but upon the memory of seeing Leilani’s flushed face, gasping for air, with the same shade of red in my glass on her neck, my hands trembled and the cup slipped free, falling to the floor where it shattered into a million tiny pieces.

"Kael?" Zevran hissed through gritted teeth, his eyes flashing wildly as he came to stand beside me.

For a moment, I couldn’t bring myself to look at the floor so I looked at him instead, not missing the way his face went from frustrated and confused to mortified and scared.

He took a step back as if wanting to be as far away from the red stain on the floor as possible, and then—

"Oh shit shit shit!" he cursed under his breath, "why does this look so much like blood?"

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t bring myself to.

When he turned to look at me again, I noticed the way his eyebrows shot up, then he spat; "What is the reason you’re out right now?"

"I had a nightmare." I hissed, not bothering to hide it anymore. "I dreamt of Leilani dying..."

"In your arms."

"In my arms..."

We said simultaneously and stopped to look at each other, my heart pounding in my chest when the realization began to dawn on me that it may have not just been a dream but a vision.

A vision of what may come to be...

"That was the same dream you had?" I asked tentatively, feeling my heart drop to my stomach the moment he nodded.

Then I took a step back, hating the way panic slammed into my chest like an incoming freight train.

"For how long have you been experiencing these nightmares?" I asked slowly, hoping... praying that it shouldn’t be what I was thinking.

"For a couple of days now... a week? Maybe more," he answered icily, his frown deepening as he took a step away from me.

And goddess, he didn’t have to say anything else because I could clearly see the things he was not talking about in his eyes.

I could see his fear... his pain... the regret.

Oh bloody goddess, no!

Whatever happened after that moment, I could not remember as I could barely move or breathe or hear a sound besides the loud thumping of my heart in my chest.

The silence echoed louder than any music could and my body trembled so much I could barely stand.

I vaguely heard Zevran talking to me before he began to shake me awake, and the last thing I heard him say before I turned away was; "Hey, hey, look at me! Talk to me! Brother!"

But I didn’t respond. I couldn’t.

All I could think about was Leilani. All I could worry about was how we’d both managed to have the same dreams. And that wasn’t the only problem here... it was the fact that I’ve been having that same dream for days now.

Zevran shook me again and this time, when I turned to look at him, I could hear his words very clearly. He said; "What is the matter?"

"Leilani..." I rasped out, "Leilani is the fucking matter!"

And with that, I dashed out of the kitchen, staggered to the living room where I picked up my car keys, and without a care that I was underdressed, I stumbled out of the house and made my way to my car while screaming at the security guards to open the gates.

I do not know for how long I drove, all I knew was that by the time I finally came to, I was panting and sweating profusely. My ashen hands gripped the steering wheel a little too tightly and my hair, damp from sweat clung to my forehead like a stamp.

I pushed the car’s door open and stepped out, taking in the quiet neighborhood that was Leilani’s.

From here, I could see that her car was parked outside, meaning that she was in. Her lights too were still on, but that was not the only thing I could notice coming from her house.

There were screams.

Agonizing screams.

And I froze in place from fright when the memories of my nightmare began to flash across my mind.