Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 152: Childhood Nightmare

Being exhausted already, Belle didn’t fight the sleep that claimed her in its warmth, but it wasn’t the peaceful rest she had hoped for. Instead, she was greeted by her childhood’s worst nightmare, one she thought would never come back to haunt her again.

She hadn’t had it in a long time.

She found herself back inside that carriage with her mother and baby sister. The horror came rushing back, the fear, the pain, as the vampire yanked her out of the carriage by the neck and dragged her into the forest.

She cried silently in her sleep, warm blood trailing down her face, her eyes and mouth. She could taste the strong iron taste in her tongue even though she knew it was just a dream. She could feel the terror in her bones and heart.

Belle had never known what truly happened after she was taken into the forest. Her memories had always cut off there. But this time, in the dream, a missing piece came back, something she had never remembered before.

The vampire who clutched her neck leaned in and licked at the blood dripping down her face with his hoarse tongue. His face turned all the more hideous, and his red eyes darkened with a savage hunger at the taste of her blood.

Repulsion and rage consumed Belle.

Though she was still that little girl in the nightmare, something felt different, her older self, the one reliving the horror in her sleep, felt the emotions now: the rage, the disgust, and the overwhelming urge to fight back and avenge herself by hurting the vampire like he had hurt her and ruined her childhood.

She hated this particular creature. Hated what he had done to her. She wouldn’t be the unfavored, scarred daughter if he hadn’t attacked her family’s carriage along with his other savage friends.

His grotesque face was being carved deeper into the memories she was slowly beginning to recall.

She watched as the vampire leaned closer, mouth opening wide as if to devour her whole, but then he stopped. His jaws slowly closed as her teary eyes met his, something in her gaze catching his attention, causing him to turn his head sideways in a gesture she found awfully familiar.

"Scared..." The vampire muttered with a hoarse voice that sounded like it was choked in his throat. "Hungry...eat you."

"Don’t eat me... Don’t eat me..." the little girl cried, and for some reason, the vampire dropped her to the ground. Before she could regain the strength to run, another savage-looking vampire grabbed her by the neck. But then, the first vampire attacked the second one.

They began to fight.

Bleeding and weak, her vision blurring, the little girl managed to get to her feet and tried to run back to her mother before the monsters could reach her again.

She stumbled and crawled on her hands and knees. But she hadn’t gone far before she was yanked back and jerked into the air by that same vampire who had first dropped her.

Fear gripped her heart. She kicked and flailed, trying to break free.

"You can’t run. Food, hungry." The vampire laughed, the sound sending chills down her spine and causing her skin to crawl in utter disgust.

"No! Let go of me!!" Belle cried in her sleep, her voice trembling with fear, just before she jerked awake from the terrifying nightmare.

Her eyes snapped open, and right in front of her was the face of that same hideous vampire from her dream, the one who had scarred her soul and haunted her childhood. She had never slept peacefully once in her life as a child after that incident.

A strangled scream tore from her throat as she scrambled back in panic, her heart slamming in her chest.

For one horrifying moment, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think—he had come out of her nightmare to kill her. That was the only thought consuming her mind, until she heard the familiar voice.

"Calm down, Isa. It’s me. You’re safe. It was just a bad dream," Rohan whispered into her ear as he pulled her into his arms.

At the sound of his voice, Belle froze. Her breathing hitched as she slowly pulled back, her body trembling. fгeewebnovёl.com

She looked up at his face and saw Rohan. Not the monster who had scarred her little heart many years ago, not the creature that had ruined both her childhood and her womanhood in Aragonia and made her lose many things.

It was him. Just him. Her husband.

She relaxed then and let him hold her.

"Rohan..." she whispered his name and clutched him like a lifeline. "I saw his face... he’s disgusting. I hate him, don’t let him get me." She whimpered into his chest where her head was buried.

Now she realized why she had always hated vampires in the past. It was because of this particular one, but not remembering his disgusting face, she had directed her hate to all his kind. Now, seeing and recalling it, she knew that even though she had found a man who did not make her feel ugly with her scar, she still would never forgive him for all the pain he had made her carry as a child.

All the neglect she had suffered, the hate and curses directed at her by people for what he did to her—she would never forgive it. And if she had the power, she would avenge herself to make peace with that incident.

She felt her husband’s arms tighten around her as he whispered reassuring words into her ear, coaxing her back to sleep. Her lids suddenly felt heavy that she couldn’t keep them open.

Her eyelids dropped, and she drifted off once more—this time, into a dreamless sleep.

By dawn, Belle was awakened by Rohan’s movement beside her. He was sitting with his back to her, his coat draped over her body. She belatedly remembered him using it last night to drive away the mosquitoes that had been disturbing her sleep before she finally drifted off.

Everything that had happened, the nightmare and whatever followed, now felt distant in her mind.

It was as if it had never happened at all.

As if she had only imagined waking up, trembling with fear.

Afraid that the hideous creature from her nightmare had come to hurt her again.

Sometimes, no matter how much someone think they have overcome a certain horror, it’s never truly over.

It’s just that they have forgotten the feeling.

Until the moment they are faced with it again—

And reminded why it was their worst fear.

She shuddered at the flash of the hideous face, then pushed it from her mind entirely and focused instead on the beautiful morning.

She could hear birds singing high up in the trees, and the sky above was a purplish-gray. She stared at the canopy of leaves for a moment before her eyes moved back to her husband, who was crouched in front of her, tending to the fire he had made the night before.

Knowing she would have to return to her group again, Belle sat up and boldly slipped her arms around Rohan’s midsection from behind.

"Good morning," she whispered to him.

His hand froze mid-motion, rubbing the burning log against the grass to put out the fire, as he felt her arms wrap around him.

"Did you sleep well?" he finally asked after a moment, touching her hands gently with his gloved one.

"Better than I thought..." she murmured. "And you?"

He hadn’t slept. He’d kept watch through the night, not knowing what, or who, might creep up on them. And he hadn’t forgotten how she’d woken up in the middle of the night, startled and crying, her eyes filled with terror when they first met his. It was a look he knew too well, and despised seeing on her face.

He had held her until she drifted back to sleep, never letting the mosquitoes have a taste of the blood even he had refused to touch, despite how his thirst had burned through the night. He’d driven them away for her sake, so she could sleep in peace.

"It wasn’t bad," he replied.

He felt her hum softly, and then she rested her head against his back for a quiet moment before stepping away.

"Rohan, I want to ask you something," she said, causing his eyes to narrow at the smoke swirling from the logs he had put out.

"What is it?" came his reply, though his muscles had turned tense, thinking she might bring up her nightmare.

"It’s about Lady Clifton. Do you think she’s a nice person? You can tell good and bad, so, is she bad?" she questioned curiously.

Rohan sighed softly, then turned his head over his shoulder to look at her as he said, "Everyone has good and bad in them, Isa. No person is entirely good. But if you’re asking whether she has bad intentions towards you, the answer is no. I did not sense it in her when she passed by me yesterday morning. But..."

He paused turning to her with a small frown, "That doesn’t mean you should give or place your trust entirely. People can’t be trusted entirely. Always stand on the sidelines and watch what happens within the line. The heart can change so does a person in a blink of an eye." He flicked his fingers for emphasis.

"Do you want to be friends with her?" Came his question, his head crooking to the side as he studied her.

Belle pursed her lips. "You seem to study people closely, and most times, you’re right about them. I just... I don’t want to be blindsided again. That’s why I’m asking."

Rohan nodded his head.

"I guess it’s time I return to the rest," she said.

"I’ll walk you there." Rohan rose to his feet and extended a hand to her. When she placed hers in his, he pulled her up with ease.

He never asked about what she had dreamt or what memories were returning to her, he didn’t want to push it, nor did he look forward to facing it when she finally remembered the whole thing.