Part Fifty

Adara’s nightmares were getting better, in the sense that at first, she got them two or three times a night. She would scream herself awake, literally feeling Ramos on top of her, but Kiran would be there in an instant, beside her. He always sat with her until she fell asleep again.

The first time it happened, she asked him to leave her room immediately. The sight of him in the dark reminded her too much of Ramos just entering her room. After a while though, she stopped fighting him, and allowed him to sit in the chair until she was sleeping.

Later on, his presence made her feel safe, and she became dependent on him sitting there to fall asleep again. Now, her nightmares were less frequent and she tried to force herself not to think of them.

She wondered sometimes if Juniper was worried about her or wondered where she had gone, but the woman probably didn’t. Adara laughed at herself for even entertaining the idea. She had done nothing but abuse and demean her.

On Monday morning, Adara