chapter 5 : nightmares

* 3 years ago *

She has been following Matthew for over an hour and she was getting annoyed by this point, not knowing where he was taking her.

But still, she had this feeling that this was not going to be something bad, even though she should feel the opposite.

I mean, in nine out of ten instances what was the possibility of coming out alive if you blindly follow a stranger you just met four hours ago?

Maybe this was meant to be and Matthew's sudden appearance was to serve a purpose in her life, she thought to herself. It feels weird calling him Matt, she would rather call him by his full name.

She heaves out a tired sigh and stops following him. "Where are you taking me?" She asks him exasperated.

He notices that she had stopped following after him like a headless chicken and has been standing still for over a minute. He turns around and smiles sheepishly at her.

How oblivious to his surroundings was he? she think and scoff at the irony. She was pretty sure he said something pretty similar to this not so long ago.

Hypocrite. She thought.

"We are going to where I live." He replies, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and she shoots him a blank face.

"Where do you live genius?" She asks him sarcastically and he replies glancing around at their surroundings.

"Among humans but you can find some lone wolves here and there." she nods her head at his reply. At least she wouldn't have to face another bat shit crazy rogue.

Thank god, she would only have to face some lone wolves and not a pack or even worse rogues. She shudders thinking about her almost death experience on meeting one.

"Come on, it's only like ten minutes away." He says and starts walking towards wherever we he is taking her, and she follows him wordlessly.

They walk for about a few more minutes before Matthew stops walking causing her to almost run into his back. Thank goodness for werewolf senses.

She steps towards the side and gapes at the building in front of her. She thought he might take her to some dingy apartment or even a cheap motel, but this...she wasn't expecting this.

It wasn't a motel or a dingy apartment

infact it was a condo. It was beautiful from the outside and she was sure it would be even more beautiful on the inside.

He led her inside and she was not disappointed at all by the interior. It was very luxurious but had a homey feeling to it. It had wood finishing and was modern looking.

The furnishings added to the beauty and every detail was carefully selected and quality crafted. There were four bedrooms, each with a bi-level balcony overlooking the forest.

There was a kitchen with modern supplies and utensils, a living room with plush carpeting and a comfy looking couch and let's not forget a home theater and swimming pool. Is this heaven?.

When Matt showed her, her room, she was delighted to find that it was furnished in het favorite color, royal blue. The walls were a deep blue and had the wallpaper of waves depicting the ocean. It had a soft white rug on the floor which was so soft she could sleep there in that exact moment.

The pillows on the bed were of a mixture of light turquoise blue, baby blue, dark blue and white with a zig-zag pattern. Do not get her started about the bed. It was soft and comfy.

She turned towards Matt, "You haven't robbed a bank or something have you?" She asks him suspiciously.

His eyes widen as if his secret was out "oh my God, who told you that? Damn it, I was starting to like you. Now that you know my secret I have to kill you now" he says nonchalantly making her eyes widen at his last words.

Scared for her life she takes a few step back, trying to be discrete when Matthew suddenly starts laughing like a lunatic, with a hand placed in his knee while he chuckled for a few minutes or so.

"Oh My God, it's always the good looking ones that are bat shit crazy" she mumbles out, now worried for his sanity and her life both.

"Hey" he exclaims, apparently hearing her words.

"I'm not crazy"

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT A CRAZY PERSON WOULD SAY" she retorts back.

He scrunches his face up as if thinking something hard, then looks at her after a few moments.

"Ehhh, you know what you're right" he says, pausing a bit "but you should've seen your face when I said that I would've to kill you" he looks smug now, grinning like a fool.

"Wha- you were joking?" she looks at him stumped.

He shoots her an offended look.

"Hell yeah, I'm not some petty criminal."

'Could've fooled me' she thinks to herself.

"But really, this is a cool place you got here" she looks around at the apartment.

"Yeah"

She turns towards him, all the while beaming at him, and says "Thank you and I love it." He smiles and nods his head in reply.

*After 2 months *

*(Dream) *

"You use-less bitch!" He spits out while holding her down like she was a rag doll. Punches are delivered and his pointy claws have left scars all over her body.

Now that he was done with her for the day, he picks her up and flings her across the room like she was nothing but a used-up doll.

she tries to sit up knowing fully well that she might have broken a rib or two, her thoughts are confirmed when the broken ribs rub together making her scream out in pain. Tears stream down her face mixed with her crimson blood, she gives up.

She looks up at him through hazy and tear-filled eyes, which match his dark hazel brown that are filled with hatred and malice. It feels like she was staring at death himself. There is a sadistic gleam in his eyes, knowing full well that he is the cause of her pain. He loves seeing people in pain, especially her. his own blood.

He steps towards where she was crumpled up on the floor and with a final kick to her ribs, he pushes the door open and leaves her alone for the day. She drags herself towards her window and tries to sit up on the small sitting area near the window.

Finally when she climbs up, she looks out the window. One by one the stars wink down at her, the pain is too much to bear and the darkness surrounds and wraps her in it like a cocoon. she no longer cared.

It has been a few minutes since she has been sitting there by herself. While looking out into the dark wilderness that is spread before her outside the window, she did not hear anyone entering the room but suddenly she felt someone grab her wrist and hold them tight.

*(Dream ends) *

She wakes up with a start and she hears someone screaming and it takes her a second to realize it was she who was screaming.

Matthew was holding her down by pinning her hands down onto the bed and stopping her struggle effectively. She relaxes knowing that it was not him and that she was safe.

She opens her eyes and meets his concerned eyes; she sits up and hugs him and he lets her. His hands rub up and down her back in a soothing manner and in between whispering things like 'it's okay' and ' I'm here'.

She calms down after a little bit and pull back from his hold. her eyes cast downwards towards where her blanket pooled around her form and it was damp due to her sweat causing her to cringe.

After a long silence, he opens his mouth and asks, "Do you want to talk about it?" she shakes her head sideways indicating no. He understands that it was not something she wanted to talk about right now, so he does not push her to answer.

"It's getting late, you should try to sleep." He says. Panic arises in her knowing that she could not sleep alone anymore. The nightmares that she had pushed to the back of her mind have resurfaced.

"Can you sleep with me?" She asks him and instantly flush red realizing the double meaning it may had conveyed.

He chuckles lightly seeing her blush and replies. "Okay." he says and climbs into the bed. She scoots over to make space for him.

This time she fell asleep peacefully.

*After 6 months*

She felt guilty not informing Courtney about her where abouts and she reminds herself to call her later.

It has been almost eight months since she has been staying with Matthew and to even say that life had been good would be an understatement. It was blissful.

Matt and she had gotten to know more about each other. she knew she liked him and he liked her too, so they had decided to try dating each other. It was almost like falling for someone all over again. Cue word 'almost'.

She was sure that with time that it would happen.

She had not even thought about Damien and Emily once this past few months. She guessed it had something to do with Matthew and his crazy antics. She spend most of her time with him.

He had been like her own support system. An anchor keeping her from sinking deeper into the depths of the terrorizing currents of the ocean that has been her life.

She has nightmares occasionally where she wakes up and finds Matthew holding her hands down, to stop her from clawing and hurting herself.

He only lets go after making sure that she will not harm herself and afterwards he lays down next to her. He never asked her what the nightmares were about, and she respected him for that, but he knows that it is not anything connected to Damien but something else.

Something more sinister.