All Chapters of Shadows & Whispers: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

“Damian!” Prue screamed at me.My eyes were blurred but I could see her in front of me. She grabbed my hands and held them tight.“Damian, I need you to breathe with me.” She instructed me.I couldn’t concentrate. My chest felt so tight.“In.” Prue instructed.I watched as she took a deep breath and wanted me to follow her. I tried to breathe in, but it hurt.“Out.” She instructed me again.I followed her and slowly my chest began to feel better. I felt more grounded, but it didn’t stop the pain of my emotions.“What the hell just happened?” I asked.“You were having a panic attack. What the hell caused that?” She asked.“Erin ended it.” My voice cracked as I said the words out loud.“Seriously? Wow. I never thought she would choose her career with how she spoke of you.”“She said she wanted me, I don’t understand.”I searched my memory, asking myself if there was something else, I could have said. Or something else that I could have done. Prue pulled me up onto my feet. I wobbled as

I rested my head that night hoping that sleep would come easy. Breathing in deeply, one, two, three. Breathing out, one, two, three. There was no counting sheep, listening to music, or finding another remedy to make sleep come. The exhaustion from my emotions dragged me away into the darkness easily. I closed my heavy eyes as my subconscious took over. The dark abyss appeared around me. Pure darkness with no escape. I wasn't falling, instead standing on the water but never being wet. I heard the ticking of the clock. Tick, tick, tick. Panic was rising. I had no idea what the ticking was or where it was coming from, but something deep inside me knew it was not good. I felt like it signaled the end. But the end of what was unclear. I searched the abyss and found nothing. Fear overwhelmed me; images started to appear one by one. Cleo, Prue, work, mum, and the last was Damian. Each disappeared as if they were smoke. Whisps filled the air and dissipated one at a time until there was only

I awoke, shivering like it was all real. I wrapped myself as tightly as possible in the quilt. My knees curled into my chest as tears fell from my eyes. I had the perfect family, a love that I always wished would be real, and it disappeared in my hands. Stretching out a while later as my body warmed through, inch by inch. I reached out and checked the time; it was late in the morning. The dream had taken time, I never expected it. It had been so long since I slept late. At nearly 11am, I was shocked. I struggled with the dreams. The cold, bitterness. The warmth, and love. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was the option of my future. Two options, one for each path in front of me. If I accepted the risk and chose Damian for everything that I ever wanted, could that lead to the perfect family, perfect love, and perfect future? If I chose to stick to my current decision, would it lead to cold, emptiness of the future? I knew I would love again, of course I would find love somewhe

My alarm was sounding at 6am on Tuesday morning. Sleep alluded me for most of the night. I had prepared my bag to the best of my ability the night before and laid out my clothes for the day also. I dressed and grabbed some toast before messaging Damian to tell him I was ready. It was the first time I had opened his name on my screen since I had phoned him to call things off. I was hovering over his name for so long, lost in my own thoughts that when the knock at the door came, I jumped. I headed to the door, knowing it was him, but still somehow surprised to see him standing there in front of me. I grabbed my bag and locked up the house. My stomach was churning with nerves as I got into his car. He placed my bag into the boot before getting in. The engine started and we were away. I spent the first part staring out of the window watching the world go by until we were on the motorway. He hit the cruise control and turned up the radio a little.It was then that I noticed on the co

We fell into a peaceful silence. My stomach grumbled right on cue just as Damian pulled out a lunch box from his bag. He offered me a sandwich. “You were well prepared.” I smiled. “I wasn’t sure what facilities they had here so I prepared food in case we couldn’t get any.” “A work picnic?” I laughed. “Hm, I guess so.” I took the sandwich and took a bite, gratefully. We ate and finished our work. His hand brushed mine from time to time in passing. My knee, as requested, kept placed next to his. Paul reappeared around 2pm to start running us through their software. We were given access to their server and software. The afternoon flew by looking at the software and how it worked. It seemed seamless. It was definitely better seeing it live than in test mode. I could see the benefits of the system but also the flaws for our work. It did need some development to match our jobs better. “How about we get you to sit with the developers tomorrow and meet the team and discuss the changes