5

Amara stared at the darkness in front of her–that was all but stained with blood. Her nostrils scrunched holding back the urge to vomit. But the nasty and stale smell was forgotten in an instant when something shuffled behind her.

Panicked, she turn around in a blur, her eyes huge and watering. Hands shook as she clutched her sides with a desperate need to get away from this horrific room. Her breathing became more unstable when she realise there was nothing behind her, but a small crack through which a beam of light was coming from.

She swallowed the anxiousness and took an involuntary step towards the source of brightness, heart beating like crazy and senses all jumbled up. The silence engulfed. Sweat tickled down her back and forehead as she clutched onto the little hope of safety.

As she moved closer, the light become more visible making she let out a relieved sigh. But it was short-lived as you felt something wet beneath her feet all of sudden. Panic was soon to seize her and she let out a blood-curdling scream momentarily slipping on the floor landing on her knees. The impact had her screaming and crying feeling something wet and slippery crawling up her leg.

"Help!" She tried to crawl but the thing just hold her down. The source of light slowly started to fade making her cry even more. "Somebody! Help!"

Her cries went in vain as the slimy thing crawled up her leg. Her hands flared as her nails dug into the floor and she wailed louder. Suddenly she heard a light laughter coming from behind. Knowing there was another presence, she started to struggle more anticipating the old new devil. The darkness moulded into a silhouette in front of a man, tall and hidden by the shadows.

A scream escaped her mouth when her eyes landed on his eyes sparking with red crimson colour. The room around her started to feel claustrophobic and started to decrease in size as he walked closer to her.

Amara panted as she strangled to scramble away but before she could move an inch, an unknown force shackled her limbs to the floor, her teary eyes blurred and panic gripped her hard making your breathing shallow. The man neared her and his hellish fiery eyes scared her. She watched him as he crouched over her unmoving frame.

His hand raised in the air and she flinched as he placed his hand on her cheek a chill ran down her spine, and the room suddenly become colder and dark. She couldn't see his face but she could feel his breath fanning her skin. And it both disgusted and scared her. His cold fingers ran down to the curve of her jaw as he took his time caressing there.

A mocking chuckle left his mouth as he shifted his fingers to her lips, gently parting your lips as he rubbed her bottom lip with his thumb making her shut her eyes in anticipation. She prayed for any higher power to save her. He withdrew his hand, and she sighed with relief but it was short-lived for he swiftly wrapped his hand around her throat.

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened as he smiled and looked down before pressing harder on her windpipe as she struggled and he kept looking at her like a fascinating little toy with his tilted head. She felt his claws digging into her flesh, drawing out blood but he didn't stop and applied more pressure as he chuckled and mumbled sending chills down her spine.

"Welcome to hell, sweetheart." Her face turned red and blue and darkness started dancing in her eyes and the last thing she remembered was his smile and dark eyes mocking her.

Amara woke up with a loud scream. Sweat trickled down her spine as she panted. Eyes wide opened as she frantically looked around with scared eyes. The ability to process anything leaving her complete, the nightmare felt too real. Instinctively her hands moved to her neck as she inspected it. There was no pain, but she couldn't shake away the feeling of paranoia. She shook her head as tears streamed down her face. He was here. He was here. Her eyes looked around for any sign of danger but she couldn't focus.

She needed to hide dreading the man. Panic gripped her and she immediately swung her legs to the side before a pair of strong hands gripped her forearms.

"Amara!" A very familiar voice rang in her ears but her head was too messed up to recognise it. Her body reacted impulsively and she thrashed kicking her legs and flaring her arms.

"Leave me! No!" The hands loosened their grip for a small second and she felt relieved trying to move away but instead strong muscular arms were wrapped around her waist as she was crushed in a warm embrace. The warmth seeped through her cold body but it was not enough to calm her down. All she could hear was mocking laughs, feel the cold hands on her body, eyed bloodshot red crawling up her spine.

Rhys tried to be gentle with her keeping his hold on her, but the more she thrashed, his grip solidified.

When she refused to calm down, he gritted his teeth and tightened his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly to his chest. His free hand raised as he patted her head and hushed her.

His heart beating loudly along with hers for different reasons. Close. Too close. Close enough to touch his soul. Rhys swallowed hard, the way her body felt against his was both euphoric and…wrong.

"Calm down," his soothing voice did something to her. The tears falling continuously.

"I-It will kill me! T-the nails! T-the blood-I have to go-" she cried into his chest as he kept rubbing her back. Rhys clenched his jaw tight. He hoped it was really something that hurt her so that he could at least kill it, but her nightmares, he couldn’t see her this way. She looked like a fragile child haunted by the demons lurking underneath the bed.

Fifteen years. And she still had that same affect on him. This feeling, it was resurfacing. The feeling he buried two years ago.

She trembled in his arms and his body trembled with hers. He tried to focus on anything—chillies with chocolate, onions with cake, pizza with pineapple. World without her….

He couldn't see her like this. Every time he saw her like this, he just couldn't help but feel the carnal desire to kill every tormentor of hers. His fists unknowingly clenched.

"Shh....calm down. You're safe, everything's alright. No one can hurt you." Her body was shaking in his arms. When her sobs died down a bit, he pulled away and placed both of his hands on either side of her face and made her face him. His heart squeezed seeing her red cheeks and nose and bloodshot eyes filled with fear and trauma. Shaking away the feeling, he looked into her eyes.

"Look at me," his gentle voice wrapped around her like clouds. Soft and light. Almost hypnotising. And she obeyed. But she couldn't shake away the images in her head. She shook her head and felt her eyes tingling with more tears.

"The blood, the cries-" Rhys placed his finger on her lips. "Shhh," he whispered, his touch soothing against her trembling lips.

"Look in my eyes," he gently said and she looked into the warm grey pools of his. Warm as the sun and deep as oceans. There were so many emotions replenishing those swarthy orbs of his. She couldn't discern them, but they were a mixture of outrage, care, tenderness and familiarity. Her body unknowingly relaxed and she forgot everything around her for a moment. He was right. It was just a bad dream then why did it still affected her.

Rhys held her gaze and caressed her right cheek with his knuckles as she unwind under his touch. The room seemed to fade away as her focus narrowed solely on Rhys. Every worry, every ounce of anxiety, melted away as she surrendered to the comfort of his touch.

"Who am I, Amara?" He asked his eyes moving low to her drenched cheeks.

"R-Rhys-"

"I'm your knight, Amara. No one in this world can touch you. You are safe with me," Rhys whispered, his voice soothing and filled with conviction. His words stirred something ugly inside her. And she felt like a burden to him. No matter how much he cared for her, she was just a burden to him. As the situation was leading out and reality was settling on her, she realised he was wearing his business suit and his hair looked perfectly styled. He must be going to work-

Shit.

Her cheeks immediately flared with embarrassment when she realised she was still in his arms and pulled away before turning around. She scolded herself for being so weak and helpless all the time.

Rhys frowned at the lack of her warmth.

"I-I'm fine..." she said. Rhys could see her contemplating, he knew what was running in her head. He could read her like an open book. The way she hide her face whenever she feel embarrassed, how the tips of her nose and ears turn into an adorable shade of pink in situations like this, the tensed posture of her back, a cute little frown on her forehead and clenching of fists whenever she think hard.

He wanted to console her more but decided against it. He watched curiously as she timidly got inside the sheets and covered her face with them. He could sense her vulnerability, her need for comfort. Gently, he moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed, respecting her boundaries while making his presence known. He leaned forward slightly, his voice filled with empathy as he softly said, "I'm right here with you, whenever you're ready to talk.” As he spoke, she peeked out from beneath the covers, her eyes moist and filled with a mixture of sadness and relief.

She reached out a trembling hand towards him, her fingers brushing against the warmth of his reassuring presence. “Thank you.”

It was the nth time she thanked him, yet this time, Rhys enjoyed the sensation it gave him. A warm smile spread across his face as he gently clasped her quivering hand in his. “I will send someone with breakfast. Martha will help you freshen up.”