He hesitates again and then finally answers. “No, no. Well, night, Roxanne.”
“Goodnight.”
I think he’s waiting to hear what I’m going to call him, and he blows out a long breath before heading upstairs.
I didn’t realizeI had fallen asleep again until I hear the first cry. At least, I think that’s what I hear. The ticking of the clock on the shelf is the only sound for a moment until a scream shatters the silence from upstairs.
Duke.
I sprint up the stairs, my heart thudding in my ears. Jameson barks and trots over to me when I open the door. He jumps up on me as if to say he’s glad I’m here.
Duke is thrashing in the sheets, his face slick with sweat, jaw clenched and chest heaving like he’s running a marathon. He’s yelling in short, clipped bursts of words.
“We can’t … we can’t leave without him!”
“Mr. Faraday?” I inch slowly to the side of the bed and reach out for him with trembling hands.
The instant my fingertips graze his arm, I’m yanked forward. In one swift, disoriented motion, his arm slams across my chest, pinning me to the mattress before I can scream. His forearm presses against my collarbone—firm, but not choking—like he’s subduing an unseen threat.
“Where is he?!” he shouts through clenched teeth.
“It’s me! It’s Roxanne!”
His eyes are open but unfocused, pupils blown wide, mind still somewhere far from this room.
“Stop! It’s me! It’s Roxanne,” I say over and over again.
His breathing stutters, the fight draining from his limbs. He blinks rapidly, eyes flicking between confusion and reality as awareness floods back in. His grip loosens.
For a heartbeat, neither of us moves. Then he jerks back, sitting upright, dragging his hands through his hair like he’s trying to scrape the last of the nightmare from his mind.
ghosts don’t sleep
DUKE
The world snapsback all at once.
I’m no longer in sand and fire and blood. I’m not in that alley, not hearing the screams.
I’m in my room.
Roxanne’s beneath me.
My arm is pinning her down. Her eyes are wide and terrified.
“Fuck—” I jerk back like I’ve been shot, stumbling off the bed, my breath coming in hard bursts. “Shit, no, Roxanne?! What the hell?”
She rolls off the bed and takes a step back from me. “I heard you screaming. I?—”
“Oh my God, did I hurt you?” I hate that she flinches when I reach for her.
“I’m okay,” she says, rubbing her neck.
The look on her face alone is gut-wrenching, and yet I can’t even concentrate on making sure she’s okay because my pulse is still thundering in my body like a machine gun. I back up until I feel the bed and slump to the floor, burying my head in my hands,hoping the room will stop spinning. Jameson whimpers and comes to my side.
Roxanne touches my forehead. “I’m getting you a cold cloth.”
Moments later, she’s back from the bathroom and kneeling on the floor next to me, dabbing the back of my still-flaming neck.
