Wheezing, tears falling down his face, Seri stared up into the nothingness of the shadow that had a hold of him—his very own. The shadow of himself was standing there, looming above him, while behind it, Preston slowly sauntered down the hall, a smile on his face.
The moment he got his breath back, Seri started to beg. “Please. Please.” His words ended in a sob as the man reached him. He hated this. He hated how weak he sounded…
The Dweller tsked, and crouched by his head. “Now, Seri.” Seri shuddered in disgust when Preston caressed the side of his face. “You disobeyed. You know better. You know what comes next, don’t you?”
“No…NO! Please. Please. I’ll behave.” He grabbed onto the man’s pants leg. “Please, don’t, please… Please, Preston.”
Preston’s smile dropped, and as he spoke next, his voice was a deep growl. “Perhaps you’ll finally remember this the next time you think to tell me no.”
“NO!” Seri screamed when the shadow started to drag him down the hall. The man’s pants slipped through his fingers, his heart racing even faster on catching sight of the dark void that appeared at the end of the hallway.
He rolled, uncaring how it twisted his injured leg, and dug his nails into the floor, trying desperately to get away. “PLEASE!” he cried. “PLEASE!”
Nails breaking, Seri let out one last cry of terror as he was dragged into the Shadow Realm.
Severo jerkedas the nightmare freed him, but didn’t have time to even process it before more took hold. With each Nystra he absorbed, the pain lacing through his heart grew. And by the time he’d destroyed the lot, tears streaked his face. His insides clenched painfully, the dark energy he’d taken in was twisting and churning in his stomach.
Sweat and tears dripped down his face as he glanced at the bed. Seri was now laying there calmly, expression smooth, tears drying…peaceful at last.
Licking his lips, Severo shifted a bit so he could lean against the door frame. He remained there, destroying any new Nystra that showed up through the night until Seri began to stir.
Swaying as he stood, his knee gave way when he took a step back, but at the last second, he caught himself. With a shake of his head, he closed the door and slipped back into the real world. Using the wall to support himself, as quickly as he could, Severo fled to his room.
Seri stretched in bed, a smile on his face as he opened his eyes. It was odd. He’d gotten so used to waking up stressed and riddled with fear, that the absence of it felt abnormal. Yet…it was absent. He hadn’t had a nightmare in weeks. He wasn’t sure why…but he certainly didn’t plan on complaining about it.
Stretching again, he glanced over and checked the time. Almost noon…well that explained why he felt pretty awake, even if he’d woken up around eight to feed Skya. It was odd that Severo hadn’t woken him up sooner… The Dweller did seem to be getting into the habit of sleeping a little later than he used to. Well later, as in, the last week he’d been letting Seri sleep in for an extra thirty minutes… 10:30am was still better than ten, he supposed. Maybe the Dweller had felt generous today and let him sleep late?
Seri slipped out of bed and checked on Skya. The little girl was fast asleep. Leaving her be, he quickly jumped into the shower and got dressed, before going back to Skya’s crib. He smiled on finding her awake now, and staring up at him, a gummy smile on her face.
“Morning, dewdrop,” he drawled, sweeping her up into his arms. She giggled and gripped onto him. “Ready to eat?”
“BAH!”
He chuckled at her enthusiastic response.
Seri shifted her to rest on his hip and headed out of his room. Passing Severo’s door, he entered the kitchen and eyed the living room but found…no Severo… That was very odd…
He hesitated a moment before he turned back around and gave in to the urge, knocking on the man’s door. Seri’s frown deepened when there was no response.
“Severo?” he called out.
At that he heard movement, and about a minute later, the door opened. “I’m up and awake,” the Dweller said with a yawn.
Up…was a relative term. Severo was vertical, for sure, but the man did not look awake. There were deep, dark bags under his eyes. The man’s long black hair was free and sticking up everywhere, and for once, Severo had a full beard and mustache.
Seri did his best to ignore how low the man’s blue sleep pants were hanging, and the tightness of his white tank top. He pretty much did all he could to not think about how attractive Severo was on the regular. It was better for his sanity.
“Umm…are you okay?”
Severo blinked a few times, before he jerked as if he’d fallen asleep standing up. “Yeah?”
“You don’t…look it… Are you feeling sick?”
“No. No.” Severo cleared his throat. “I’m fine. Just stayed up too late working on something, that’s all. Why don’t you go feed Skya while I shower and get dressed. I’ll make breakfast for us when I come out.”
His head tilted as the man’s usual pep seemed to miraculously return.
“Are you sure? You could sleep a little longer if you want?” Seri suggested, eyeing the Dweller with a bit of concern. “I can feed myself.”
