The Broken

Night Terrors

After what had happened in the past few days, I lay awake, having trouble sleeping. I carefully brushed a strand of hair off Skylyn's face, trying to comfort her as she was crying and becoming restless from another Night Terror. I don't know if she remembers in the mornings most of the time, but she has nightmares like this every night, sometimes multiple in one night. I know not to wake her during one. It pulls me apart having to watch her like this, but when I spoke to my mom and the pack's Dr in secret, they both told me that I have to let her ride it out because it can cause more damage than good to wake her at times like this. The doctor's words rang through my head.

"if you wake her, it can send her body into a trauma shock, but if you let her ride it out, she will wake, sometimes in a startle, when her brain decides that it's ready; most of the time, she won't remember it in the morning. But it is her brain's way of processing everything, and the more she pushes everything down, the more it will come back with a vengeance", the Dr had told me, which I understood. However, it is still tough to let her suffer like this; even as a boy, I would watch over her when she slept to try to comfort her. Our rooms were beside each other as kids; I would wake up every time she would cry in her sleep. Of course, she never knew I was there, and I wouldn't tell her, but once she woke up well, I comforted her, and that was the night I made a promise that I would never let anyone hurt her again.

MEMORY

I suddenly woke up to Skylyn's crying again. It must be another nightmare. I jumped up from bed, put on a shirt, and went through my closet to the door leading to hers; she never found out that we had a secret door connecting our rooms. Entering her room, going to bed, seeing her thrash around, crying in her sleep "no....please..I'm sorry," she sobbed in her sleep; grabbing her hand, I squeezed it gently enough that she knew she wasn't alone but not hard enough to wake her "it's okay I'm here now "I whisper slowly I watch as she stops trashing around laying flat on her back still crying in her sleep "it's okay" I whispered again placing a gentle kiss on her hand then gently placing the blanket on her just as I'm about to walk away she wakes up startled and grabbed my hand tightly gasping for air. I turned around, whipping the tears from her face. "It's okay; you are safe now."

I told her as I gently placed my hand on her arm, still holding her hand in the other, "please stay," she said with tears streaming down her face. She moved over to the bed, allowing me to lie with her. As I got on the bed, lying flat on my back, she placed her head on my chest, wrapping her body around mine. "I feel safe when you are here," she said softly, slowly falling back asleep; I started rubbing her back gently. "I will never leave you, and I won't let anyone ever hurt you again. I promise, Sky," I said, kissing her head. "Thank you, Kel," she whispered before falling asleep. That night, at 12 years old, I promised to protect her from all harm and be there whenever she needed me.

END OF MEMORY

I wrapped my arms around her, instantly calming Skylyn as she sank into my embrace. "It's going to be okay, Sky. I'm right here," Killian said with a calming tone.

"Is he dead?..d..did I hurt anyone in the forest " she spoke with a shaken voice as tears started to fill her eyes.

"He is in jail waiting to be questioned, and I was the only one in the forest. So no one but me saw anything," I said. She stuttered, wiping the tears from her face and looking in the eyes, "c..can I speak to him ".

I kissed her on the forehead "if you need to, but I will be there the entire time," I said, trying to sound calm. I wanted to kill that man the second I found out who he was, and I didn't want her to see him again, reminding her of everything from the past, but I knew she needed to for closure. "I need to," she said with determination in her voice. I pulled her into a tight embrace as we were in each other's embrace. Then, a knock rang through the room.

"Come in, mom," I yelled throughout the room as the door started to open a second later. I knew it was my mom on the other side of the door. "Hi, sweetie; I just came to talk to Skylyn. Could you give us a moment alone if that's okay with you" she said. Then, looking at Skylyn, she quickly nodded to tell me it was okay.

I kissed her on the head quickly before getting up to leave.

"I'll get some breakfast ready. Come out when you're done," I said as mom came into the room and sat beside Skylyn on the bed, embracing her in a hug that only a mother could give

I could feel through the link that the longer she spoke to my mother about everything and vented to her, that she felt better slowly like a weight was being lifted off of her shoulders; the more she spoke with and opened up to my mom it filled me with pride.

I was making breakfast when my dad walked in. We talked for a while about everything that was going on, telling my dad about Skylyn's night terrors and venting to him about what was happening in my head. I fully understand the feeling of weight being lifted off your shoulders when you share your burdens with someone else and just let everything out, releasing it from the restraints in your mind.

After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk by the waterfall.

The next few days went smoothly. Then, finally, we got into a steady routine.

We moved most of Skylyn's stuff into our room and kept the rest in her old room just in case she needed some time, which I fully understood and supported. Breakfast stayed the same, with chit-chat around the table. Everyone seemed to be happier and closer than before. I guess life going to hell somehow brings everyone closer. I contributed to conversations around the table and spoke to my father more often; I noticed that the more time I spent with Skylyn, I started to open up and let my walls down around my parents; I laughed and smiled a lot more with her by my side.

After breakfast, we would go to the waterfall with a picnic lunch that mom would prepare for us, and we would stay there till dinner, spending time together swimming, reading, running in our wolf forms and just lying in the grass in each other's embrace. We were lying under the sun and listening to the waterfall in silence.

"Kilian. I want to speak with him tomorrow. "she said, breaking the silence. Shifting slightly to see my reaction. I can't help but be full of worries knowing that seeing him will open up a lot of old wounds that she has yet to heal. This is because I know she needs this to get past everything. "Okay, but I'll take you out of there if anything happens. Whether you want to leave or not," I told her, kissing her forehead. "I understand, but I need answers. I won't let him get to me," she said, trying to convince herself. After the sun started going down, we decided it was time to go inside as it was starting to get colder.

After dinner, everyone went to their rooms, lying down with Skylyn in my arms. We talked about everything. As she stared at her hand, entirely focused, suddenly, her hand was engulfed in white light as a ball of light appeared, as if it was floating entirely in her hand, surprising both of us. For some reason, nothing about it made me worried. The energy feels calming, letting my interest show; she lifts her hand so I can look closer at it in amazement. "how did you just..." I said, stopping mid-sentence in pure amazement and confusion. "I. I don't know. Something in me just told me to focus and imagine what I wanted, and then it just happened as if something was guiding me on how to do it, " she said well, looking at it closer; after some time looking at the ball of light. She closed her hand, making it disappear back into her palm the same way it appeared initially. When the light slowly went out. "it feels like someone is trying to guide me on how to use and control whatever it is, " she said. Laying back down on my chest

"Maybe you have a guardian angel, or maybe it's the moon goddess," I said, trying to figure out an answer to our question. "Maybe," she said, half asleep before entirely falling asleep. I let myself fall asleep just after her, letting the exhaustion win.

..............................................................................

Suddenly, I was woken up by Skylyn bursting up in bed, covered in sweat, breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath, and wrapping my arms around her. After a second, she turned around, burying her head in my chest. I hugged her in a tighter embrace to let her know everything was going to be okay. It was from another Night Terror, but it must have been bad for her to wake up in the middle of it.

as she let the tears out, I rubbed her back. "everything is okay; I'm right here; he can't hurt you, not now, not ever." I whispered in a soft tone, kissing her on the head. We stayed like that for some time before she fell back asleep in my arms, feeling safe in my embrace.

I awoke to an empty bed. Skylyn must have woken up early; I don't know how she did it, no matter how horrible her sleep was the night before and how little she got. She wakes up full of energy for the day ahead. That's another thing I admire about her. After getting dressed, I walked down the hall to see my father. As we walked toward the kitchen, I could hear music playing. Skylyn and my mother's voices were singing and laughing loudly, filling the house. "They have been doing this for hours; it's good to see them both so happy," my father said with a smile from ear to ear. I couldn't help but stand in the doorway, watching and enjoying seeing them both so happy and carefree. After a while, we noticed that they were finished making breakfast, so I decided now was a good time to interrupt their dance party. "Morning, ladies," my father and I said in unison. "seems like we are missing out on all the fun, " I said, laughing a little at the embarrassment written on skylyn's face, her cheeks turning that lovely shade of red I love.

"How long have you boys been standing there? Come eat," mom said, gesturing to sit at the table. "We didn't want to disturb you ladies and break up the fun, " dad commented, taking a seat at the table and grabbing a plate of food. We all sat down and had a lovely breakfast full of laughter and a joke here and there, poking fun at the ladies dancing and singing.

After cleaning up from breakfast, Skylyn and I decided to go to the waterfall as we usually do.

The sky was clear with not a single cloud in sight, the birds singing their morning song as a gentle breeze blew through the air. We sat on the grass when we got there, our feet dangling in the warm water. Skylyn looked up at me. I could sense her thoughts. Skylyn was thinking about everything. "How are you feeling?" I asked with concern, knowing she was struggling to find the words to speak. "Did you see my dream?" she asked, looking down, playing with the water, sightly splashing it nervously. "Sky, I can feel what you feel and see your memories as if they were my own through the mate bond. So if you want to talk about your past, I am always here to listen," I said. Her past constantly haunts her, and I start feeling powerless. I wish I could help her put it all behind her. She took a moment before speaking, thinking about what she would say.

"I was six when that happened. It got worse over time; I never understood why my parents treated me that way, but whatever I felt inside appeared to be mirrored in the weather and sky. After the night of my birthday, I'm guessing it has something to do with this," she said, holding her hand up, letting a ball of white light form in her palm, looking at it intently before continuing.

"I always thought I did something wrong, but I could never figure out what I had done so horrible to make my parents treat me the way they did; as early as I can remember, they treated me that way. It started as verbal abuse, then as I got older. It became more physical and only got worse the older I got. The day of the accident was the first time I was allowed out of the house. They said they had somewhere important to go to and that I had to go. I jumped because I could finally see the outside world and leave my prison. Even if it was only for a little, my parents were on their way to meet Ian and Freya when suddenly a man came out of nowhere in the middle of the road. He had an evil look in his eye, then suddenly, as soon as he appeared, he disappeared, but not before my father ran off the road, flipping the car and sending us into that ditch. I was sad but hopeful that day because, as much as it saddened me that my parents were gone, I felt a sense of hope that I could escape that life and my parent's evil grasp. That evil man, whoever he was, was like a dark guardian angel saving me from that life and setting me free. Once Freya found me, I felt a sense of security in her and felt like that past was behind me and that they could never hurt me because they were dead. I pushed it all down. I put it all behind me, thinking I would never have to think about it again other than the nightly recurring nightmares. I became secluded, afraid to get close to anyone, and afraid that anyone who loved me would do the same, so I dedicated myself to training and working as a worrier of the pack to save any innocent child. Who was suffering the same as I once did, healing the broken Well simultaneously; mine was still shattered into a thousand pieces." she said, looking at the ball of light one last time before throwing it into the water and watching as it skipped like a rock before it disappeared into the water. I squeezed her hand, reassuring her that everything would be okay.

"He will never hurt you again. Sky, I won't let anything happen. If I have to say the word, I will kill him with my bare hands, and I will make sure he is gone for good." I said, letting her know that no matter what, I would be by her side.

"I need to see him and get answers; then you are free to do as you please once I have all I can get from him, " she said. There is a lot I would like to do for him. But, first, torture him and make him suffer for hurting Skylyn. "I understand, my love". I said, kissing her.