Chapter 15: Another Nightmare
1109 Words
The next nightmare she had was worse than the one at the institute. Jason was in a deep sleep when he heard the cry from Candy’s side of the suite door.
Jason was out of his bed in seconds. This time he didn’t need to put his clothes on and went right to the door. He could hear her whimpering from the other side. This was a bad one, just like the last time, only worse. He needed to get inside and see if there was anything, he could do, but not just yet. She was still in the phase between sleep and wake. If Candy couldn’t tell the difference, he could do more harm than good by going inside that room.
Jason unlatched the door with a key. It locked from the other side, but he kept a key just in case he needed it. Before she’d gone to bed, Jason made certain that he showed Candy how to lock the door from her side. As he expected, it was locked, but he had the key and this constituted an incident where it could be used. Whatever. Tomorrow he’d enter it in a report and let Majors rake him over the coals when they returned to Harvest Moon. Right now, Candy’s safety was his prime concern.
Jason opened the door slow and looked inside. He couldn’t it see very well, but there was a nightlight to illuminate most of the bedroom. He could hear Candy’s sobs as he looked inside.
This time she was still on the bed. Jason could see Candy curled up next to the headboard. She hugged herself and rocked back and forth. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who’d swung from the tree limbs the day before.
“Candy,” he called to her gently. “This is Jason. I’m here. Let me know if you want anything from me.”
At which point the phone in his side of the suite began to ring.
Jason shot over the phone and picked it up. It didn’t startle Candy, thank God. She could still shut down if too much stress hit her and a ringing phone was not something he wanted to deal with right now.
“Hello?” he said to the receiver. “This is Jason.”
“Is there a problem in your suite?” the voice of a desk clerk said to him. “We’ve had a report on your floor about screaming coming from your side of the floor.” The clerk sounded angry.
“If you will check the paperwork I left with you, you’ll find out that I’m a therapist who is caring for a patient. She’s has nightmares when she sleeps. I will take care of her.”
There was a pause. “Oh, sorry about that,” the voice said on the other side of the phone line. “My bad. Let me know if there’s anything you need.” The desk clerk hung-up the phone.
Relived, Jason wen to Candy to see what she needed.
Candy was still rolled up in a ball, although her sobs had stopped. Jason sat down next to her and pulled out his smart phone. He put it away as he didn’t want anything to scare her. She was still at a danger point and rocked back and forth.
“Are you alright, Candy?” he asked again. “You know me, this is Jason. What can I do to help you?” He waited for an answer and hoped this attack wouldn’t end the trip. She’d mad good progress today.
The dark eyes peered out at him from behind the arms. These were the wolf eyes, those of an animal who inhabited a human body. Jason tensed, ready for anything that might happen. It was much worse than he’d thought. Too late to give her anything, she was beyond that now. The only thing she could do was ride it out.
The eyes turned away from him, but she continued to rock. No crying now, she was in somewhere safe in her mind. It didn’t matter; she could still be dangerous.
She went back to sleep over the space of fifteen minutes. Whatever had happened wore the young woman out. Jason watched as she turned in her nightgown and lay away from him. Soon, he could hear the rhythmic breathing of someone in a deep REM sleep.
Relieved Jason went over to Candy and pulled the sheet over her. The air conditioner was on and he didn’t want her to get cold. He sighed; reassured she would be okay.
As Jason moved back, one of Candy’s hands shot up and grabbed is wrist. He froze. It was a steel grip. He knew she could break his wrist with ease. The power behind that grip was incredible. Then the grip eased and her hand fell back to the bed. Candy resumed her breathing. She was back to sleep.
Jason walked slow back to his side of the suite and locked the connecting door. He rubbed his wrist. She hadn’t done any damage, but she could.
He sat on one of the chairs and began to file another incident report. By morning, the staff would know what happened. Nothing much he could do about that.
He woke when the alarm clock went off the next morning. Jason slid out of bed and went to the door that connected the two rooms an unlocked it.
“Time to get up, Candy,” he called to her before he entered the room. “We have a lot to do today.”
She wasn’t on the bed.
Startled, Jason scanned the room for her. He heard a scuffling sound in the far corner and located Candy.
She was naked.
At least Candy was inside the motel room. Had she found a way out, the trip would’ve come to an abrupt end.
Her gown was tossed on the bed and the lithe form of Candy was curled up in the corner and fast asleep. She was quite beautiful in that state; he forced himself to admit. Too bad, she was also dangerous.
“Candy, you need to get some clothes on!” Jason called out in a firm voice. “We’ve talked about your appearance before.”
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