nightmareBefore Millie’s escape to the Emerald Eye, she’d heard voices echoing from the Sootworks.
It’d been months since anyone went down there. Some whispered that the blight had started down there, in the suffocating darkness.
Millie stood before the Sootworks’ entrance now. It was impossibly black – just an empty void. She felt like a mouse dangling before a predator’s open maw. Still, she steeled her resolve and stepped into the pitch darkness. Xander was in there, calling beyond the black, begging for help.
With each step down, tendrils seemed to wrap around her arms and legs, beckoning her further. Her eyes refused to adjust to the darkness; instead, tears blurred her vision. She sniffled at another cry of pain from deep in the Sootworks. “I’m coming, Xander,” she whispered. The dark had entirely consumed her.
She missed the next step, instead plummeting into murky, ice-cold water. Millie yelped; she could barely stand at her full height in it, and she couldn’t swim. She managed to find a wall, and with her hand pressed against the rough brickwork, she continued forward.
The floor disappeared from under her, and Millie tried to doggy-paddle, but it felt useless. A choked sob escaped her throat when the tendrils tightened around her. She thrashed hard, accidentally slamming her head into the wall; water filled her lungs as she was dragged down. No! No! Her lungs were like bricks, dragging her down from within. Screams echoed around her, crystal clear despite the water, and darkness devoured her whole.
“No!”
Millie shot up with a start, covering her mouth when she realized she’d been screaming out loud. Embarrassment crept up her face. She used to shout in her sleep frequently as a little girl, always waking the nuns and Father Harold, and leading to a scolding. Millie shook her head and stood, tiptoeing over to her door.
Carefully, she left her room and made her way to Xander’s. The bed creaked from within; when Millie knocked, her beloved called out. “Come on in.”
Oh… so she’d woken him up. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
Xander was pulling his pants on. “I was gon’ come check on you,” he murmured, squinting against the hallway light. His accent was thicker with his sleepiness. “C’mon, mousey. C’mere.”
He laid back down and patted the bed beside him. Millie sighed in relief as she snuggled up close, her head on his chest. For such a lithe man, Xander was quite sturdy, and his body heat felt like she was standing in a patch of sunshine.
“You alright?”
“Bad dream,” she whispered.
“D’ya wanna talk about it?”
“I had to come get you. You were hurt, or changed. I don’t know. And you were in the Sootworks… it was so dark.” Millie shuddered; Xander squeezed her tighter. “I wasn’t…I couldn’t save you.”
“‘S’all right now, lil’ mouse.” Xander kissed her forehead tenderly. “Get some sleep. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He was already drifting away, his soft snores filling the room. Rain tip-tapped on the windowsill, and the faint green glow of the lamp reminded Millie of the kindly Dr. Thatherson. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she tried to focus on the rain and the sound of Xander’s heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump…
Xander coughed, sniffled, then pulled Millie closer. His breathing slowed again, a gentle rhythm in conjunction with the rain.
I’m safe, she thought, a soft smile blossoming on her lips. I’m safe here.
Thump, thump, thump. Xander’s heartbeat lulled her to sleep – and this time, she dreamed of beautiful fields of flowers, of bright sunshine, and of Xander’s hand in hers.