Chapter 1 Nightmares

"No-no! Please don't do this," Lena cried out, her voice coming out in stutters.

"Mommy, mommy." she felt a hand on her shoulder making her eyes wrench open.

Her son Trent was hovering over her, worry had taken over his soft features.

He leaned backwards and sat up on the bed when he saw that her eyes were now open.

It was a nightmare! She heaved a breath placing her hand on her chest to calm her frantic heart as she sat up.

She wiped her face with one of her hands and then wrapped the other around Trent.

He peered at Lena, his deep blue eyes moistened like he was going to break into tears any moment from now.

"Sweetie," she purred wrapping her arms around him in a warm embrace.

A smile marred her face as Trent pulled away to peek at her.

"Are you ok Mom" He asked tears prickling in the corners of his eyes as he cupped his mom's cheeks with his little hands.

Lena nodded, "Yeah, sweetie. Mommy is fine, sorry I woke you up and made you worry. I was just having a nightmare but now it's all ok." she flashed him a smile, but his brows knitted together.

She knew what that meant, he wasn't convinced, that expression on his face was nothing new, he always had that look when he was in doubt about what someone had told him.

Lena sighed and then pulled him closer to her. "See, I'm fine," she smiled taking his hand in her.

"And also, you shouldn't cry," she muttered wiping the tears that had started to run down his cheeks.

He nodded and his hands draped around Lena in a hug.

"I love you, Mommy." He purred as he pulled away.

"I know you do sweetie, and I love you more," Lena mumbled kissing his cheeks.

"Can we go back to bed now?" she arched her brows at him and he nodded.

"Ok, mom. Goodnight." He smiled and kissed her cheeks before crawling over to the other side of the bed and stretching himself on it.

Her lips curved into a smile as she stared at her son, she leaned over and kissed his deep chocolate hair before she pulled the duvet over him.

She smiled as she watched him, she was blessed to have Trent, he was the best gift she could ever ask for. She sighed when she glanced at the clock which was hanging on the wall, It was 3:00 am.

Lena closed her eyes shut trying to go back to sleep but it didn't take a second before she forced them back open as scenes of her nightmare flashed before her. She rubbed the back of her neck and took deep breaths trying to calm myself down but even though her eyes were wide open, the scenes of her nightmare didn't leave as they came even clearer. Her screams and distressed voice echoed in her ears, making her chest clench she could feel her eyes welling up with tears.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before opening her eyes and looking in Trent's direction. He had fallen asleep.

She gulped down breaths to stay quiet not wanting to wake him up again. Swinging her legs to the floor, she scrambled out of bed to the other side of the room where the side table was. She opened the second drawer and took out her meds. She gulped down two tablets after reaching for a glass of water.

Wiping away the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead, she let out a breath. It didn't take long before she felt like a flood had washed down the panic that had taken over her a few minutes ago.

Even though the panic attack was gone, she knew this was the end of her sleep for today. This was the first time she had this nightmare in six months and she had thought that she had already overcome it, but she guessed that she still had a long way to go.

Giving it a thought, Lena wondered if it could be what happened at the bar last night that triggered this nightmare.

Even though that monster was no longer near her, she knew deep down that this nightmare was going to hunt her but for how long? That she didn't know.