Curse of the Nephalem

I stand frozen at the edge of the living room, invisible to the three men that are surrounding my parents, who are forcefully made to kneel by two of the men, who resemble tree trunks rather than actual human beings. I can’t even look away from the horrifying scene that is unfolding before my eyes, there is a pressure filling the room that is making it incredibly hard to move or even breathe.

“Tell us where the child is, and I promise to give you a swift quick death, refuse and I will drag it out, making sure to torture you slowly and painfully infront of each other, until you give me the little brats whereabouts.” One of the men, who is slightly less beefy and a lot leaner than the other two barks at my parents who just stare at him defiantly.

“Go fuck yourself!” My father spits venomously at the man. “We will never give you any kind of details about our child, if you’re planning to kill us; you might as well get it over with, because no matter the amount of torture you put us through, neither of us will give our child up.”

I stand rooted to the spot I’m standing in. as tears steadily fall down my cheeks, realizing that I am the child they’re referring to. I start to walk towards the man that is threatening my parents, hoping to possibly save their lives when my mother catches my eye and shakes her head subtly at me, a wordless demand that says ‘don’t you dare come in here’. My eyes widen as the man is given a broad sword, the blade looks as if it has been sharpened and polished to perfection recently, possibly for this very occasion. She mouths ‘RUN’ as the man’s blade makes contact with their throats as I turn to bolt from the room.

The memory of my parents’ murder flashes vividly before my eyes, in rapid succession, the images moving so fast that they start to blur together making me dizzy and disoriented. The feeling of someone rubbing small soothing circles on my back brings me out of the memory-dream, there’s something being said, but my ears are buzzing so loud that it sounds like someone is trying to talk through a mouthful of water. The light starts to fade, as the words become a little clearer.

“Falencia, you’re safe babygirl; it’s ok, come back.” the soothing, sweet feminine voice says.

I start to stir as the soothing words and comforting circles being rubbed on my back start to calm my frantic mind, I sit up as I take in my surroundings realizing that I am no longer in bed; but rather on the floor of my bedroom in the apartment that I have been living in since that fateful night. “What happened?” I ask, feeling a little confused and disoriented.

“I heard you screaming, so I came to check in on you and when I came in, you were trying to crawl out of your window.” Berik explains. “I was able to get you away from the window and safely sat on the floor.”

I groan “I honestly thought these episodes, or whatever the hell they are, had stopped, I haven’t had one in forever.”

Berik holds me close, continuing to rub my back soothingly. “I wish I had answers for you sweetheart, have you talked to your therapist about these episodes? I know that they haven’t happened in a long while, but maybe she had some answers that could be helpful now?”

I shake my head, “Honestly, she said that they could have been manifestations of how I felt abandoned when my parents died. I don’t necessarily believe that’s true, I think she’s a quack who is just spewing bullshit to make it sound like she knows what she’s talking about.”

Berik cocks her head to the side, as if she’s trying to study me. “I thought you liked Sarah?”

I sigh “it’s not that I dislike her, it’s just that I honestly don’t know if I believe in the ‘power’ of therapy, I don’t think that she has a fucking clue as to why I’m having these dreams or whatever they are, if I’m being one hundred percent truthful.”

I start to get up off the floor as Freyja comes into my room. “Is everything alright? I thought I heard screaming?” She asks as she sleepily leans against the open door.

Berik and I look at her and nod “Yeah, just another nightmare.” I replied.

Worry fills her bright green eyes as she comes to sit on my bed, patting the space next to her, beckoning me to sit with her. “You alright?”

I nod “Yeah, I just don’t understand why they’re coming back, seemingly out of nowhere.”

“When is your next appointment with Sarah?” Freyja asks.

My jaw tightens as I grind my teeth together in annoyance. “Tomorrow after school, but I honestly don’t know if I want to go.”

“Why not? It might help you figure out why the nightmares are coming back?” Freyja asks.

I sigh and sit next to her with my back against the headboard “From the way she explained it before, they’re manifestations of how I’m feeling, basically that I feel abandoned, the dreams are a way of expressing the emotions that I felt and may still feel periodically.” I cover my mouth as a yawn comes out. “ I honestly don’t know if I completely trust her or not, I believe that psychiatrists are just legal drug dealers who only care about pushing their product on their clients rather than actually help them cope and heal from whatever trauma they may be going through.”

Freyja snorts as she tries to stifle a laugh and Berik bites her lip smiling. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you explain your thoughts on therapy quite like that before. But I thought that it was helping?”

“Maybe at first, but then I’d try to explain my feelings about different things, she’d ask me how that made me feel, it honestly feels like she is being condescending; her tone of voice is just, I don’t know how to explain it, it makes my skin feel creepy crawly.” I say.

“I’m going to go make some hot cocoa, do you want original or salted caramel?” Berik asks.

“Salted caramel, please!” Freyja and I respond in unison.

Berik chuckles as she walks out of my room and heads down the hall towards the kitchen to make our hot cocoa.

“Do you think you might want to take tomorrow off?” Freyja asks.

I take a deep breath and center myself “No, I think I’ll be alright. I don’t want to have to miss a day if it’s not absolutely necessary. But I do think I need to figure out a way to cope with the trauma rather than pushing it all down and ignoring it while I do whatever I need to busy myself.”

Berik comes back into the room with our steaming hot mugs “Did I hear someone say that they’re taking a day off?”

Freyja and I giggle as I shake my head “Sorry, but no.”

“Well, if you decide that you do in fact need to take a day off let me know and I’ll call the school to let them know.” Berik says.

We all chuckle knowing that it’s unlikely to happen as Freyja and I grab our hot mugs. “Thank you for the hot cocoa!” I exclaim before blowing the light brown chocolate liquid that smells absolutely divine.

“You’re welcome honey.” Berik responds.

I grab my phone off my bedside table and check the time. It shows 1:30 AM, I sigh and take a small sip of my drink, enjoying the feel of the hot liquid sliding down my throat and settling into my stomach, unfurling the knots that had formed there during my nightmare. I settle comfortably against my headboard as I put my phone back onto my nightstand. “I think we should try to get some more sleep, as we have a little over five hours before we need to get up.”

Freyja grabs my phone and checks the time groaning as she puts it back “Damn, thank the Gods it’s pajama day tomorrow, so I don’t have to wake up so early.”

Berik and I giggle at her antics while we nod in agreement. Freyja stands up from her spot on my bed and stretches, lifting her mug carefully above her head so that she doesn’t spill any of the hot liquid that sloshes around in her cup. They exit my room and shut the door behind them leaving me alone to settle into my comfy bed, passing out as soon as my eyes close; wrapping me in darkness and silence.