Nightmares

"That was a very tense ride back," Max whispered to Kaia as they walked into the house.

"I agree," Kaia said, looking back at Dorran and Carlotta talking and walking behind them. "What is happening?"

"I don't know," Max said, climbing the stairs. "Maybe you should talk to Caitlyn? She only listens to you after all."

"You think Caitlyn is the main problem?" She asked, looking at Max.

"No, but I have my suspicions." Max answered, "Both have been bickering more and more every time either one talks. Has Caitlyn always been this defensive?"

Kaia shook her head. There are a lot of things she does not know for sure but the one thing she is certain of is her friends. She knows them like the back of her hand and Carlotta's behaviour is the one a little off.

"I don't know what's wrong." She signed, wondering if it's best to ignore it or not.

"Will you talk to her?" He asked, holding the door open for her to enter the house.

"About what exactly?"

"Maybe ask her if she is having any problems with anything." He said, following her up the stairs on the direction to her room.

Kaia shook her head again, "She will assume that I think she is losing her mind."

"That is oddly specific." He said, eyebrows creasing. "Did you try to talk to her before?"

"Max!" Carlotta called from below the stairs. "Where are you going?"

"Ah, I was so focused on the conversation I didn't realize we were going to your room." He said, cheeks flushing. "I forgot, sorry."

"You act as if you never entered my room before." She signed with a little twinkle in her eyes.

"Right." He said, turning around. "I'd better go."

Kaia grabbed his shirt before he could run too far away and held onto it.

"Kaia?"

"I'll be borrowing Max for a couple of minutes." Kaia signed at the two below who exchanged confused looks.

"Ok," Carlotta said, smiling at her. "Dor and I will be in the garden if you need anything."

"We will?" He asked, tensing up when she grabbed onto his arm and pulled him to the direction of the backyard. "I'll take that as a yes then."

"Have fun!" She said, waving at them as they disappeared through the doors. Dor couldn't muster up the courage to say anything else.

"Kaia. What's this abou-"

"Come with me to the room." She signed, dragging him to her room.

"Ok then."

__________

"What is it, Kaia?" Max asked, sitting on the chair beside her bed. It is right in front of the large window that overlooked the garden.

She looked out the window to see Carlotta and Dorran playing with the snow in the garden. Their laughter played like music to her ears.

"Kaia?"

"I am worried." She signed, not looking away from the picture below.

"What about?" he asked, standing up and looking out the window as well. He was just in time to see Dorran get hit by Carlotta's snowball, straight to the face. "ohhh~"

"She always had great aim." She signed, smiling.

"I agree, but I think Dorran is taking it easy on her though." He said as they watched them like parents watching their children play.

Finally, Max moved away from the window and asked, "What are you worried about?"

Kaia didn't move away, only turning away from them while stealing glances occasionally, "Caitlyn."

"Why are you worried about her?" He asked, "Well, I understand, to some extent but why exactly? Right, I asked you if you talked to her before."

"I did." She signed, a deep sigh escaping her lips.

"What happened? Could you tell me?" Max sat on the chair patted on the empty bed beside him but she shook her head.

"I am fine here." She signed, looking outside. They seem to have given up their snowball fight and are now making snowmen. "I like being able to see them."

"Ok then," Max agreed, pulling the chair closer to her. "Now, please tell me what happened. Did she get mad?"

"Well, something like that." She signed, "You know how my nightmares have become so bad recently?"

"Yes. You always wake up in the dead of the night." He said, "I would hear you all the time but Caitlyn would get to you first."

"I wondered about that actually. How she was so fast to get to me." Kaia started, "The moment I start to scream, she would be there to wake me up immediately. She was too fast."

"Maybe she is a light sleeper?" He tried to reason but Kaia shook her head again.

"She is a light sleeper but not light enough that someone tossing and turning in the other room would wake her up." She explained. "So once, I decided to sleep with her."

"When? She always ends up in your room by morning."

"The night before. I couldn't sleep one bit so I just laid there, she slept by my side." Kaia sighed, "She was also having nightmares."

"Caitlyn?"

Kaia nodded, "She cried out for help at some point and I couldn't watch anymore so I just woke her up. She was as surprised as I was about the nightmares."

"Did she know that she was having them?"

"That's the thing, I thought that she may be having the nightmare because of me but she told me that she's been having them for a while."

"Why didn't she tell us anything?"

"I asked her that too but she only refused, telling me not to tell anyone else either. She made me promise."

"If she made you promise that, is it ok for you to be telling me this?" Max asked, leaning back against the chair.

"I told her that I will break that promise if I start to feel that she may be in danger because of those nightmares. She agreed." Kaia leaned against the window, resting her back against the cold glass.

"What did she dream of?" Max asked, "The Caitlyn I know has nothing she fears more than losing us. If she dreamt of losing us, she would have dismissed it as a dream."

"True. But you need to remember that our circumstances have changed." She signed, "She has lost everyone once, though she may not remember it. If she did have a nightmare about us, she can't be too certain it is real or not anymore."

"I think the same can be applied to you," Max said, raising his brows at her.

"We aren't talking about me here." She signed, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Ok. Ok." He said, with a little chuckle. "Judging by your answer, I can assume that she didn't dream of us."

"No. She dreamt of her parents."

"Did she tell you that?"

"I figured it out by the way she was calling out to them and begging them to leave her alone." Kaia clenched her fists. "You know what this means right, Max?"

"What?"

"She is still not free of them."

_________

"Why exactly are we in the garden, Cati?" Dor asked as they sat in the garden house, staring at the snow-covered place. The seven snowmen they made stood outside, almost waving at them.

The garden house also has centralized heating so they didn't have to worry about the cold. The glass surroundings gave a full view of the garden in all its white, fluffy glory.

She didn't reply as she just stared at the snow with an empty look on her face.

"Is everything alright?" He tried again, sitting on the seat opposite to her.

"What do you think?" She asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"You don't look like everything is alright." He said, taking off his jacket. "Come on, what's wrong? You can tell me right?"

He placed his warm hands on her cold ones as she finally turned to him, a sad smile on her face. "The thing is, I don't know. I don't know what's wrong."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, taking her hands in his in an attempt to warm them up.

He had some heat packets still in his jacket pocket, so he took one out and held them together with her hands.

"Thanks." She said, deciding if she should tell him about the nightmares or not.

Finally coming to a decision, she turned to him, "You know how Kaia is having nightmares?"

"Yes? You have been helping her through the night." Dor said, smiling brightly, "You are amazing, Cati."

Carlotta returned the smile, albeit a little bit dimmer. "Everyone thinks I am helping her, but I am not. I am just being selfish here."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, cupping her hands in his and blowing into them to increase the heat. "Your hands are very difficult to warm up. Don't go out without gloves again."

"I'll try to remember that." She giggled. "About what I said … I'm having nightmares as well."

"Oh, I know."

"What?"