Nightmares

Later that evening, after each one of them had finished what they were doing—though there was nothing to do for Priscilla since she was in someone's house and had no phone or cash on her. The only thing she did was sit glued to the TV all day long. She would've loved to read books but this man here seems to be a hater of all things print.

Meanwhile, For Richard, there was nothing to do aside from sitting on his couch with his leg crossed. Things had gotten less busy for him since he left the army due to his trial and the coma as well. It had become frustrating especially since he had that fear that he might never get to wear the uniform again.

His only hope of salvation was to wait till Monday when he was going to be assigned a new team. He sighed deeply and just played random games on his phone to pass time.

That evening, they watched a movie together. It was entertaining and so they spent almost the whole night watching one movie after another. Richard was planning on sleeping on the couch but due to them watching this late night movie, he had no choice but to keep his eyes open.

Priscilla had no idea that he had planned to sleep there and she had thought that he would share the bed with her—after all, it was his house and his bed—so she took his reluctance to sleep as a cue to continue watching movies.

It wasn't long before he dozed off and his head tilted backward a little. Priscilla also fell asleep later and her head leaned on his shoulder which seemed to be rock compared to her soft pillow. It was hard but comfortable.

….

The moment he fell asleep, the monsters returned and haunted his sleep. He saw faces filled with pains and blood everywhere as body parts were scattered across the mine field.

He stood there helpless and saw as his team were slayed one after another. He screamed and cocked his gun and rattled like a mad bull but he hardly hit anyone. His foot was still stuck to the land mine he had stepped on.

Then the faces approached him in scorn. "It seems like you came unprepared!"

….

He jerked awake while panting heavily. His body was covered in sweat and his eyes wandered around the room till his eyes fell on the soft black hair that rested on his laps. The lady stirred and looked up at him then she pulled away immediately, embarrassed that she had actually slept on him.

She cleared her throat seeing his appearance. She knew what was wrong. "Bad dreams?"

He nodded and massaged his brows with a sigh. "It's just a nightmare, nothing to bother about."

Priscilla nodded not intending to probe further. She knew perfectly well that a nightmare that could make someone pant and sweat like that was not just 'nothing to bother about'.

"Let's get some sleep then." She turned off the TV and stood up, stretching herself to an elastic limit.

He shook his head. "You take the bed, I'll sleep here."

She nodded. "Though on second thought, you might have that dream again and get scared so why not sleep where there's two?"

He chuckled. "Do I look easily frightened to you? I only have a cook and that means I get to sleep alone in this whole house."

"Have it your way." She shrugged and sloppily walked to the bedroom. In as much as she'd like to sleep, she found that she couldn't sleep. She found herself reflecting on herself and her mission all along.

Why was she here in the first place? Why did she feel a bit comfortable with him? She sighed and pulled the covers over her head and hoped to fall asleep.

….

Richard stood up from the couch and took a bottle of Scotch and a glass and drank to his fill. He didn't get drunk but he had enough to make sure his breath carried the alcoholic scent. He stayed awake throughout the night feeling the slight ache in his lower back.

The next morning, he woke up a bit late to find that Priscilla was already awake. He observed her for a while and came to the conclusion that she wasn't sick at all. She was one tough cookie and despite getting drenched out in the cold, she was still as fit as an athlete.

He closed his eyes a little bit and when he opened them again, he was startled by seeing her face so close to his. "Thought you were still sleeping. Morning." She greeted.

"Don't do that ever again!" he glared at her and stood up.

"I made breakfast for two so come eat." She invited him.

Richard froze in his place and she turned back to him and asked, "What? I just made a little breakfast."

"Nice try but yesterday you said you were a lousy cook and now you cook?" he asked with his eyes narrowed. "Besides, you have no money on you and I ran out of supplies so how could you cook them?"

"Alright," she grunted. "You know I'm a good person so while I was trying to wash your shirt this morning, I found a small amount of money in the pocket so I took it and bought the ingredients."

"You literally stole from me?" Richard wasn't impressed at all but then again why did he even allow her stay here?

"It's not stealing…. It's merely taking advantage of your environment…" before she could finish, the doorbell rang as she was a little bit energetic so she offered to get it.

She opened the door and found a stunning young girl with brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She had a few grocery bags in her hands and a big smile on her face which dropped the moment she saw Priscilla.

The lady narrowed her eyes at her and asked, "Who are you and what are you doing in this house?"