Overprotective

Ashley turned on the bed and kept turning. She was running for her life again. The monsters were chasing her and her feet hurt badly. She realized she didn't have any shoes on but she couldn't stop to tend to her feet now. That was not important at the moment.

Ignoring the pain she was feeling there, she tried to focus on where she was running to, hoping that this time she won't trip and fall like she always did.

Ashley ran not knowing where she was or where she was headed. The moon shone brightly above her and she could hear the footsteps of those chasing her close by. She was panting and gasping for air as she ran.

Suddenly, her foot hit a stone and she gasped as she stumbled over. That only added to the pain she was feeling on her feet. She looked back and found the ones chasing her now very close, they were standing there in the shadows, she could see their movements and she heard them murmur something. Not waiting to think of what they said, she began limping away.

But it didn't take long before she was circled. They had come out from the shadows now but she just couldn't see them clearly. She had never seen them clearly.

She screamed for help but heard them laugh at her. She badly wanted to wake up from this dream but she knew it wasn't time yet.

While she couldn't run further and just kept turning in circles watching each of them in case they tried anything harmful, one of them sprung at her which she wasn't expecting. She flinched and fell backwards then groaned because of the pain in her butt from the fall.

"Don't come near me," she shouted but wondered if they even understood English.

She tried to crawl away from them but before she could do anything, one of them bent down to grab her and she screamed before waking up.

Ashley shot her eyes open with a gasp. She sat up and rubbed her face which once again was sweaty. This same dream again. She was supposed to be used to it already after two years but she only got more scared.

She wondered why she never saw their faces well, like she had a blurry vision and also why everything felt so real. She didn't want the nightmares again but she didn't know if this one was better than having that man, no, that demon in her dream.

The thought of the demons made her shiver and she stood up to get water. Everywhere was still dark. It was still far from day break and Ashley had no idea how she was going to spend the rest of the night.

She wished she had someone with her everytime she slept that could calm her down and tell her everything was alright and that it was only a nightmare, nothing more, when she woke up covered in sweat from these bad dreams.

Ashley walked into her kitchen to get water. She filled a glass cup and drank from it, finishing it all in one gulp. Then she went back into the room. She laid back on her bed and picked up her phone. Sleep had left her eyes. Maybe it would come back but for now she didn't want it to.

Wanting to keep herself busy, she went through Instagram. Natalie had helped her create an account and she thought it was fun. She scrolled through watching videos from random pages and viewing pictures. She spent alot of time watching and laughing at funny videos.

When she dropped the phone it was past four in the morning. God, she really needed stuff like this to clear her mind and keep her relaxed. She also couldn't wait for the sleepover. She sure would have fun being with Natalie. It was good that it was weekend, she won't have to wake up early thinking of rushing to work after the sleepover night today. The only thing she feared was the nightmares ruining the night for her.

Ashley turned on the bed still not feeling sleepy. She deliberately avoided thoughts of Damon or the demon blah blah he talked about.

After he left she had thought about what he said of her staying with him. There was no need when he could just be watching and saving her like he had been doing when she thought God sent him.

If she stayed with himself the benefits would be no nightmares hopefully and maybe enough protection from whatever. But what will the disadvantages be?

The disadvantages would be getting to see his beautiful face everyday and she didn't know how well she would come with that. She didn't want to think about all that now. She would focus on work and her fun night with Natalie.

Ashley closed her eyes hoping to sleep without disturbance before it was time to get ready for work. Thankfully she did, after a while. When she opened her eyes again it wasn't because of terrible dreams but because of her alarm clock that kept ringing loudly.

Ashley got up unwillingly. The good sleep was so short, she hated it.

She walked straight into her bathroom and did the usuals to get ready for the day. She dressed nicely and packed her hair up into a high pony tail, she wore her boots as usual and put on lip gloss.

Satisfied with herself, she packed her pajamas and slippers then a red dress and her tooth brush and everything else she thought she was going to need for the night and the morning and arranged them neatly into her backpack. The dress was going to be Sunday's wear. She would follow Natalie to her house after work so she needed to pack everything she would need now.

She hung her full backpack and picked up her phone from the chair before she heard the sound of a car stop outside her apartment in the calm and quiet of the morning. Of course there were other people with cars living in the same street who would also drive to work in the morning. But why did one stop just outside her house? She looked through the window and saw the car of the person she had been avoiding to think about.

Why did he come again, early in the morning? Was he scared that something had happened to her? He had seemed hesitant to leave her house last night like something bad would happen if he left. Well, she also got a bit scared after he left so no one should be at fault.

But now he was back, very early when she had work to go to.

Right. He didn't trust just anyone with her and would want to be taking her to work by himself. He was being overprotective, she thought. She was supposed to be happy that someone else aside Natalie and Cassandra cared about her wellbeing and not just cared, also wanted to protect her out of free will. But instead of being happy she felt worried for some odd reason.

Ashley watched as Damon got out of the car and closed the door. Lord. She didn't even know whether to leave the house or stay in and wait for him to come to her.