23:00 PM, Sarah Anderson and Damien, Master Bedroom.
I woke up in a jolt and a jerk of the body; shortness of breath and completely horrified.
The closeness to death that I just experienced in my dream was making my whole body shake unruled. "S-Stop...!" I begged. As much as my brain would try and command my hands to stop shaking, they just wouldn't comply. I sat on the edge of the bed with a feeling of helplessness weighing on my chest. I clenched my hands for a second but relaxed them right after. I sighed and sheltered my face on the palms of my hands. Was I like this because of my fear of being buried alive? "Who..." I murmured against the palm of my hand. "Who..." I murmured to myself again. "Who was she? And why was she being lovey-dovey with him?" That dream was driving me nuts. I demanded answers; my rueful heart was the one who demanded them. I shook my head in dismay. "What is she to you Erik?!" I yelled, not caring to whom might hear me. I began crying; the hot, salty tears were flooding my cheeks and dripping off my chin. "W-What... is-s... s-sh-he... t-to... you..." I repeated and curled over myself, letting all those questions consume me.
The door suddenly squinted open, "Sarah...?" not long after, I heard someone calling my name.
"Uh?" I looked over my shoulder and saw one of the incubi, "Damien..." I stared into the fifth brother's eyes. His face was painted with worry and concern, and I instantly knew. He must have seen my dream.
"Hey, good morning." He said with a soothing voice. "I heard some commotion so, I decided I would check up on you."
Sarah, play it cool! "Err, I uh..." I whipped hurriedly the tears from my cheeks as much as I could and I dried my eyes with the back of my hand. "Wait a minute, I'm not decent!" I reached out for the robe resting on the nearest chair.
"I-I-I-I'm sorry," He pressed a hand to the side of his face, thus intentionally avoiding to look directly at me. He waited a minute or two, "What about now? May I come in?" then asked.
"Yes, s-sure..." I said, feeling the awkwardness of the situation sinking in.
Damien closed the door quietly for not to wake up the others, and then, he walked up to me and sat on the opposite edge of the bed.
I straightened myself up and stared fixedly at my knees. "I know what's on your mind, and I'm fine."
"Are you sure everything is alright?" He kindly insisted. "Do you want to talk about it, Sarah? I've already seen it so, you don't have to get into too much detailing, just tell me how much you wish to share--"
I nodded and more tears started to flow from my eyes. I gripped my nightgown, trying to control them. "N-Nothing to worry about, I'm... I'm fine... it was just a silly nightmare!" I said sobbing convulsively; my shoulders accompanying in movement.
The following silence gnawed at my insides. Silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shattering on the ground. The silence was like a gaping void, needing to be filled with sounds, words, anything. The silence was poisonous in its nothingness, cruelly underscoring how heartbroken I was. The silence was eerily unnatural, like the dawn devoid of birdsong. Silence clung to me like a poisonous cloud that at any moment could choke the life from me. Silence seeped into every pore of mine like a poison slowly paralyzing them from either speech or movement.
Finally, he spoke. "I understand if you feel uncomfortable to talk to me about all of this so, If you prefer, I can go get Erik and you guys can--" Damien was about to get up and leave the room to call his brother when I, completely distressed with the idea of Erik seeing me like that, turned around and grabbed his arm firmly. "Sarah...!" He uttered my name in surprise.
"Please... don't..." I begged him tearfully.
"Why...?" He seemed confused at my request.
"Because... I love him and... I'm so heartbroken..." I sat down again, sobbing my heart out, and Damien moved to sit beside me. "I can't bear seeing him right now... I mean, I can't look in his eyes because... all I can see is..."
"Look." He grabbed my chin and made me look into his eyes. "You don't need to be heartbroken, Sarah. We do all care about you and are very much fond of you, but Erik... well... his feelings for you are quite different. He loves you very deeply."
"He does...?" My eyes widened and flickered in surprise.
"Of course." Damien smiled at me. "Although, I had to listen to his private thoughts to reach that conclusion. Well, it's only been a few weeks since he confessed to me what I already knew."
At that moment, I chose to ignore his unexpected, but indeed revealing statement and go straight to the point. "Then tell me, who is she? What is she to him? Why did he say he loved her and would do everything for her? Why? Why Damien?" I couldn't restrain myself anymore. I had to ask. Surely, he had some answers that he could provide me. "The whole ordeal seemed so real, ya know? To me, it felt like a flashback of a memory of some sort... Damien, please tell me... does he have someone else?"
"To who she is, I'm in no place to answer that, but I can tell you one thing, he does not have another significant other. He only has eyes for you." Said Damien, hastening to reassure me.
My heart ached at his response.
"Of course he doesn't talk about his feelings much but, I can see it when he looks at you, all of us can." Then continued, "If you could see how his eyes sparkle when he sees you, when you smile, when you laugh..."
"R-Really...?" I babbled, feeling my cheeks turn pink.
Damien chuckled. "And, when you blush like that too!"
I felt myself blush even harder, so I tried to hide by giving him a stern look. "Do you really mean that or are you just saying those things to make me happy?"
Damien shook his head. "I'm telling the truth. Ah! And don't forget - mind reading." He gave her arm a nudge.
I giggled at the mention. I had almost forgotten he could do that. Curious. What kind of thoughts does Erik have about me? Does he think about holding my hand? About kissing my lips, holding me in his arms, touching my body? Does he feel like being intimate with me? I blushed again at the question, feeling quite embarrassed with my own conclusions.
"Sarah, don't be so insecure about his feelings and go talk to him about yours. The past is in the past. No one can change it. Time is precious in the matter of love. Do you understand?"
I nodded and smiled. Understood! It was time for me to be the woman I am and pursue after my happy-ending. "You're right Damien!" I got up from bed feeling energized and determined enough to go tell him all about my feelings."I'm going to tell him right away! Do you know where he is?! Ah--! First of all, what time is it?"
"Err... uh... in the garden... It's 23 pm..." He answered looking at his wristwatch. Damien seemed a bit startled at the sudden change of spirit.
"Already this late? Strange... Oh well, I might take a cozy blanket, it might be cold out there. I don't want him to catch a cold...!" I said, completely high in the clouds with the idea of coming clean and just be with him. "You're the best, Damien!" I bent down and kissed his cheek truly grateful. "Thank you for everything."
Damien touched slightly his cheek with his fingertips, "D-Don't mention it...!" and said in a low tone, flustered at the gesture.
The next thing I did was grabbing the blanket from the closet and left the room without further words. I was beyond excited. This was my moment. It was now or never.