A bad dream

In the middle of the night Odettes sleep was interrupted by faint whining and mumbling.
She sat up in her bed and watched Meg move in her sleep. Was she having a nightmare? Odette slowly walked over to Meg and tried as gently as she could to shake her awake without scaring her too much.

Meg had only been asleep for a few minutes before her dreams were filled with nightmares. Nightmares of that night. It was peaceful at the start, but then shadows busted in through every corner.
Peeking out from between the closet door and the door frame, piercing violet eyes watched the horrors from afar. A black figure crossing back and forth, torturing the parents of a scared child. Screams echoed in her ears, getting louder and louder. Closer and closer. Thuds of heavy bodies falling to the floor. A figure, approaching the closet. So close.

As the door swung open, Meg shot up into an upright position on her bed, her eyes flying open, gasping for air. Her body was trembling and sweat dripped down from her face into her eyes, tears slowly falling down her cheeks.

Odette let out a surprised gasp when Meg woke up. She did not look good at all, scared and pale. Odette sat down on the bed next to Meg and put her arms around her. "It's ok, it was just a dream," she said, trying to comfort her friend.

Meg sat paralyzed for a few moments while Odette held her. Her nightmares were getting worse and worse in this prison. After a few moments, her body began to curl into a ball as her breath became more restricted. Tears kept forming in her eyes and her body shook, trying to hold them back. She grabbed onto Odette's arms and rested her head on her shoulder, refusing to let the sounds of crying escape her throat.

Odette continued to hold her, gently rubbing her back, as she hoped meg would calm down.
"You are awake now. Nothing can get you now," she continued in the same soft tone.
She wondered what se could have dreamt in order for her to react this badly to it.

Meg had started to collect herself. She let go of Odette and started taking deep breaths. Her body was still trembling as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "S-sorry, it's not usually that bad." She pulled her knees up to her chest, hoping to calm down fast.

"Don't worry about it," Odette said softly. She continued to strokes Meg's back to hopefully calm her down a bit, but gave her a bit more space.

Meg took a deep breath and calmed down. "What time is it?" She looked around the cell, noticing that the lights were still dimmed.

"It's the middle of the night." Odette looked at Meg for a while. "Are you feeling better now?"

Meg smiled at Odette and nodded her head. "Yes, thank you. I hope I didn't freak you out too much..." She played with her hands as she tried to forget the nightmare.

"No, don't worry," Odette said and smiled at Meg. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Well, I guess you deserve an explanation. I've been having nightmares ever since I was little, about the night my parents died. It's been getting worse ever since I've been in here." Meg confessed, nervous about how Odette would react to the way her parents were killed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Odette said, not really sure how she could make Meg feel better. "Was it... How did they.." Odette started, but she had difficulties finishing her sentences, worrying that asking about her parents' death would be rude or maybe just uncomfortable for her to talk about.

Meg laughed softly. "Our home was attacked late at night by a corrupted police force. They never knew I was there, since my mother had hidden me in the closet. They killed them...and I saw it all. It turns out that my parents had seen something they weren't supposed to see..so they had to pay for it..." She stared at the wall as she spoke, like the memories were being played out on it.

"Oh Meg," was all she could get over her lips. What was she supposed to say? It must have been terrible. She took her hand and squeezed it. And to think she still had nightmares about it. Poor girl.

Meg smiled and placed her hand on top of Odette's. "I'm fine, really. Don't worry about me."