Fate of the Cursed One

Chapter 6: Only if They Stopped

With a sudden jolt of limbs and muffled screams which tried to escape his mouth, the young man moved violently on the bed he was sleeping on. His panicked demeanour was loud enough to wake up the young lady who was sleeping beside him.

His fists clenched tight on the blanket, while cold sweat ran down his forehead. Eyes shut tight as if trying to hide from something which was hovering right before his eyes. Lips trembling and legs shaking, while he kept struggling to escape this nightmare.

The young lady was terrified, even though it wasn't the first time she was seeing it happen. But still, watching a person scuffle for their life while only whimpers left their throat was terrifying. With not even a tiny clue of what to do, she stared at him with her eyes wide open.

"Ma… please… I'm…", a few unclear words escaped the young man's mouth. He was in pain and she could see it clearly on his constricted face.

Despite her confusion and inability to comfort him, she wanted to help him. There was this determination in her hazel eyes which were enveloped in the darkness of the room. This unexplainable urge inside her to just embrace him in her arms.

She slowly puts her arm on the bed, as the mattress bends under the weight. Her somewhat open dark hair brushes past her cheeks, as she sneaks her way toward him. Make sure not to cause any unwanted commotion or wake him up by mistake. 

She read it somehow in a journal that waking someone up forcefully who is having a nightmare can be bad for their subconscious mind.

Lifting her arm gently, she advances it to cradle his hair. She could tell how tense his body was as soon as her skin touched his messy and soft hair. Drops of sweat on his forehead, as she brushed some strands off it. But still, there was no sign of him calming down.

There wasn't much she could do at that split second. Her slender fingers traced down his cheek, and she could feel the definition of his clenched jaws. Without second thoughts, she rested her head over his and pulled him closer to her.

His aggressive movements came to a sudden halt as he confided in her. There was this feeling of relief that washed over her. She was able to help him. Even though she could bear him before her eyes for even a second, seeing him in that state made her weak to her stomach.

The young man finally calmed down as he let out a heavy breath. He was back in his senses, but he couldn't make sense of where he was. As for the girl, she was sleepy enough that she dozed off as soon as she rested her cheeks on his soft and fluffy hair.

"Laeratia…" The young man softly calls out her name. He didn't want to make any ruckus as he found himself in quite an inescapable situation.

"Umm…?" He could hear her sleepy voice.

Putting a hand on her shoulders, he gently tried to get out of her grip while still trying to call out her name, "Laeratia? Laeratia?"

"Hmm…? Don't… I'm sleeping! Shut up!" She seemed to respond a bit more clearly this time, but her arms wrapped even tighter than before.

He let out a sigh, as he knew doing anything at that moment would just backfire on him. But not doing anything at all would backfire too. Laeratia would think that he was enjoying being between her arms close to her chest. It was a double-edged sword he was holding.

"Don't blame me when you wake up." He said with an irritated grunt and relaxed his body.

For the young man, it was indeed annoying to just recover from a nightmare and be restricted in a lady's arms. Though he wouldn't deny that it was quite a warming feeling to be embraced by someone close to their chest, as their arms hold him tight.

It has been quite a long time since he has felt this way. In the silence of the night, there was only the sound of the clock ticking in the room. With each passing second, even the tiniest of the sounds in the room started to feel loud.

His head rested against her soft chest. The sweet smell of her perfume tickled his nose, and the faint sound of her heart beating right against his ear filled his mind. But this moment of comfort was short-lived.

"Huh?!" Seemed like Laeratia was waking up, as she threw her arms at him and asked,  "What the heck are you doing?"

"You're hugging me… I should be asking that." The young man replied with a bland tone. Her eyes moved down to her arms as she quickly removed them. Being at a loss of words with her cheeks flushing red, "I… uhhh…"

"Yeah?" He asked, prompting her to continue. The woman was too stunned to speak. After fiddling for a few moments, she spoke up, "You're having a nightmare… so like I…"

"You decided to hug me?" He completed her sentence. She nodded without looking at him, "Well, you were not calming down and I didn't know of any other way…"

He just looked at her for a few seconds without saying anything. She was sitting half up-right, with her back resting against the pillow. The room was dark, but his their eyes adjusted with the low light and they could very well say see each other. 

 "You could've just left me… I would've calmed down on my own." He said nonchalantly. Laeratia turned towards him and said reluctantly, "Yeah… that doesn't sound very plausible."

"And that… wasn't very Laeratia of you." He chuckled. She sighed and went inside her blanket again, "Yeah whatever!"

Silence wrapped over the room which was filled with their voices a few moments ago. He shook his head and stared up towards the ceiling. A lot of things were running in his mind, but he couldn't miss the chance to push her buttons.

"I want to say something…" He said softly. The cheekiness could be heard through his voice as she turned over her shoulder and narrowed her almost closed eyes at him, "Huh?"

"Quite soft… you are…" He smirked before a flying pillow collided with his face, "Kigan!!"