Chapter 9

“I'm doing no wrong!” her father shouted as he was being pulled away by the city guards.

She felt terrified and helpless as she watched. She couldn’t move. Her feet felt like they’d been tied to the mountains behind her and they wouldn’t budge for anything.

“How do you call this freedom? How is this justice? If one cannot speak his mind, how does a society prosper?” his voice rang out as he struggled against the arms of his captors.

The scene changes to a darkened stairway.

“I understand what you’re doing dear, but think of what this will do to us! What it will do to your wife and daughter!” she overheard the forced whisper. There was agony in that voice.

“I love you two. You HAVE TO KNOW that’s why I’m doing this! I want our daughter to have a real future, not one that’s determined by those who play with her mind as if it were a toy!”

“I understand, I really do, and I agree with your sentiments,” the voices pleaded. “But what if one day you don’t come back? Will all your fighting for our family be worth it if you get yourself killed? Is this worth losing your family for? What if they take us away from you? What if they take our memories of you? Can you accept the possibility of losing us?”

“I WILL NEVER let that happen, I’d DIE before I let that happen!” Conviction rang through that voice.

Why was it so familiar? Why couldn’t she place it? Most importantly, why did it ache so? Why did she hurt so badly whenever that ghost of a voice appeared in her dreams?

“That’s what I’m afraid of!” The woman cried. Tears ran down her cheeks. “I don’t want our daughter growing up without both of her parents!”

The scene shifted again.

Now it’s dark and musty, the air tastes of sweat and urine. A strange person is standing in front of her.

“You’ll soon forget everything,” the voice is sickly sweet, making her imagine a pig dressed as a fine lady.

Her breath catches as a damp, cold hand, reaches toward her head. She tries to squirm away from its terrifying approach, but she’s being held down. She can’t escape.

“I’ll take it all away for you,” the voice chuckled in its overly saccharine tone. “I’ll make everything fine. You won’t hurt anymore. Just trust me.”

*****

Sephira bolted upright, a bead of sweat trickled down from the side of her temple and followed the soft curve of her cheek to her jaw where it dripped onto her cotton sheets.

Why was she having these nightmares?

She’d been free of them for years.

As she sat in her bed and blearily gained her bearings, Sephira tried to recall her nightmare.

There was nothing there.

Just a hole.

Why couldn’t she remember and did she feel so hollow after each dream?