I was in complete darkness.

Almost similar to how some of my nightmares started, but this time, it felt different.

It feels... soft... and warm...

A gentle heat radiated from my forehead and pulsed in a slow, even rhythm, spreading to the rest of my body. It’s soft warmth made me feel relaxed. It soothed me in a way that I had never felt before. Almost... almost like it was calming my soul. In that space and moment, I somehow knew that I would be safe from my nightmares. I leaned into the warmth and sighed.

Just as I grew accustomed to it, the warmth disappeared.

Desperate, I reached out.

“Don’t go!”

I opened my eyes only to see Alec with a complicated expression on his face. I was lying on the floor with a cushion under my head and Alec kneeling beside me.

“Alec?”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Er... Yeah. I think.” Strangely, I really was feeling slightly better. Lighter somehow.

“Good. Then perhaps you’d like to let go?”

I glanced down and noticed that I was grabbing his hand. The warmth of his palm sent a tingle up my arm. I could feel the tips of my ears start to burn as I immediately let go.

“Sorry... I-I didn’t reali- ”

“I caught you just as you were about to hit the floor, so I don’t think you hurt yourself too badly, but I’d like to do a quick check now. Can you sit up for me?”

Not waiting for my reply, Alec got up and headed towards his desk. He put on his black gloves and retrieved a penlight before heading back towards me.

When did he take off his gloves?

I blinked away the stray thought as Alec helped me up to the sofa. He sat next to me and used his penlight to check my vision. Finding nothing amiss, he then proceeded to check for contusions.

“Let me know if you feel any pain.” Alec said gently, his touches perhaps even more so.

His uncharacteristically professional yet tender treatment left me in silence. I was by now so used to his sardonic tone that I didn’t know what to make of this new creature in front of me. All the while I had seen him as an insensitive fraudster out to hurt one of my best friends. Had I been wrong about him after all? Was there more to him than that?

I quietly studied Alec as he moved efficiently. Almost elegantly. As he neared and reached around to feel the back of my head for bumps, I caught a whiff of his cologne.

It was a mix of earthy musk and something chemical. It was faint yet familiar. I unconsciously closed my eyes as I tried to call up the memories of this scent. It somehow reminded me of the heat of summer. Children, laughter... the pool.

Chlorine?

Did Alec go for a swim this morning?

“I’m all done with the basic checks. Apart from a small scratch on your neck and the bruise on your arm, you seem to be fine.”

My eyes snapped open, “Yeah the bruise is from before. Wait, did you say I have a scratch on my neck?”

“Yes, right there.” Alec gestured to my neck. Instinctively I raised my hand to check.

“Did I hit something when I fainted?”

“No. Also, the wound looks about a day-old. See for yourself.”

Alec handed me his phone which was in camera mode. Using the front facing camera, I found a faint, pink wound that I hadn’t noticed this morning. It was right along the underside of my jaw making it quite hard to spot if I weren’t looking for it. Frowning, I handed the phone back to Alec.

The wound seemed too neat and long for it to have come from a mere ‘accident’. It almost looked like what one would get from a blade or knife.

Where are my injuries coming from? First a bruise, now a cut?

Lucine Miller, what is happening to you?

I sighed and hung my head. A feeling of dread started to bubble in my gut. It was as though I was forgetting something. Something very important...

“Are you feeling faint again?” Alec’s brow furrowed in worry.

“No, I’m good. Anyway, thanks. For your help- ”

As I looked up to reply, my voice stopped mid-sentence.

There it was, the answer to that incessant, nagging feeling I couldn’t shake - Alec’s intense, hazel eyes.

Those eyes.

Weren’t they in my dream?

As though the fog had cleared, the chilling image of hazel eyes tinted crimson under the bright red moonlight appeared in my mind.

I swallowed, hard, “I think I should head home now.”

My mouth is dry. So dry.

I stood to leave, but Alec moved to stop me.

“Lucine, while I did say that you seem fine, what I did were mostly basic visual checks. You really should head to the hospital to... ”

I couldn’t focus. All I could see were the flashes of my nightmare that came to me one after another. A sharpened claw. It slicing along my jaw. It plunging into my eye socket.

My breath quickened, “I need to go home.”

“Lucine- ”

“I’m FINE!” My abrupt shout snapped me back to reality.

Alec’s face came into focus again, his look hardening into ice.

“I see.” even Alec’s voice cooled into a frost.

I couldn’t help but start to feel guilty as my consciousness returned.

Good going Lucine, yelling at the man who just helped you!

So what about hazel eyes? Many people have them!

It’s not Alec’s fault that you keep finding ghosts in every shadow!

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“Is that so.”

I ignored his jab, “I’m fine.”

“Fainting doesn’t qualify as ‘fine’. You should at least try to find out what caused it.”

“Look, I already know why. It’s because I didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all.”

Alec sat back down on the sofa and thought for a brief moment before pinning me with a pointed look, “I’m guessing it wasn’t just last night?”

My eyes flew back up to meet his cool ones, “Sorry?”

“How long have you been suffering from Insomnia, Lucine?”