The shift ended. Club was closed, the place was empty. Usually it was just him and Raffe left to make sure all the doors were locked and the windows closed and the place was buttoned up. He finished the rounds making sure all his extra security measures were in place. Last thing he needed was the Atharim breaking in and killing him in his sleep. Or worse blowing the joint up.
He still had nightmares about the fire -- among other things.
The calm of the horde was unique. But they gnawed at his brain still, he felt their itching and scratching and Nox knew he should go to the Alamaz and let them play, but the girls slept in his bed and he couldn't leave them alone -- not in a strange place. He'd freak out. He didn't want that for them.
Nox opened the door and their soft sounds of slumber made him smile. He sat down in the doorway and pulled on his hoodie. It had long since lost any scent of his mother or sister, but it was all he had left of either of them. With the hood up over his head and the stuffed rabbit clutched in his arms Nox shifted into a comfortable position guarding the door to his room but catching a few winks.
Sleep comes and the darkness pours in like always. And like always the darkness fills with all his nightmares. The fire having been present on his waking mind boiled in his dreams. Images of Bas flailing in the flames as they consumed his body. A failure he wasn't even present to try to stop. He hadn't even known he was in there until he read the report. Nova's charred body from the same explosion curled around his feet dripping with ooze and the stench of the horde whining and yelping as Nox picked his friend up and tossed him into the burning fire.
Images of a large black dog with red eyes stalks out of the flames and rushes towards him, only to bound over him and when Nox turns to see it's victim he freezes in cold abject horror as invisible claws rip through his mother. Her eyes are pleading for help and she reaches for him. In the distance Nox hears his father's words. 'you should have saved her.' 'you are worthless.' The words turn to hatred and slurs in his mind.
The voice steps out of the shadows and reveals the speaker. His father woulda have been seething in his own vomit spewing the horrible words, but this time, a calm looking man with shaggy curly hair and a scar across his throat rasped. 'You betrayed me.'
Nox's eyes popped open, his heart racing in his chest and covered in sweat. Tears flowed down his cheeks and he buried his face into the fluffy pink bunny to hide the tears. The sun couldn't rise fast enough. The darkness haunted him and all his failures come alive in twisted nightmares. Even sleep was torture.
He still had nightmares about the fire -- among other things.
The calm of the horde was unique. But they gnawed at his brain still, he felt their itching and scratching and Nox knew he should go to the Alamaz and let them play, but the girls slept in his bed and he couldn't leave them alone -- not in a strange place. He'd freak out. He didn't want that for them.
Nox opened the door and their soft sounds of slumber made him smile. He sat down in the doorway and pulled on his hoodie. It had long since lost any scent of his mother or sister, but it was all he had left of either of them. With the hood up over his head and the stuffed rabbit clutched in his arms Nox shifted into a comfortable position guarding the door to his room but catching a few winks.
Sleep comes and the darkness pours in like always. And like always the darkness fills with all his nightmares. The fire having been present on his waking mind boiled in his dreams. Images of Bas flailing in the flames as they consumed his body. A failure he wasn't even present to try to stop. He hadn't even known he was in there until he read the report. Nova's charred body from the same explosion curled around his feet dripping with ooze and the stench of the horde whining and yelping as Nox picked his friend up and tossed him into the burning fire.
Images of a large black dog with red eyes stalks out of the flames and rushes towards him, only to bound over him and when Nox turns to see it's victim he freezes in cold abject horror as invisible claws rip through his mother. Her eyes are pleading for help and she reaches for him. In the distance Nox hears his father's words. 'you should have saved her.' 'you are worthless.' The words turn to hatred and slurs in his mind.
The voice steps out of the shadows and reveals the speaker. His father woulda have been seething in his own vomit spewing the horrible words, but this time, a calm looking man with shaggy curly hair and a scar across his throat rasped. 'You betrayed me.'
Nox's eyes popped open, his heart racing in his chest and covered in sweat. Tears flowed down his cheeks and he buried his face into the fluffy pink bunny to hide the tears. The sun couldn't rise fast enough. The darkness haunted him and all his failures come alive in twisted nightmares. Even sleep was torture.
![[Image: nox_sig.gif]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/nox_sig.gif)