The room was so dark and so silent. She could hear every sound echo through from outside. Every car that went past lulled her into a deeper sleep. And then, suddenly, she heard it. Another noise. Alien, like it didn’t belong to that place or time. And it was inside the house. Her eyes flickered open and her senses sharpened, straining to hear the noise again. And it came. Closer this time. Her fingers gripped the cool white sheets and twisted them in her hands as she heard the noise again and again. She didn’t know what to do. It was outside her door and she had nowhere to run to. Nothing to defend herself with and then the door opened but no light spilled through. A soft click and it was shut again. Like nothing had happened but the noise inside her room told her otherwise. She could feel the fine hairs on the back of her neck bristen and prickle with the fear she now felt. Her body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. His hands wrapped around her neck and only then could she scream.
“Holy shit!” Kevin sat upright in his bed as the scream came again.
It was Libby. He jumped out of bed, threw open the connecting door and ran to her side. She was screaming in her sleep and he put a hand on her shoulder to shake her softly.
“Libby, come on baby, wake up. It’s just a dream.”
“Oh God, Nick!” she moaned as her eyes opened and she had him in a vice grip. He let her hold him until her breathing calmed and then he gently peeled her damp body away from his to look into her pale face.
“Nick?” he asked softly. “You were dreaming about Nick?”
“No,” she said. “I thought you…”
“That I was Nick?” he asked confusedly.
“His room used to be by mine,” she murmured, weak from the nightmare.
“Oh,” he said with sudden understanding. “Oh.” He looked at her and smiled softly. “C’mon Libby, lay back down. It’s all ok now. I’m here.” She laid down and he pulled the sheets up over her body. He smoothed her hair back and touched her cheek softly. “I’ll stay right here.”
Libby closed her eyes and within minutes her breathing had calmed into one who was sleeping. Kevin sat staring into his sister’s face. Her scream had been awful, had sounded so hopeless. Like whatever horror she had faced in her dream had been familiar to her. It hadn’t been the scream of a fighter. And she had mistaken him for Nick because Nick always took the room next to hers. He had done so since her very first night. So it had been Nick who had raced in to calm her whenever she screamed. And Kevin had taken Nick aside to berate him for his constant state of weariness, and Nick had just taken it. Instead of screaming to him that he was only tired because he was doing what Kevin hadn’t done for Libby. Kevin bowed his head and took Libby’s hand in his. He was going to put everything right in the morning. He would find out why she dreamt and he would thank Nick for looking after her. He would take over as her night-time protector until the dreams disappeared. But tonight he would sit by her and watch her sleep, only leaving when the clock struck 7am and the room was filled with sunlight.
Libby stretched out and opened her eyes. The time was 9am and she groaned. The last thing she remembered was siting on her bed to take off her shoes after having that nightcap with Howie. She had obviously lost her fight against sleep. And hadn’t the nightmare woken her up again? No, Kevin woke her. He had heard her scream and she remembered everything now. She had called him Nick. She rubbed her eyes as there was a knock on the connecting door.
“Come in.”
“Good morning lazy,” greeted Kevin with a bright smile but his eyes were dark.
“Hey,” she smiled. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“No problem,” he walked over to sit beside her. “That’s what I’m here for. Will you please tell me about your dreams? Are they about LA?”
“Yes,” she sighed and drew her knees up to hug them.
“Libby, just tell me. I promise I won’t get angry with you about anything. Or judge you.”
“I never told you or mom this but I met a guy called Paul in LA. He was an accountant for the place where I worked and he asked me out a few times before I said yes. So we started dated. He was so charming Kevin,” she smiled slightly at the memory. “I couldn’t believe he would wanna be with ME. He came from old money and he spoilt me with gifts and flowers. He even helped me find an apartment, he put down the deposit and helped me move in.”
“I could’ve helped you with that.”
“I know but it was romantic. It was like he was my prince charming at last. Naïve I know,” she added when she saw Kevin’s look. “But he was. For a time at least. He had a key to my apartment and he came by one night to surprise me but I wasn’t in. it was a colleague’s birthday and I had gone along. I got back at about 2am and he was waitin’ for me. He didn’t believe where I’d been and accused me of cheatin’ on him. I denied that and got kinda mad at him. I tried to get him to leave but he just grabbed me and threw me against the wall. He hit me a few times.” Libby stopped briefly as the muscle in Kevin’s jaw started twitching angrily. “Then he left and I swore I would never see him again. And I didn’t. even though he sent me flowers almost every hour and wrote me begging letters for a week, and then I just gave in. I mean, everyone deserves a second chance right? But he didn’t change. He actually got worse. He was clever – he never hit me anywhere people could see. And I was too scared to tell anyone. I mean, as he so often told me, who would take my word against his? He was from a respected family, had a good job and I was just a nobody from hicksville. If I ever told anyone, he would take my job and my home. It’s real dumb but the final straw was when he ripped up a letter from you before I got the chance to read it. Such a little thing really but that made me leave the apartment. I rented a place in San Reno for a couple of weeks but then he found me and he started calling me, saying he was gonna come over and hurt me. I just ran, caught the first bus out to Houston and… Well, you know the rest.”
“But he’s still in your dreams?”
“Yeah and I guess he always will be.”
“No he won’t,” Kevin told her firmly. “You’re gonna give me his name and we’ll get him arrested for what he did to you.”
“No Kevin.”
“Yes! He can’t get away with what he did to you Libby! You’re not a nobody. You’re Elizabeth Mary Richardson and nobody, and I mean NOBODY, fucks with the Richardsons.”
“It’s over now Kevin and that’s the way I want it to stay. I don’t wanna see him again and I don’t want him to know where I am,” Libby pleaded.
“It’s not over. He’s still in your head and he’s still hurting you. You can’t run for the rest of your life Libby!” Kevin stood up angrily. “He’s scum and he needs to be put in a place with the rest of society’s scum. And if you’re not willing to do that then I damn well will.” He stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind him.
Libby groaned loudly and threw her pillow across the room. She had known that was how he would react and now she had to find some way of making him butt out. Maybe the only way was to leave. If he couldn’t see her, he would forget his anger and let it go. Libby sighed and headed into the shower. Yeah, leaving was the best plan but she didn’t want to do it.