ME: She did. My mate is one hell of a fighter.
HENRICH: That she is, and you somehow managed to tear down her walls once. Have faith that you can do it again.
That's the problem.
I did do it again, only to have my light breakdown and allow her fear and paranoia to win out.
I knocked down her walls, got her to let me in, only to have her build ones that are higher than before. Then she covered the bastards in barbed wire and electrical fencing.
ME: Thank you, brother, for your help.
HENRICH: We are clan, Havok. There is nothing we will not do for each other. I'll keep looking for anything else that may be helpful to you. Just have faith all will work out as it should.
Just as I go to type my response, a noise from inside my light’s cabin draws my attention.
She is not speaking, not crying.
Samson just went out not that long ago so it isn't him scratching at the door or walking about.
I listen a little longer and when there is no other noise, I go back to my conversation.
Only to spring to my feet and start racing toward the cabin a few seconds later when my angel’s blood curdling scream pierces the night.
"Gypsy! Angel!" I throw open the screen and try the front door. ”My angel, please, open the door!" I bang on the wood, pound on the glass. "Angel!"
Fearful for my mate, worried I'm going to have to break down the door I know for a fact she installed herself, I gear up to throw myself against it when Samson appears in the window.
And he looks fucking scared.
"Yes! Good! Hello, Sammy!" I know he's just a dog but he's a smart as hell dog, and I'm praying he somehow learned to unlock doors. "Can you let me in, Sammy? Let me in so I can help your mama."
He whines and I can tell he's shifting back and forth on his feet. Samson glances toward my light’s loft just as she screams again but it's followed by a thud and my heart practically shoots out of my chest.
"I need your help, Sammy. I need you to help me get in there or else I'm going to break this door down and we both know how well that will end for me."
Samson disappears from view briefly and I panic, worry that he's given up and I will have to destroy all of my love’s hard work to try to protect her from whatever monster is lurking inside.
And when I'm about to do just that, Samson hops back up in the window then whines as he looks toward the living room before dropping down again. Then his nose parts the curtain above the couch as he paws at the window.
I follow because Samson is seriously smarter than any animal should be, then watch his shadow as he proceeds to jump up and down on his hind legs.
So I step back and look, try to see what he's attempting to show me and the second I'm far enough back, I do.
There's a goddamn skylight in the living room, one I never noticed before and the fucker is open.
I am going to kiss that dog right on the goddamn mouth.
My angel screams again and I swear she says my name, so I scale her tiny house as quickly as possible, pull the skylight open the rest of the way and drop down into the home I'll appreciate much more thoroughly when my mate isn't screaming bloody murder.
And when I look to her bed, my heart drops.
My light is thrashing around on the mattress, blankets tangled around her legs, sweat dripping from her body. Her body that is contorted in a way that she should not be capable of, almost like a gymnastic bridge gone wrong, though her arms are at her sides as if they're pinned down and her small feet planted on the mattress just as firm. Her head is tipped so far back on her neck that she could see out the small window all the way through to the windshield of her truck and her hair is wrapped around her throat as if it's strangling her.
"Angel!" I grab the top of the ladder and hoist myself onto her bed. "Oh, my angel, please, please wake up!"
She screams my name, clearly, and with so much desperation, so much fear that I disregard what I've learned about waking one from nightmares and grab onto her.
"Gypsy, angel, I am here. Open your eyes, my love. I am here, you are safe."
