Nightmare
1020 Words
Chapter 10
Nightmare
Lia
“Papa, can we get ice cream?”
“Honey, we’ll be at your aunt and uncles in an hour. You can have ice cream after dinner with your cousins,” Mom said, her voice steady but lacking its usual cheer.
“But I’m bored, Mama! We’ve been in the car all day!” I whined, kicking my legs against the seat in frustration.
Papa’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and he smiled warmly. “Just a little bit longer, pumpkin. Then we’ll be safe at Uncle Seamus’s house. We’ll play and have loads of ice cream. Alright?”
Trips to Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Seamus’s house were supposed to be fun. They were always filled with stops for picnics, playgrounds, and milkshakes. But this time felt different. We hadn’t stopped for anything, and the car ride dragged on forever.
“I don’t like this,” I whispered, crossing my arms.
“Sweetheart—” Mom started, but she didn’t get to finish.
Something slammed into the back of the car, and my head snapped forward, hitting the seat in front of me.
“Sarah!”
“Kenneth, no!”
My head throbbed, and everything felt disorienting. I could hear Mama and Papa’s panicked voices, but before I could process what was happening, the car jolted again.
The world turned upside down.
Everything was chaos, glass breaking, metal crunching and then there was fire. Fire all around me.
- - - - - - -
I woke up screaming, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath.
It took a moment for the nightmare to loosen its grip and for reality to come back into focus.
I wasn’t in the burning car anymore.
There was a deep, soothing voice grounding me.
And when I opened my eyes, I found myself staring into piercing blue eyes.
The eyes I had painted them a thousand times, angry and filled with fire. But now, there wasn’t anger in them.
There was something else.
Worry?
No. That couldn’t be right. I shook my head and leaned away from him, creating distance between us.
Aiden Kavanagh wouldn’t worry about me. The man didn’t care if I existed. To him, I was just a responsibility. A burden he had to carry because of who my family was.
I blinked a few more times, forcing the remnants of the nightmare away, and slowly sat up.
That’s when I noticed his hand resting on my thigh.
My gaze fell to it, and I couldn’t help but notice the scar running across his skin. The burn mark he’d earned saving me from that burning car so many years ago.
The memory stirred something deep within me, but I pushed it back down, unwilling to let it resurface. I couldn’t.
I knew Aiden wasn’t the type to ask if I was okay, but I also knew he wouldn’t leave until I said something.
“I—I’m fine,” I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.
He watched me for a moment longer, his expression unreadable, before standing up and returning to his seat without a word.
Niall, sitting across from me, gave my arm a reassuring pat before turning his attention back to his phone.
I glanced towards Oliver, only to find him glaring at me. The intensity of his look sent a chill down my spine. He noticed me watching and gave me a look that promised retribution for my actions.
But then something shifted in his expression.
He winced.
I followed his gaze and froze when I saw Liam.
In one hand, Liam held a switchblade, flicking it casually. One moment it was spinning between his fingers, and the next, it nicked Oliver’s hand just enough to draw blood.
I gasped audibly, my eyes widening in shock.
Liam shrugged nonchalantly, his tone almost playful. “My bad, man.”
Oliver looked horrified, his mouth opening as if to say something, but then he closed it again. Something was stopping him.
He just sat there, silent for once.
After what felt like an eternity, since I was too scared to go back to sleep, we finally landed at a private airstrip just outside of Boston.
I had tried to relax after the nightmare, but Aiden’s woodsy scent lingered in my nose, bringing with it a flood of memories I fought to keep at bay.
Once off the plane, I was ushered toward one of the waiting SUVs. The air was cooler here, sharper, and it carried that familiar Boston heaviness I hadn’t realized I’d missed.
“Hey, peach,” Declan greeted, his tone light and teasing.
I smiled at him.
Declan opened the back door for me, but before I could step in, I noticed Oliver being pushed toward the car behind us.
“What are you doing?” I asked, turning toward Aiden.
He didn’t answer.
Oliver twisted in the grip of one of the men escorting him. “I’m riding with her,” he snapped, trying to pull free.
My chest tightened.
Without thinking, I stepped away from Declan’s SUV and moved toward the other car. “It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll sit with Oliver.”
A hand closed firmly around my upper arm.
“Get in the car, Cordelia.”
Aiden’s voice was low.
“I’m sitting with my boyfriend,” I replied, forcing the words out evenly, even though my pulse had already begun to race.
For a moment, he didn’t respond.
He simply looked at me.
Then he leaned closer, his voice dropping enough that only I could hear him.
“If you take one more step toward that car,” he said calmly, “I will walk over there and put a bullet in his head before we leave this runway.”
My stomach dropped.
My heart pounded in my ears as I searched his face for some sign of exaggeration. Some flicker that would tell me this was a bluff.
There was nothing.
Aiden didn’t bluff.
“You wouldn’t,” I whispered.
His expression didn’t change.
“Try me.”
- Writer
