n i g h tmares |open|

[weaslebee2]

She had thought that they would stop, but Emily was sorely mistaken. She had woke up fifteen minutes ago, drenched in a cold sweat, tears streaming down her face. Thankfully, she had not woken the other Slytherin fifth year girls with her screaming in her slumber. Emily had thrown on her bathrobe and slipped on her flip-flops, intent on going to the Room of Requirement, where she could go and try to get sleep without fear of waking anyone. She had cried silently all the way up, and only made it to the fourth floor landing, finding herself unable to go up any further.

Emily sat on the floor, small of her back against the wall, and then pulled her knees to her chest and burying her face in them, muffling her sobs. She had tried so hard to get over it, but she had no control over the dreams that haunted her at least two nights a week. Sometimes, she could handle them, but others she dissolved into the state that she had been in until March. She heard footsteps, but did not care, she was a prefect, so she couldn't get into trouble for being out at night.

[broadway]

Raychel had just come back from an evening jog. Normally, she would have to sneak around to getting exercise, but lately she had become friends with many prefects, so that wasn't an issue. She rounded the corner and headed up the long stairway. Suddenly, she saw someone, head in hands, crying. She hesitantly stopped and stared. The girl's name was Emily, that much she knew, and the fact she was a Slytherin prefect, and she was a 5th year. Raychel climbed the rest of the stairway and stood in front of Emily. "Um... are you okay?" she asked.

[weaslebee2]

Emily looked up from her knees to see the legs of another person. She extended her neck and tilted her head backwards to see who it was. Emily did not know her name, but she was certain that this was the girl her cousin Levi was so interested in. She suddenly felt silly now that there was someone else there, it was only a dream, nothing worth crying over. But the events in the dream had actually happened to her, broken her spirit as well as robbing her of the virginity she had cared so much about... It had occurred so long ago, but she still needed to cry over it. Only then had she realized her act of having everything under control had gaping holes in it. No, she was not all right, but for the sake of this awkward social meeting, she would say she was. "I-I'm fine," Emily said in a hoarse monotone that was hardly convincing.

[broadway]

Raychel raised her eyebrows curiously, but did not press the matter further. It was obvious she was lying, and she was in pain, so Raychel did not try to go any further. She leaned against the railing of the stairwell and watched her. She didn't know Emily very well, but she felt compelled to stay here with her and make sure she was okay. It was just something she felt she had to do. After her parents had died, she had cried for days, so she knew what sobbing uncontrollably in a random place felt like. She felt almost... connected to Emily in a way.

[weaslebee2]

Emily did not pay the girl any mind, but tried to stem the flow of her tears, as she had always been uncomfortable showing her feelings around others, even family and friends. This attempt was in vain, as they would not stop. It was like the night that she had been raped all over again. Emily remembered everything in explicit, chilling detail. Her charade was collapsing on itself, she had not gotten over her depression, she was still in that hole.

[broadway]

Raychel remained silent. She did not want to disturb Emily's mourning, for whatever reason she happened to be doing so. Her thoughts drifted the telling of her parent's death only a short while ago. No doubt she had looked like this. She only remembered parts of that day, like the letter, she sobbing, and Levi. She smiled absently. Yes, Levi was there for her. That's when they shared their first kiss. 'With despair there is joy.' she thought to herself. It must be true, that quote, for with her parents death came a new found love.

[weaslebee2]

Emily could feel the girl watching her, she was not able to understand what motivated her to do so. She almost wanted to snap at the girl to leave her be, so she could continue her mental breakdown in peace, but found that her voice got lost in her throat, as if forgetting where her tongue and lips were. Emily did not move, although she wanted nothing more than to be alone. As far as she was concerned, just then, there was no escape.

[broadway]

Raychel noticed Emily tense up as she tried to speak. Raychel shook her head and sighed. "Alright, Emily. I best be leaving now. Feel better." she replied with a soft smile. She strode past Emily, making her way to the staircase. She believed Emily wanted her to leave, what with her body language in all. Raychel wasn't entirely good at reading people, but she knew when people wanted to be alone. She placed her foot on the first step, preparing to make her ascent.

[weaslebee2]

Once Emily was confident that the girl had left her to her lonesome, she dissolved into sobs. The weren't loud, but every sound that came from her lips was heart-wrenching, it would not take an expert to hear the heavy pain in her crying. Emily did not even try to stop herself, she needed to let it out now that nobody was around. Mourning was the first step in recovery, a long, awful one, but not a step that could be afforded to skip.

[broadway]

Raychel stopped as she stood at the top of the steps. The Ravenclaw common room was right in front of her. Her hand gripped the rail for support. The heart-wrenching sobs tore her to pieces. 'Is that how I sounded?' she thought in despair. It took every fiber of her being not to go back down the steps and comfort Emily. Her grip tightened on the rail, her knuckles turning white. She had to go down there, but Emily was too far in grieving to be disturbed. Raychel was frustrated by the choices.

[igloogirl]

Coming back from her hunt, Gabriella had begun to walk upstairs when she smelled her sister and Raychel up a few floors. Sensing that something might be wrong, she hurried up, not bothering to check that her eyes were brown. They were a vibrant and unnatural shade of green. Gabriella figured if it was just Emily, than it wouldn't matter too much, though. She spotted her sister on the fourth floor landing, overflowing with tears. Gabriella sat next to her and wrapped her arms around Emily. "Shh, Emmie, it'll be alright," she said in a whisper. Clearly, the dreams were back.

[weaslebee2]

Emily allowed Gabriella to hold her, although it had not been in her plans. She just needed the comfort of a mental breakdown in privacy. Sometimes she had to let everything overwhelm her before she could go about feeling better. But in a way, if there was going to be someone to comfort her, Emily would rather it be her older sister. Gabriella had, after all, been the first one to help her after the whole mess, their bond felt deeper than sisters, at least to Emily it was.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella held her sister in a cold grasp for a long time while she cried. In a way, she had felt like it was her fault for what had happened to Emily; she was the older sister and should have payed more attention to her safety. At least she knew better now. Gabriella had long ago promised herself to never let anything bad happen to Emily again.

[weaslebee2]

Emily wanted to cry for long after her eyes had failed to produce tears. Her vision was slightly blurred, she almost felt sick to her stomach just then. She looked up into the face of her older sister, wiping the last of her lingering tears away with the back of her hand. "Y-Your eyes," Emily said, they weren't the brown that Gabriella used to cover up her being a vampire, but an unearthly, vivid green. Her heart still ached, she wanted to cut herself again.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella scrunched up her face a bit and her eyes faded back to their normal shade of brown. She would have to continuously remind herself to do that tomorrow morning, because she had just hunted, but it would be fine. Gabriella smiled softly to her sister. "No problem," she whispered. Gabriella released Emily and sat there for a moment. "Do you want to go to the Room of Requirement?" she asked.