Page 26 of Light in Your Eyes (Romero Brothers #1)

Layla

“Layla.”

Someone is calling me. The voice is familiar. I know who it is.

It’s Kellan.

“Who’s there?” I find myself asking the question. I can hear the voice, but I can’t see anything. It’s really dark. “Kellan?”

A little light appears in front of me, but it’s dimmed. I can see a path ahead of me. An old path, so dirty.

Still, everything around me is dark. I can only see the path.

“Kellan, are you there?” My voice is laced with panic and urgency. “Where are you?”

“Layla.” His voice calls me again, filled with pain.

And now, I’m running. There’s only one path ahead of me, so I don’t have any choice but to follow it.

“Kellan,” I shout, bringing my legs as fast as I can. “Are you in pain? Hold on. I’m coming. I’m coming for you.”

The path suddenly stops, and it becomes a total darkness again. My heart thumps so hard against my ribcage.

“A disgusting slave like you deserves to be rotted in this place,” another voice echoes. A man’s. Unfamiliar.

Then at a sudden, I see a dark dungeon before me. It consists of cells, like a prison. A jail.

Something pushes me forward, and one of the cell doors opens. I stumble into it, and the door closes behind me.

My hands are trembling as I try to stand up. I grip the bars of the cell door, shaking them violently.

“No, please,” I scream. “Let me go.”

But what I find is only silence. Total silence. I can even hear my ragged breathing. Fear engulfs me.

“Somebody help me,” I shout. Please.”

I shake the bars again. But it’s no use. I’m going to be trapped in here forever.

Rot in here. Just like that voice wanted me to.

“Help,” I begin to cry. “Help—”

***

I jolt from my sleep, sitting up on the bed with sweat rolling from my forehead. My whole body is shaking. My chest heaves up and down.

“You have a bad dream,” a voice next to me says.

Kellan stares at me with concern skating across his expression. He’s woken up because of me.

“It was horrible.” What leaves my mouth is a broken cry.

Kellan frowns. “What is it about? Talk to me. ”

I shut my eyes. My body trembles even more as I remember the scenes in my dream. “Dungeon,” I stutter. “Jail. It was the worst.”

Kellan sighs. “It was only a dream. What happened?”

I shake my head. When I open my eyes again and look at him, tears blur my vision.

“I was trying to find you. It was dark, and I heard your voice.” I take a deep breath, trying to calm down.

It’s difficult to speak when I’m still overwhelmed by panic and fear.

“But I didn’t know where you are, and I was…

” I almost choke on my words. “I was terrified. Because everything was so unfamiliar. So dark, and so cold.”

Kellan leans closer to me and holds my arm, trying to help me calm down. “It’s okay. Just let it out.”

“Then I heard someone else’s voice, but I didn’t know who it was,” I say.

“I’d never heard that voice before.” My arms wrap around my myself as I close my eyes again.

I’m trembling all over. “And then I was pushed into a dungeon. Then the jail. I thought that I was going to be trapped in that dark place forever.” I finally break down.

To my surprise, Kellan wraps his arms around my body, and I freeze in his hold. My eyes snap open as I realize that I’m now being held in his embrace.

“You’re alright,” Kellan whispers, trying to soothe me as he tightens his hold on me. “You’re here. You’re safe.”

His words warm my heart, but it causes more tears to form in my eyes. It’s not every day that I can hear such words from Kellan, and it makes me want to cry even more.

After holding me for a minute, Kellan pulls away. “Drink first,” he says. “You need it.”

I nod slightly and take a glass of water from the nightstand.

“You’re shaking.” Kellan leans closer to help me. “Can you hold it?” Slowly, he wraps his hand around mine holding the glass so that I can take the water.

After I drink, a long sigh leaves my mouth. But my heart is still thumping wildly against my ribcage. The image from the dream is still haunting me.

“Let’s talk about something else,” Kellan says, still giving me full attention. “Something that can get your mind off it. What about your family? Can you tell me about them?”

I nod and close my eyes. A few tears still drop. “I have Nana,” I say weakly. “And Archer.”

“How old is your brother?” he asks, listening to me intently.

“He’s fourteen,” I stutter again. “I can’t. I can’t do this. I’m shaking all over.”

“Come here.” Kellan pulls me into another hug. “It’s alright. You’re alright. You’re here, with me. In my room. Can you feel me?”

I let his words sink in. “Yes.” I nod. “You’re here. You’re safe too.”

I allow myself to be overwhelmed by him. Kellan is holding me without his shirt on because that’s the way he usually sleeps every night, and I’m trying to focus on the warmth of his skin.

My mind also tries to wander to my family — anything to help me get rid of the dream.

“Pictures,” I suddenly say. “I want to see their pictures.”

“Who?”

“My family. I need to see their faces too. ”

Now that Kellan is here with me and both of us are safe, far away from that nightmare, I want to see Nana and Archer too. But since it’s impossible at this moment, pictures will do.

I abruptly pull the drawer from the nightstand at my side and grab my family photo. I can’t help but sniffle when my tear falls onto the picture. It’s a photo of me, Nana and Archer. It was taken a year ago in the backyard of our house, on my birthday.

“I miss them,” I say, feeling a great longing in my heart. “They’re doing okay too, right?”

Kellan nods, touching my shoulder. “Of course, they are. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper brokenly. “I just miss them so much.” I stare at his face, which still has a deep frown because of his worry for me. “Can you hug me again?”

Kellan doesn’t give me a verbal answer, but he does what I want him to do. He pulls me into another tight hug, and I feel like I never want to get out of his embrace.

I never thought that I would need Kellan Romero by my side this much.

But at this moment, I really do.