Free Dark Side of Dawn: The Nightmare Chronicles by Kathryn Smith Page B

happening here.
    The soft scuff of heel on pavement got my attentionand I lowered my chin before opening my eyes. I didn’t have to adjust to the darkness—I could see perfectly. I was practically omnipotent in the realm of the human subconscious while in the dreaming state. It was that whole “goddess” thing at work. And for now, I kept myself shielded from Amanda as she came down the steps of her building in a pink tracksuit and ponytail.
    She looked so young and cute and fragile. And whole. She didn’t look anything like the battered woman I’d seen in the hospital and I suddenly didn’t want to be there.
    But I couldn’t leave her. So, I moved from my spot beneath the light and fell into step beside her, slowly revealing myself and allowing her to notice me. I clothed myself in jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt so I wouldn’t look out of place.
    “Dawn?” Her steps faltered. “What are you doing here?”
    “Walking,” I replied. “Can I join you?”
    Amanda hesitated as memory and dreaming collided. I felt her confusion and indecision. Part of her knew this was not how it happened, and yet another part wanted to rewrite events.
    “Um, okay.”
    I fell in step beside her, and accompanied her down the street, where it suddenly seemed much darker and much less inviting. That’s where it had happened. I wasseeing the surroundings the way Amanda’s mind now interpreted them.
    It was obvious Amanda didn’t want to go there, but she began to slowly walk toward it, pulled by her memory. She might not want to go, but her mind knew she had to.
    I didn’t talk. Really, I wanted to ramble like an idiot, but I was scared that I would say or do something that would do her more harm than good. I hadn’t gone into someone’s dreams for the purpose of guiding them in a long freaking time, and I didn’t want to mess up.
    The night grew darker, the lights more dim. Suddenly the night didn’t seem so inviting as it had. Then Amanda grabbed my hand. Before I could clutch her fingers with my own, she was pulled from me. I saw a flash of an arm in a black jacket, and then she was pulled between two buildings. I could hear her cries, but they were muffled by a thickly gloved hand. There was no way anyone in these buildings could have heard her. I wouldn’t have heard her in the middle of nowhere, let alone in a neighborhood of a city that “never sleeps.”
    Instinct took over and I ran into the alley after them. I ran up behind the man who now had Amanda on the ground. He knelt between her legs and all I had to do was kick him hard in the back of the head to stop him.
    But this wasn’t real-time and me hurting him wouldn’t change anything in Amanda’s world.
    Instead I moved around behind Amanda and knelt at the top of her head. The alley was rough and pebbles dug into my knees through my jeans. I willed them away and reached out for Amanda.
    He had shoved a gag into her mouth and held her arms above her head with one hand as he pulled at her track pants. She struggled and he hit her—hard. I could hear her sobs mixed with his harsh breathing. I felt sick.
    I placed my hands on her head and stroked her temples and hair. “Look at his face,” I said. “Look at his face and see him.”
    Amanda whimpered and shook her head. Her attacker hit her again. He had her pants off now. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t just sit here and watch…
    I took her fear, bit by bit. I took her pain. I gently rubbed her forehead with my thumbs and held her still so she had to look at him. “See him,” I told her. “It’s all right.” And then I drew that fear and pain out of her and into myself. It rolled over me like oil, thick with grit, coating me. I’d never felt anything like it before in my life.
    I cried out. I couldn’t help it. But I kept my hands on Amanda. I was slowly peeling back the darkness Amanda’s mind had placed over his features to reveal his face, not just to her, but to me as well.
    She struggled,