SO QUIET YOU WERE.

[EMILIA ROSE TENNANT]

She stirred.

The unrelenting nightmare that surrounded her mind and kept her eyes shut tight didn’t bother with an apology as the darkness continued to engulf her. There was endless falling and a booming voice from all around; it called out to her as she tossed and turned in her bed, sweat dripping from her brow as she moved onto her back. A slender hand came up and then went crashing down on top of her face with a dull ‘thwack’; she heard the sound reverberating through the dream. Oh, how she wished that she could wake up and that these never-ending nightmares would cease to be the bane of her existence. All it was, was darkness, the falling and the booming voice – then when she woke up; the feeling of being inebriated without having alcohol. It was a strange feeling for sure and the girl often found herself wondering ‘why me?’ and ‘what did I do deserve these nightmares?’ The truth was lost; never going to be found – not even the professionals had been able to give her appropriate answers for her dilemma; they just preferred to give her pills to stop them, not caring that they never worked. To them, she was just another girl with just another problem not worth even going into detail with; a waste of their valuable time with a meaningless problem. They had plenty of other people to deal with that had problems worthy of their time. Nightmares were none of their concern, everyone had them, it was not uncommon/unheard of, and she just had to deal. But surely the nightmares had some sort of meaning, they were consistent. Every single night they occurred, every single freaking night.

Everything went silent.

A sudden drop. A dull ‘thud’; and a small ‘oof’. The girl found herself laying flat on the floor of her bedroom tangled in the covers. The nightmare, finally, had ended and she was awake. Mysterious green eyes flew open and searched the room, looking wildly to make sure that the nightmare had ended. Once satisfied that she was awake – well, after having to pinch herself to make sure; the girl lifted herself off of the cold floor and sat herself down on the edge of the bed, still tangled in the covers. Slender fingers rushed through bleach blonde coloured hair as a small sigh escaped her pink tinged lips. What time was it? She had no idea and didn’t bother to look over at her digital alarm clock as she rose from the bed, allowing the covers to fall around her feet. Her eyes drifted over to her usual partner's side of the bed, only to find that it was empty. Another sigh escaped her lips and she sat back down on the bed. This was the third time this week that Iago had been missing and she had woken up alone. Brushing her hair out of her eyes, the twenty year old female stood statue still for ten whole minutes before finally moving into a standing position once again and crossing the bedroom to the door. She couldn't - wouldn't - stay in the room knowing that he wasn't going to be there for the rest of the night. People said she worried too much. Perhaps she did. Perhaps she didn't. Either way, it wasn't doing her any good at all. The girl was getting sick; had always been sick, but her worrying was making it progessively worse. It would do no good to dwell on the empty darkness, she needed something to occupy her mind. Anything. A horror movie perhaps. Or maybe a marathon of cartoons ranging from Spongebob Squarepants to Chowder. It didn't matter. She just needed to clear her mind and wait for him to come back. Hopefully this time he wouldn't be covered in blood, he'd look normal and they'd be able to hold a normal conversation that didn't involve herself bursting into tears and him getting angry and frustrated with the unconsollable twenty year old.

Emilia made it to the door before the tears started.

A tiny fist crashed against the door frame. Her own frame shook and the sobs that emitted from her mouth echoed around the room as she sank against the door and closed her eyes tightly. It was no use. Now she had to go back to the bed she'd emptied moments earlier. Just the other day she had passed out from crying so much. Her head ached. She was cold and she just didn't feel that occupying her mind with pointless cartoon character's stupid shenanigans would serve it's purpose. Emilia turned on her heel and practically fell back into the bed, she bunched the covers around her tiny frame and burried her head into the pillow. Tears flowed from her green eyes. She cried and cried and cried. Sobs wracking her whole body, making it shake and heave. It was times like these when she needed Iago; wanted him. She needed to know that he was safe. That he wasn't in any immediate danger. Emilia cried and cried and continued crying until she felt so emotionally and physically drained, her eyes ran dry and her head was hurting so much. Why? Why did he leave? Where did he go? So many questions, so little time... Emilia's mind blanked, the crying ceased and then there was the eternal darkness.

For the second time that week; she passed out.