She could hear the residual screaming in her mind. It wasn't real any longer. It was a memory of a past traumatic event that she was hearing. But the event had not been that far in the past. For as she walked through the ship's corridor, she could still smell the stench of burned flesh. Then, as she turned a corner and she saw them . . . Charred, dead bodies scattered down the hall. She could hear the death cries. For a psychic, these sounds echoed for years . . . sometimes centuries . . . based on the trauma of the event . . . and this was pretty traumatic. Her heart began to race. She didn't like this. The pain and fear emanating from this place was overpowering and fresh. She began running!
She had to get away! She had to leave this place and get away from the destruction and pain. She had to! She didn't know where her feet were taking her, and her green eyes kept misting with tears, blurring her vision.
As the sounds and fear eased a bit, she stopped running and looked around her. She was startled. The ship had disappeared. Now, she was standing in the middle of a small town. It appeared to be deserted. As she steadies her nerves, she started walking to the nearest structure. As she entered it, she realized it was a medical facility. A small one, but was functional. As she walked further inside, she was surprised to find a man alive. He was holding the burned remains of what had been a young boy. She was suddenly turned to stone. The man was sobbing and she could feel the anguish coming from him, but his words were nothing. She could not understand them. All her could think about was his son. The pain of the loss. The anger and feelings or betrayal. His life was over . . . she heard him thinking.
"No!" she cried out, but was helpless as he grabbed his weapon and killed himself.
Fear suddenly engulfed her! Her body shook out of control. Her breath came short and quick. She knew if she didn't slow it down she would hyperventilate and yet, she couldn't control it. She wanted to run again. To get away from all the emotions and all the death. But she was rooted to that spot! She couldn't move! And then, her breath caught in her throat as her heart beat out of control. She heard footsteps . . . They were coming toward her! And she could sense the malice emanating from him! But no matter how she struggled, she could not move!
Suddenly, from behind her, she heard an evil laugh. She turned her body to see a son'a man standing there with a weapon pointed at her.
"You won't outrun this . . ." he sneered.
He raised his weapon and aimed it at her. She began to hyperventilate as
she watched his finger begin to press the trigger.
"NO!!!!!" she scream! "NO!!!!"
Suddenly, she was sitting up in bed, sobbing. It had all been a nightmare . . . Just a nightmare . . . she tried to calm herself. Then arms went around her in a tender embrace.
"Its okay. Its over now . . ." Troy soothed.
She still had a hard time stopping the tears.
"Was it the same dream again?" he asked her.
She nodded. "Yes . . . The exact same one . . . Same places, same horrors . . . "
"I'm getting worried, Kass," he replied, looking into her face and taking in the dark circles under her eyes and the whiteness of her skin.
Her spots were even more pronounced now that she was becoming so pale due to lack of sleep. "Maybe you should go see the doctor. Maybe they can do something about the nightmares . . . "
"No . . . That's where some of my visions appear . . ."
"Well, just for a couple of nights so that you can get some real -"
"Troy, I know you mean well . . . but no . . ."
"This has to stop . . ." Troy said, gently caressing her cheek with concern. "Its taking a toll on you. You have circles under your eyes. You're skin is pale and your sparkle is fading . . . I mean, I know you've had nightmares before, but there's something different about these. Something that seems more real for you . . . And their causing you to lose sleep . . ."
She sighed. She knew he was right. "I'll tell you what, I'm going to meditate for awhile. If I have another nightmare tonight, or tomorrow night, I'll go see the doctor. Okay?" She said, gazing at him with her soft smile.
She could sense and see him start to give in with a small smirk on his face. "Okay . . . but you have to promise me!"
"Would I lie to you?" she asked, sweetly?
His raised one of his eyebrows and smirked further. "Are you sure you want me to answer that?"
For that she grabbed her pillow and gently smacked his face. "You twit!"
With that, they both started laughing. He then lunged at her and began to tickle her. As she rolled to avoid his ticking fingers, she couldn't help laughing uncontrollably.
"Stop it! Stop! My sides are killing me!" She laughed.
With that, he stopped and looked down at her. "So are you feeling better?"
"Yes," she smiled as she looked up into his face.
"Good! Then maybe I can get back to sleep myself!" he smiled and sat up.
She got up and embraced him. "Thank you . . ." she whispered.
"Anytime, sis. Just remember your promise . . ."
"I will . . ."
With one last embrace and a gentle kiss on the cheek, he left her room and Kassia to her solitude. With a lingering smile on her face, she got off the bed and grabbed a box of long-stemmed matches. She went around her room and lit all twenty candles before extinguishing the flame. She then, went to her bed and took a seat on it with her legs folded before her. She placed her hands on her knees, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She cleared all the stray thoughts in her head and focused on where the images from the nightmare had come. The fear from the nightmare kept coming back to her with force, but each time she deflected it. Suddenly, something else invaded her mind . . . It was images of Tarik. She knew he had just returned to the station, but had not seen him yet. But the images and emotions coming through to her were strong and confusion and anger. There were other images from what seemed to be Tarik's past flooding her mind, which were also less than pleasant
. . . Suddenly, she realized where the nightmares had come from . . . She had never had such a connection with another living soul, except her brother . . .
Sensing what was happening to Tarik right at that moment, and where he was going, she quickly dressed, extinguished the flames and rushed out of her room and from her quarters. She had to get to her shop . . .