Hearts of Deceit (ManxMan)

Ch 19: Old Wounds

"They're dead."

".....What?"

A sigh. "They're dead kid. Robbed. Shot."

"No!"

"Conrad?"

"No, no no no."  Tears. Tears as hands reached for me. A million hands. A cacophony of sounds. Distorted. 

"No!" I was bawling. "Mom, dad!" An arm around my waist. It was keeping me secured. Away from the gruesome image of their battered and bloodied bodies. "Mom! Dad!" 

The screaming grew louder. The colors distorted. I was watching a boy run. Was that me? He was running and running and running, never getting closer, watching as they faded away, covering his ears as the chorus of adults shrieked for him to stop, to come back, as he kept running towards their disappearing bodies.

"Conrad?" A blink. A scene change. A blonde, blue-eyed alpha standing before me. Joe. 

"Joe," I sobbed. I had the overwhelming urge to hug him, to run into his arms. With a step forward, I smiled and reached for him.

"You need to leave."

I stopped. His face was passive."Wha-what? Joe, what are you talking about? Joe, wait!" He was already gone, drowned into the background. 

"Conrad?" I jumped. Blinked. There was Elise, smiling and waving. I smiled and waved back. Everything was ok. Everything was-

"Elise, watch out! Elise!" But it was too late. A bullet between her eyes. Another dozen through the guts. Her organs and blood pooled around her as she stared up at me with glassy eyes. 

No. No no no no no no no no no-

"Conrad? Conrad? Conrad!" I gasped, sucking in a breath of air like I'd come out of the water after going under. My eyes shot open. A white ceiling with a small chandelier greeted me. My palms were sweaty and cold. The world began to spin as I sat up. What time was it?

Glancing at the window, I noticed a bit of sunlight trickling in. The clock said 7:30 am. 

"Co-Conrad, are you ok?" I blinked, willing the fuzziness at my periphery to go away. A look around the spacious guest room and there was Hans. And Misha. Hans hovered over me and Misha stood quietly at the base of the bed. 

"I'm fi-fine. Why? What's up?" I gave him a smile that took more energy out of me then it should have. Exhaustion was threatening to pull me back into the realm of sleep and the only thing really keeping me awake was the prospect of what lay in said realm. I thought of Elise's glassy eyes.

Hans looked back at Misha. I couldn't gage whatever psychic language they were sharing. Hans looked back to me. 'It's just...erm, you-"

"You were screaming," Misha finally finished. There was a brief pause. "Well...sobbing actually." 

I felt my face, relieved to find that any tears that might have been had dried up. The idea that they might have seen me crying perturbed me. I didn't need pity. 

"What were you dreaming about?" Hans asked tentatively. I'm sure the smile I insisted on keeping was starting to creep him out. Forcing myself out of bed, I did a quick stretch and shrugged.

"Nothing. Don't remember. I'm fine."

"But-"

"I'm fine." Grabbing a shirt, jeans, and a towel, I began making my way to the bathroom. A firm grasp on my wrist stopped me. I turned to find Misha giving me a look. I couldn't describe it necessarily, only concluding that he didn't seem to happy. His browline and mouth were set in firm straight lines.