Yann woke up in the middle of the night and stiffened. Something was wrong. He just didn’t know what it was.

  He pried his head off the floor and looked around. Anríq lay asleep right in front of him. Anríq had his eyes closed. He hadn’t moved since he lay down on the floor of this ruined house.

  The other Watchmen snored nearby. Even Yvan had finally dropped off.

  Yann sat up and spotted Eliska huddled in a corner. She hugged her knees to her chest, trembled all over, and the outlines of her fists kept twisting and wrenching her cloak from underneath.

  She went through an obsessive movement of trying to pull it tighter around her even though it wasn’t cold. She couldn’t tighten it more than it already was, but she kept doing it anyway.

  Her eyes darted back and forth over the floor. She didn’t look at Marine, Anríq, or the other Watchmen. She didn’t look at anyone.

  Yann stared at her for a second trying to understand what was wrong with her. She should have been asleep like the others. She definitely needed it.

  Her agitation kept her awake…..and then he realized. She wasn’t shaking with cold. She was shaking with fear.

  Yann didn’t dare to speak or even whisper. He didn’t want to wake up the others. Drawing their attention to her distress would only make it worse.

  He pushed himself to his feet, picked his way carefully across the room, and wedged himself into a tiny scrap of bare floor right next to her.

  He rested his back against the wall, shifted over so he sat right against her side, and put his arms around her.

  He really didn’t give a crap if this was inappropriate or crossing a line or implying anything or any of that. She needed someone. He didn’t really know what she needed, but he was the only person who could give it to her.

  Her whole body quaked in his arms. She didn’t respond at first, but she didn’t shake him off, either.

  He crossed a line in those tunnels with Anríq. He had to help her. None of the rest of it meant a thing.

  He tightened his grip and pulled her against him. She toppled sideways and her weight fell on his chest. He clasped his arms around her trying to hold her tightly enough to stop her from trembling.

  He no longer cared if this meant anything or led to anything or if she interpreted it as anything. He just wanted to help her—to give her some of his warmth and maybe make her feel better.

  She huddled in his arms shaking uncontrollably. She didn’t pull away.

  Just because he felt like it, he raised his other hand, cupped the side of her head, kissed her hair, and then stroked his hand down her hair. He didn’t think about or care what it meant or if it meant anything.

  “The Dark….” she husked. “The Dark….it’s out there….”

  “I know,” he whispered.

  “It’s all around us…..” she choked. “I can’t get away from it……and now I can’t….do anything……”

  He kissed the top of her head again. Then rested the back of his skull against the wall, shut his eyes, and settled into just being here.

  He didn’t have to make it okay. He couldn’t anyway. He just held her and stroked her hair for what seemed like hours.

  “The Darklings…..” she rasped again. “They’re coming after me……”

  Yann’s eyes snapped open. “Did you see that?” he whispered.

  “I had a nightmare,” she whispered back. “I always saw it in visions before. I used to see visions of Islands collapsing and Layers changing and Darklings coming out of the Layers. I saw it in a dream this time.”

  Yann stared into the darkness trying to think. She cowered in his arms still shaking like a leaf. She didn’t try to sit up and he didn’t let her go.

  She had magic—or she did have magic before she came to this Layer. Her magic showed her what would happen before it happened. No wonder she always knew when something was about to happen to the group.

  She didn’t have magic now, but the same power must be operating through her dreams.

  He shook that off and turned his head to kiss her hair again. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he whispered. “We already know the Darklings will come after us. They’ve been doing it all this time. It makes sense that you would see them coming again.”

  Her voice cracked from the strain. “What am I going to do?”

  “You’re going to keep traveling with us and we’re going to keep helping each other in whatever way we can,” he whispered. “You help us and we help you. Sometimes we go into a Layer where we can’t take care of ourselves and you have to take care of us. Sometimes we go into a Layer where you can’t take care of yourself and we have to take care of you. That’s the way it works. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  She did answer. She buried her face in his chest and hid there.

  He held her tight and kissed her hair a few more times while he stroked her hair. Damn, she felt good!

  Stolen novel; please report.

  He felt even better. Taking care of her felt better than anything he could ever remember. It meant everything.

  He settled into it and prepared himself to sit here all night long if he had to. He even prepared himself for someone to wake up and find him with his arms around Eliska.

  He didn’t care about that anymore, either. He didn’t have to ask about his father’s past because Yann already knew who and what he was and what he was going to do.

  Just then, he heard a whimpering noise coming from the other side of the room. Eliska heard it, too. She raised her head and sat up.

  Yann unwrapped his arms from around her and they both looked around.

  The noise came from Rien. He lay on the floor in the corner between Barsali and Vidal.

  Rien jerked back and forth in his sleep. His eyebrows, cheeks, and mouth wrenched and twisted in between pathetic whimpering, but he didn’t open his eyes.

  “He must be having nightmares, too,” Eliska whispered.

  Yann leaned forward and gripped Rien’s shoulder. “Rien! Wake up!” Yann whispered.

  Rien jolted the other way and gasped in terror to get away from Yann’s hand. Rien didn’t wake up. He kept throwing himself from one side to the other to get away from whatever he saw in his nightmare.

  Yann shook him a little harder and dared to raise his voice to a murmur. “Rien! Wake up! You’re having a bad dream!”

  Rien actually screamed out in terror, ripped himself away from Yann’s touch, and threw himself into the corner. Rien slammed into the wall, plastered himself there, and his whole body convulsed.

  He kept turning from right to left like he wanted to see everything at the same time, but he still didn’t open his eyes.

  His noise roused the other Watchmen. Yann couldn’t wait any longer.

  He grabbed Rien by both shoulders and shook him hard. Yann might even have slammed Rien against the wall without meaning to.

  “Rien!” Yann yelled. “Wake up! You’re all right! You’re having a dream! Wake up!”

  Rien’s eyes snapped open, but he didn’t see Yann. Rien’s gaze kept skating back and forth and in all directions.

  He gasped for breath, tensed every muscle, and held his hands in front of his body to protect himself from something that wasn’t there.

  “You’re all right!” Yann repeated. “You had a bad dream. You’re okay. You’re with the Watch. See? Father and Vidal and Barsali are all here. See? You’re okay.”

  The others sat up, looked around, and saw what was going on. Rien’s terrified eyes flicked from face to face and then locked on Yann.

  “It’s okay,” Yann breathed again. “You had a nightmare.”

  Rien’s eyes darted away. “Darklings…..” He glanced in the other direction toward Eliska. “Darklings…..they’re everywhere….they’re coming after me…..”

  “He might have had the same dream I just had,” Eliska husked.

  “That isn’t possible,” Yann replied over his shoulder. “Rien doesn’t have any magic.”

  “How do you explain this, then?”

  Yann turned back to Rien. Rien didn’t lower his arms or relax at all. His eyes kept skimming around the room hardly seeing anything.

  “There are no Darklings here, Rien,” Yann breathed. “You can see that. There’s just the Watch.”

  Yvan came over to them. “Is there any possibility he could have seen something real?”

  Yann glanced at Eliska. He didn’t want to tell his father what Eliska just said.

  “I had a similar nightmare….” she blurted out. “But that could have been….you know…..just a nightmare.”

  Yvan scowled at Rien. “Hmmm. All right. Everyone settle down. It was just a nightmare. Nothing to see here.”

  The other Watchmen sat back listening to the conversation. Rien didn’t settle down. He didn’t seem to be aware of anyone around him.

  His eyes flicked back and forth just as fast. “Darklings…..” he whimpered. “Darklings…..they’re coming….!”

  “The Darklings aren’t coming, Rien!” Yvan snapped. “We’re all alone out here.”

  Just then, Anríq got to his feet and left the house without a word to anyone. His departure startled everyone—except Rien. Rien didn’t notice.

  A dangerous silence fell over the group after Anríq left—and then Rien screamed again. He spun to his left, jerked out of Yann’s grip, and tried to throw himself farther back into the corner.

  He raised his hands in front of his face, cringed, and cowered sobbing in terror.

  “Rien!” Yann called.

  “Darklings! Aaargh!” Rien shrieked. “Get them away from me!”

  “Was it like this for you?” Yann asked Eliska over his shoulder.

  She shook her head. “No, never.”

  Yann glanced in the other direction. He really wished Anríq was still here. Maybe Anríq knew a way to fix whatever was wrong with Rien.

  Rien screeched again and huddled deeper into the corner. Niyazi pushed his way between the other Watchmen, stopped at Yann’s side, and clamped his hands on either side of Rien’s face.

  Niyazi forced Rien to turn and look at him. “Rien—look at me! Look at me! The Darklings aren’t here! You’re seeing a vision!”

  Rien yelped and tried to jerk away. He kept whipping right and left no matter what anyone did.

  Yann backed off to let Niyazi take over. Yann had no idea how to help Rien.

  Yann wound up scooting back to Eliska’s side. Marine cowered in the opposite corner wringing her hands and grimacing in horror at the whole scene.

  Niyazi got right in Rien’s face and raised his voice over Rien’s screams and whines. “We’ll protect you from the Darklings, Rien! We’ll protect you!”

  Rien still didn’t respond. The rest of the Watchmen sat back in silence.

  Niyazi finally sank onto his ankles and stared at Rien in defeat. Yvan scooted forward to Niyazi’s side. “Leave him alone. We’ll just have to keep an eye on him until morning.”

  Yvan shot a sidelong glance at the two girls. He didn’t say anything, but Yann read his father’s expression loud and clear.

  In any other Island, Yvan would have asked Eliska or Anríq to heal whatever was wrong with Rien—or at least to find out what was bothering him.

  Yvan couldn’t ask any of them that now.

  How could a man completely devoid of magic see Darklings that weren’t there—especially if this nightmare-vision matched what Eliska just described?

  Niyazi stayed where he was for a minute and watched Rien jolting, jumping, and wheeling right and left. He gasped and sobbed in panic every time he did it. He kept cringing under his arms for protection.

  Yann’s heart went out to him. Whatever Rien saw terrified the life out of him, but no one could get rid of it.

  The Watch could have fought the Darklings if real Darklings came after Rien. No one could fight Darklings they couldn’t see.

  “Could he be seeing invisible Darklings?” Yann murmured to Eliska.

  She shrugged. “Anything is possible.”

  Yvan turned to Yann. “You said he had a nightmare.”

  Yann nodded. “I woke up in the middle of the night and I…..” He broke off and decided not to tell his father about holding Eliska. “I heard him making noises in his sleep. I tried to wake him up, but he didn’t respond. Then he started screaming and woke all of you up. That’s when I shook him harder and he finally woke up—but then he didn’t stop. He’s been like this ever since.”

  “The nightmare I could understand—but not this.” Yvan grimaced at Rien.

  “What do you mean?” Eliska asked.

  “Rien grew up in Middleborough. He was born there,” Yvan replied. “He grew up watching the Dark encroach on the town and Darkling attacks that left the townspeople dead. He hates the Dark and the Layers outside the wall. That’s why he joined the Watch.”

  She looked away. Maybe now she would understand why Rien hated her so much at the beginning.

  Yann leaned back against the wall. He didn’t return to his former place. He stayed next to Eliska.

  No one else went back to sleep. They all stayed sitting up and keeping watch.

  Niyazi rotated around and sat down next to Rien. Rien didn’t respond to him or acknowledge Niyazi’s presence.

  No one said a word. One minute followed another and turned into hours. The men stayed sitting up and watchful for the rest of the night.

  End of Chapter 9.

  ? 2024 by Theo Mann

  I post new chapters of The Corrupted Coil series on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday PST.

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