Cold sweat

　　Irena's POV

　　I woke up in cold sweat, panting and gasping for air. My hands were on my neck and my throat was burning.

　　I haven't had a nightmare in centuries, and I didn't know what to feel about what I had dreamt of and I know that I didn't want to think about it.

　　I checked the time, it was six forty-five. I drank some water from the bottle of water I always had next to me on the bedside table and I went to the bathroom. I washed my face and looked in the mirror, a little worried about what I would see.

　　I looked just fine, but my throat hurts like it was on fire, and swallowing was painful. I washed my face, put on a pair of joggers and a tank top, and walked out of the room, into the living room because I was suddenly feeling claustrophobic.

　　Changing my mind, I walked out of the house, towards the garden and I saw a figure bending over, and plucking some strawberry fruit. It was Fray.

　　"Good morning Ma'am," he greeted me when I stood next to him. He was dressed just as he was in my nightmare, shirtless, wearing a pair of denim jeans and an apron over his half his buff naked body.

　　"Hey, Fray, what's up?" That was the first sentence I had uttered since I woke up and it came out sounding weak.

　　"I'm good, just plucking some strawberries for breakfast this morning, you good? You don't sound so good." He asked, looking concerned.

　　I sighed, I am not okay, I just woke up from a creepy-ass nightmare about the house being on fire and thick black smoke covering everywhere and trying to suffocate me and Magnus looked weird, even you too. You all looked crazy and creepy and I kept on running until the smoke swallowed me and right before I passed out, there was a smoky figure watching me, smiling. "I'm fine, just didn't sleep much," I replied instead.

　　He nodded curtly, " you should go back to bed then ma'am, try n' get that sleep you need, n' then you feel better,"

　　I smiled at him, thankful for how caring he was, "thank you Flay, but I don't think I can go back to sleep anymore," I plucked a strawberry fruit from its plant and bit into it, not bothering to wash it first.

　　The sour taste of the fruit was comforting and I smiled at Fray.

　　"Alright then ma'am, do whatever would make you feel better and I'll cook you something delicious and bring it to you," he replied, standing up with a basket of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and a large watermelon in his hands.

　　"Thank you, Fray, that would be very helpful, I would love it."

　　How can a kind man like Fray want to hurt me? I quickly dismissed the thought as soon as it came. It was just a bad dream and it's nothing to worry about, even though it had felt so fucking real.

　　Fray walked away, and I stood there in the garden, watching him leave. It was going to be a long day, I wondered if Magnus was already awake.

　　I walked back into the house some minutes later and sure enough, Magnus was at the wine bar pouring some wine into a cocktail glass.

　　"And good morning to you too, drunk," I said loudly as I walked closer to a sofa and sat heavily on it.

　　Magnus waltzed towards me and sat on the sofa next to me.

　　"What's cooking bitch?" He asked, before sipping some wine.

　　I sighed, "nothing, did you sleep?"

　　He slipped more wine and hummed, "slept like a baby." He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, "did you?"

　　I shrugged, "I don't even know. No, I guess. I didn't sleep much," I responded. Leaning back on the sofa and sighing again.

　　" Why? And why are you up so early? This is like-" he checked the time. " -early seven, when did you wake up?"

　　" Six,"

　　Magnus scowled. "Ew, that's disgusting, who wakes up at six, Irena?"

　　I smiled slightly, " Fray?"

　　Magnus dismissed my reply with a gesture of his hands. " Fray is like a worker vampire, they're always up early to feed the Queen."

　　I laughed, " Really?"

　　" Yes, really. Now tell me, why were you up at six?!" His pronunciation of six was very intense.

　　" I could no longer sleep, I had a fucking nightmare," I sighed tiredly. Ever since I woke up, I've been sighing non-stop.

　　Magnus looked at me intensely, his expression was a mixture of a frown and surprise.

　　"You're saying you had a nightmare?!" He asked again, wanting to be sure if he had heard me right.

　　"Yes, I had a nightmare," I answered firmly.

　　"You had a nightmare, Irena, the last time you had those was- I can't even fucking remember the last time you had a fucking nightmare. That was like decades ago- I meant centuries ago." he placed his glass of wine on the table and looked back at me worriedly.

　　I shrugged, "oh well, I had a fucking nightmare, after centuries of not having even one,"

　　" What happened? What was it about?" He sounded worried and curious. Centuries ago when I used to get nightmares, I used to tell Magnus about them, well the ones I was comfortable enough to talk about. And I used to get them a lot.

　　"Oh, you don't want to know about it," I said quickly, chucking lightly. It was just a nightmare though, I didn't mind telling him about it at all.

　　"I think I want to know what your first nightmare after a long time is about," he responded, sitting up on the sofa with his legs tucked under him cozily.

　　"I dreamt that there was a loud explosion, loud enough to make my ears bleed," a little exaggeration here and there would not hurt. "Then I woke up to find the source of the sound and the whole house was covered in dense black soot-like smoke. I ran to your room to see if you were awake because the house was quiet for a house that is covered in thick smoke. I tried to open your door, but it was shut and I had to forcefully open it-"

　　" -and by forcefully you mean you broke it down?" Magnus asked, cutting me short.

　　I rolled my eyes, " yes, I did. I broke it down. It is a fucking dream Magnus, why does it matter?" I face-palmed. Yes, Magnus was awake and face-palming resumes.

　　"Nothing, I just wanted clarification, please continue. I will abstain from interrupting you any further." He said with his eyes closed and lips set in a grim line. Dramatic fuck, he says that, but just a few more minutes listening to me, there would be another interruption.

　　"Sure, and so I saw you laying on the bed, the smoke wasn't around, it was as if it wanted me to walk towards you, and I did just that. I rushed to wake you up, but you wouldn't wake up-"

　　Magnus gasped. "-Was I dead?"

　　" Yeah, I remember you saying something along the lines of 'I will abstain from interrupting you any further," I replied, staring at him with an unimpressed expression on my face.

　　He laughed nervously, "you know that I can't stop myself from doing to save my fucking life," he pouted.

　　" Great, I do know. So stop saying things you can't fucking uphold and listen to the fucking dream,"

　　He raised both of his hands with his palms facing me in mock defense. "okay, okay, you can continue before you chop my head off or whatever."

　　Bitch

　　" Anyways, you wouldn't wake up, so I turned you over because you were lying face downwards and you had the shirtiest face ever-"

　　Magnus's eyes widened, his face was his most prized possession after his dick.

　　"-Oh my gosh, my face?! Was it distorted or something? What was wrong with my face?!" He whined impatiently.

　　" Well, you were missing your whole dentition and your tongue was cut off. In fact, your mouth was a bloody mess, and your eyes had no pupils, just white and dead." I was smiling at his reaction. I was narrating it to him in a less scary way, way less horrific than the dream I had.

　　Magnus was staring at me in horror, "why was my face like that?" He held his face with both hands and pouted his lips.

　　"I don't know Magnus, I am telling you the same way it was. I tried to leave your room because the smoke was closing up on me and I needed to get away from it, but you sat up immediately and stared at me, cackling,"

　　Magnus frowned in disgust. " Cackling? Like Disney villains or what?"

　　I think he was more disgusted by the fact that he was cackling than the fact that he sat up like a fucking lunatic.

　　"I don't know Magnus," I chucked. "You sat up and cackled. And when I tried to leave, you chased me with just your legs, while the upper part of your body above your torso was dragged by your legs like they were a fucking sack bag. And you were so fucking fast."

　　I could see Magnus' visible cringe.

　　"You didn't even describe it vividly, but it still managed to come out disturbing," he complained, clenching his jaw and folding his arm.

　　"Anyways I managed to run out of the room into the hallway, while the smoke kept following me, threatening to swallow me up and then I saw Fray but when I looked at him, he looked just the way you did, only that his lips were cut off, instead of his teeth and tongue. Oh, did I forget to mention that your fingers were twisted in the most disturbing manner I've ever seen?" I asked him, smiling, waiting for his reaction.

　　Magnus gaggled, "why the fuck are you smiling? There is absolutely no reason to smile about all this, my face was ruined, my beautiful face! And then my fingers were distorted! Could it get any worse?! Is there anything you are forgetting to tell me?" He questioned dramatically.

　　I laughed, " no, that's all about you. Anyways Fray was looking like that, so I ignored him and kept on running. But the smoke overwhelmed me and choked me, and right before I became unconscious, the smoke morphed into the shape of someone, smiling at me. But I couldn't tell anything from my blurred vision and lack of consciousness. And then I woke up."

　　Magnus was quiet for some time. " That was quite a nightmare." He finally said.

　　I shrugged, "it's just a bad dream though, nothing to be worried about."

　　" Irena, your nightmares came back after this whole nonsense started, I want you to take note." He pointed out worriedly.

　　I sighed, " well it's just a nightmare and there is nothing I can do about it." I replied dismissively. " I also had a phone call from an unidentified caller last night," I added.

　　Magnus' eyes widened, " oh my gosh girl!! Do you mean that?! What was the call about?" He looked worried, and it made me smile. I'm such a fucking weirdo.