Page 35 of The Nightmare's Kiss

For a moment, the director is frozen. Then a smile stretches across his face. “Oh, you really are a fool,” he says. “You haven’t thought this through at all, have you?”

“Ihave,” I insist. “And I’m not asking for anything ridiculous. I understand the difficulties posed by releasing a being like the Nightmare into the world. I believe he should, and he will, earn more trust if we give him a chance to prove he means us no harm. For now, all I want are better conditions for him and any others who—”

The director barks out a harsh laugh and I cut off despite myself, flinching. “What do you think will happen, exactly, if that footage is released to the world?” he asks, his eyes burning into me, his face a mask of fury. “Do you think that people will besympathetic?” He laughs again, grating and humorless. “No. God, no. They would be terrified. The people of Ash Valley will probably bring back the ol’ torches and pitchforks. They’ll tear this facility apart. Tearusapart,andthat creature you’re obsessed with.” His smile warps. “If he doesn’t tear them apart first.”

I try to ignore the wriggling chill of doubt in my heart. “He wouldn’t do that,” I say. “The only time he hurt anyone was when he was desperate to escape.”

“Even if that were true, I assure you, the other creatures here would. Gladly. Gleefully. They would slaughter this town, and then…” He holds out his hands, shaking his head. “God only knows. Maybe the military would wipe them out, or confine them. Or maybe they’d just run rampant. You really have no idea what the world was like before we could contain threats like these. You don’t know how fucking good we have it!” His volume raises to a shout on the last sentence, and I’m struck into silence, standing stiff and uncertain in front of him.

“But go ahead,” he continues, lowering his voice again as calm settles over his features. “Release your ‘evidence.’ See what the world thinks of it. Most will think it is photoshopped bullshit. They will not think it is real, because they do not want it to be. They want to carry on thinking that there are no monsters under the bed. And those who believe you…well. As I said. They will not react in the way you think.” He taps his foot against the tile.Tap-tap-tap,like the approach of some predator. I want to flinch at every repetition as fear curls around my heart and squeezes. “And even if they are, I will ensure thatyouwill not be around to enjoy it. Oh, taking you down would be almost too easy. Mr. Mayhew has told us all about your previous episodes of mental instability, your tendency to lie… We have it all in writing. I agreed to let you work here because Wright pushed for it, but I had a contingency plan ready the minute you signed your contract.”

Fucking Ethan. I set my jaw, refusing to let the heat behind my eyes spill over in tears. I want to scream and rage and fight, but I know that would only make him feel more justified. I push my feelings deep down, but all that space left by my anger fills quickly with fear.

“Youandyour parents…” Director Ramsey continues. Seeing the expression on my face, he smiles. “Yes, dear Enora and Vincent. It would be a simple thing to find them culpable in your crimes and have them meet the same fate as you.”

“They have nothing to do with this,” I say, the words weak even to my own ears. “You can’t—”

“Can’t?” he repeats, scathing. “That’s where you’re wrong again. There is very little Ican’tdo to defend the security of this place, Ms. Vance. Because I, and the benefactors who keep this facility running, know exactly how important it is to maintain the secrecy we strive for. I could do anything I want to you, to your parents, to this entire fucking town, and the world would be all too eager to turn a blind eye for the sake of maintaining their status quo.”

“I don’t believe you.” The words come out barely a whisper, not convincing even to me. “You can’t just…get away with this.”

The director sneers. “Go ahead,” he says. “Try me.”

I feel numb as the security guards escort me out. One hulking man shadows me on either side, as if I could possibly do anything to retaliate. They take my notes, of course, and my security card. I’m pushed out the door with nothing more than my cell phone—which, no doubt, has some type of tracker on it to monitor my activity—and a reminder about the lifelong NDA I signed.

I hate walking away like this. Defeated, helpless, not even given a chance to say goodbye to the Nightmare. But I have no choice, no power to exercise. I played right into the director’s hands today. He’s probably been waiting for an excuse to fire me, and I handed it to him.

I can’t bring myself to regret what I did. Not even the heated words I spoke at the end. But I don’t know how I’m going to live with the outcome. I make it halfway through my ride home before the tears start, and by the time I pull into my parents’ driveway, I’m full-on sobbing. I lay my head on the steering wheel for a few moments and try to recompose myself enough to make it to my bedroom. Thankfully, my parents are still at work, so I don’t run into them as I drag myself to bed. There, I lock my door, shut off the light, and curl up under the covers.

I want nothing more than to fall asleep immediately, afternoon sunlight through the window be damned, so I can see Somnus and tell him what happened. Even if I can’t see him in real life, at least I still have my dreams.

But no matter how I try, I only toss and turn in bed, so tormented by my racing thoughts that I can’t sink into the blissful oblivion I’m seeking. I can’t stop thinking about the Nightmare being subjected to more tests, and the horrible arrogant smirk on the director’s face, and his implication that the other “monsters” within the facility are much the same.

It takes a long, long time to fall asleep. But at least, when I do, Somnus is there. He holds me while I sob and explain everything to him, and murmurs reassurances as he strokes my hair.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I… I thought I could save you. But I screwed it all up.”

“It is not your fault,” he says, and presses a kiss to my forehead. “You cared enough to try, and that is more than I could have hoped for. More than anyone else has done for me.”

I sniffle, pressing my cheek against his chest, breathing in the comforting smell of him. Smoke and spice, warm and masculine. Part of me is afraid that asking more will only hurt, but I have to know. “How long have you been trapped there, Somnus?”

He pauses. “I…am not sure. It is hard for me to measure time when I am so isolated.”

I close my eyes, fighting back a fresh wave of grief for him. “How did you end up trapped in the first place?” I ask. I can’t believe it’s never come up before, but I have been so preoccupied with trying to prove his consciousness to the director that it didn’t occur to me to ask.

“Hmm…” He shifts, and for a moment I’m afraid he’s going to pull away. But instead, he settles into a more comfortable position, cradling me against his chest with one large arm. “It started when I fell in love.”

My breath hitches.

“Most of my kind exist almost entirely in the realm of dreams. Our physical forms are naught but shadows, drifting from place to place, finding new humans to attach to. We’re vulnerable in the waking world, so we stay hidden. And at night we follow our humans into dreams, where we take whatever form we believe will frighten them. That fear feeds us, makes us more powerful.

“But then… I met a woman who was not afraid of me. She was a lucid dreamer, and had almost as much control over the sleep realm as I did. It intrigued me. I had never seen a human as anything more than prey. I found myself drifting back to her dreams, again and again…and the more I learned about her, the more I tried to shape myself in a form that would please her. I found myself becoming more and more human. My kind scoffed at me, shunned me, but I told myself it was fine so long as I had her. And then…then I made the mistake of going to her in my physical form.”

He sighs and is silent for several long seconds. I wrap my arms more tightly around him and wait until he is ready to continue.

“I thought we had formed a bond. I thought that if I approached her in a human form, she would accept me. But though she did not fear me in her dreams, she was terrified when she saw me in the waking world. Still, I lingered, hoping to fix things between us, but…” He shakes his head. “She betrayed me. Led me out into the light of day, where I was weakest, and then had me captured by agents of the research center where you now work. I have been trapped since, but for one brief escape, many years ago.” He closes his eyes. “For a very long time, I thought it was my fault. I had tried to be human and I had failed. I was a monster, like they said.”

For a moment I just hold him, trying to comfort him as he has been comforting me. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” I finally say, and swallow. “I’m sorry she didn’t understand you. I know what it’s like to fall for the wrong person. To place your trust in someone who doesn’t deserve it. But I hope you know it wasn’t your fault, what happened.” I look up at him, paraphrasing words my therapist once told me. “It takes courage to be vulnerable. And to do that—to open your heart to someone—is the most human thing there is.”

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