Chapter 141: Don’t Be Afraid, I’m Here
"No... noooo... no!"
"Rosalia, wake up! Wake up! You’re okay—I’m here. I’m here, don’t be afraid."
I heard Cassel calling my name, his voice trembling violently with fear and panic.
My eyes flew open.
Sweat poured down my forehead in thick drops as I jerked upright, my chest heaving uncontrollably.
"Cae..."
My voice shook terribly.
That horrifying sound still echoed inside my ears. It felt as though an invisible hand was crushing my heart alive, squeezing tighter and tighter until breathing itself became painful.
"Hah... huff... I... Cassel... you..."
"Breathe slowly." His deep voice wrapped around me immediately. "Rosalia, look at me. Look into my eyes."
Large hands cupped my trembling face gently.
"You’re here with me. Nothing will happen to you while I’m beside you."
"Breathe... slowly."
His tone was low, calm, steady.
Like an anchor in the middle of a storm.
Little by little, my breathing began to stabilize.
The suffocating fear loosened slightly from around my chest as Cassel pulled me firmly against him, one hand stroking my back in slow circles.
His body was burning hot.
I could feel the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my cheek.
Strong.
Alive.
Real.
"Rosalia..." he murmured, "did you see a nightmare?"
Only then did I finally raise my head from his chest.
Through the open car door, I saw Liz, Henry, and Robin standing outside the vehicle, all staring at me with obvious concern.
The road around us was silent.
Dark.
Empty.
And only then did I realize the car had come to a complete stop by the roadside.
"What... happened?" My throat felt painfully dry.
"Drink some water first."
Cassel handed me a bottle.
I took it silently and drank a few mouthfuls before lowering it again, forcing out a faint, exhausted smile.
"I’m really okay," I whispered. "It was just a bad dream."
"Rosalia..." Liz hesitated strangely. "Didn’t you notice?"
My brows furrowed immediately.
Notice what?
Before I could ask, Cassel brushed a strand of damp hair away from my face and spoke quietly.
"While you were dreaming... the zombies around us suddenly became violent."
His expression darkened.
"They gathered in huge numbers and attacked us."
He paused briefly before continuing in an even lower voice.
"They specifically attacked our car."
Silence fell.
Cold realization slowly crawled through me.
There was more they weren’t saying.
Something about this entire situation clearly involved me.
Under everyone’s worried and probing gazes, I let out a shaky breath.
Cassel’s dark eyes remained fixed on mine—gentle, patient, encouraging.
And for some reason...
I found myself unable to lie to him.
"I dreamed about... something," I admitted softly. "I don’t know what it was."
Then I began describing everything.
The endless darkness.
The crimson eyes.
The horrifying voice.
The unbearable pressure.
Even now, it terrified me how clearly I remembered every tiny detail of that nightmare.
Every whisper.
Every sound.
Every pulse of malice hidden within that thing.
Of course...
I didn’t tell them about the words the voice had spoken directly to me.
For some reason, instinct screamed at me not to.
As though speaking those words aloud would make something terrible happen.
When I finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
The atmosphere turned strangely heavy.
Then suddenly Cassel spoke.
"It’s fine," he said calmly. "Let’s leave it here for now."
He lifted his head slightly, eyes narrowing.
"We should move. I can feel others approaching us."
Henry closed his eyes briefly.
A few seconds later, those deep blue eyes opened again.
"Yes," he confirmed quietly. "The other teams’ vehicles are nearby."
His expression turned cold.
"Luckily we left before them. If they’d seen what happened here, they definitely would’ve found another excuse to start trouble with us."
No one argued after that.
Everyone silently returned to the vehicles as though nothing had happened at all.
But I couldn’t calm down.
Not even a little.
Curled up in Cassel’s arms, I stared blankly ahead while my mind replayed the nightmare over and over again.
Honestly...
A part of me desperately refused to think about it.
I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard those words.
Pretend I hadn’t seen those eyes.
Pretend none of it was real.
But I couldn’t.
That thing behind Cassel...
It wanted to kill him.
No—
Worse.
It said it would torture him.
It claimed Cassel once belonged to it.
That it had been controlling him.
And then...
It said I was the reason he escaped its control.
What did that even mean?
What was happening to this world?
What was happening to Cassel?
Who exactly was that enemy?
And how had it appeared inside my dream?
Questions flooded my head endlessly until I barely noticed my body beginning to tremble again.
Suddenly—
A rough, warm hand cupped my face.
The next second, my breath collided violently with the man above me as Cassel crashed his lips against mine.
The kiss was fierce.
Possessive.
Overwhelming.
He kissed me as though he was trying to erase every trace of fear still lingering inside me.
As though he wanted to remind both of us that I was still here.
That he was still here.
His hand tightened around my waist while the other slid into my hair, holding me in place as he deepened the kiss mercilessly.
And strangely enough...
That intensity—
That almost violent possessiveness. It was
Was exactly what restored my sense of safety.
Because this was Cassel.
Warm.
Alive.
Not some horrifying creature hidden in darkness.
When the kiss finally ended, he didn’t pull away completely.
His forehead rested against mine.
Our breaths remained tangled together, uneven and trembling.
I could still feel the heat of his lips lingering against my skin.
Then his hoarse, suppressed voice reached my ears.
"Rosalia... don’t be afraid."
His thumb brushed softly beneath my eye.
"I’m with you."
At that moment, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling faintly.
Yeah.
He was with me.
Right now, I was with the man I loved.
And somehow...
Even the thought of death didn’t feel that terrifying anymore.
The rest of the journey passed surprisingly smoothly.
No more zombie hordes appeared.
No strange sounds echoed through the darkness.
Everything remained eerily calm.
But as evening slowly approached once again, we were forced to stop and search for another place to rest for the night.
Honestly...
I still completely rejected the idea of going anywhere near that twisted religious group.
Something about them made my instincts scream in warning.
I didn’t trust them.
Not even slightly.
So just like last time, our team cleared out one of the abandoned villas near the roadside and decided to spend the night there.
By the time everyone finished securing the area, darkness had already swallowed the sky entirely.
The villa itself was large but lifeless.
Dust covered the furniture.
Broken glass littered parts of the floor.
The faint smell of decay lingered in the air, blending with the scent of blood and smoke that seemed permanently attached to all of us now.
Robin and Henry began checking the second floor for possible dangers while Liz worked on preparing a small meal using the remaining supplies.
Meanwhile, Cassel stayed beside me the entire time.
Too close.
As if afraid I would disappear the moment he looked away.
Even now, I could still feel the tension hidden beneath his calm expression.
He was worried.
No—
Terrified.
About me.
About that dream.
About whatever was slowly happening around us.
And honestly...
That frightened me more than the nightmare itself.
Because Cassel was not someone who feared easily.
Yet tonight, every time our eyes met, I saw something dark flicker within those golden irises.
Something restless.
Something violent.
As though he was suppressing the urge to destroy anything that threatened me.
"Rosalia."
I blinked, startled from my thoughts.
Cassel stood in front of me now, his tall figure blocking the dim light behind him.
"Hmm?"
"We’ll take the first watch tonight," he said quietly.
Then after a short pause, his gaze softened slightly.
"You should try to sleep again."
Sleep?
Just thinking about that nightmare made my chest tighten.
Cassel seemed to notice immediately.
Without another word, he sat beside me and pulled me against him until my head rested beneath his chin.
His arms wrapped around me securely.
Protectively.
Like a shield separating me from the entire world.
"You can sleep," he murmured against my hair. "I won’t let anything touch you."
Outside the villa, the distant growls of zombies echoed through the night.
Cold wind rattled the windows softly.
The apocalypse continued endlessly beyond these walls.
But inside his embrace—
For this one brief moment—
I felt safe.