Chapter 5: Being Good
The stench of goblin blood filled her nose and she lay on the ground. Her body felt heavy and she struggled to move.
What Irene thought was a puddle of dark goblin blood started moving towards her and once it was at her feet, it reached towards her with tendrils that stuck to her body.
She struggled to escape but soon felt the sticky blood pulling at her hair, ripping out chunks and causing her scalp to bleed again.
"Why won't you save me!?"
A man with the bottom half of his body cut off crawled away slowly but he was going towards a group of goblins without realizing.
"No, wait!"
Irene woke up with tears in her eyes and her body drenched in sweat. The words she actually said out loud were unintelligible utterings.
As she sat up, her shoulders heaved. She realized she was safe in her bed and still her eleven year old self.
Children weren't meant to face the things Irene had faced a few days before. She knew that now because almost every morning had been the same. When she was in the dream, it was impossible to decipher whether or not it was real or in her head—that was the worst part for her.
She was getting better at calming herself down.
Deep breath in. Slow breath out.