The light chased away the darkness, and a divine-looking man came into her sight.
âNightmares?â Tyler asked, his voice husky.
Vicky slowly regained her composure. âNightmares⦠Yes, it was a nightmare,â she mumbled. âI had a
horrible nightmare when Jonathan locked me up in a cage, and when I tried to escape, those two men
stood in my wayâ¦â
Everything that had happened was more than what a woman, who was not even 20 years old, could
take.
He studied the pale look on her face and said, âItâs okay. It was just a dream.â
Though it was only a nightmare, what she had experienced continued to haunt her.
âIâll leave the lights on.â He got up and was about to leave. âItâs still hours before sunrise. Get some
more sleep.â
He was about to walk out of the bedroom when Vicky whispered, âCan youâ¦not go?â
He stilled and turned to look at her. âWhat did you just say?â
Vicky was as pale as a ghost as her eyes darted around, fearing that something might leap out of the
darkness. âCan you stay with me tonight?â
She was overwhelmed by fear, and as soon as she closed her eyes, she would be swarmed by the
memories of all the horrible things people did to her. Even if she was only dreaming of them, she could
no longer withstand it.
Tyler stood still. âDo you know what youâre asking for?â
Her fingers twitched and trembled. âIâI know.â
Though he might not have any ulterior motive when he treated her wounds, he was still a man and she
would never know what might happen, but she could no longer bring herself to worry about that. Even if
Tyler might initiate any form of intimacy, she did not wish to be alone.
He stared at her for a while before walking back to sit down on a chair near the bed. âSleep. Iâll stay
here with you.â
The fact that he did not take advantage of her weakness filled her with warmth. âThank you.â
With that, she fell back to sleep and had yet another nightmare. However, when she woke up to find the
lights on and Tyler on the chair, she instantly relaxed.
Eventually, the nightmares were gone.
â¦
Vicky knew that having Tyler stay with her for one night was already asking for too much, so she did
not ask Tyler to do the same when she woke up screaming again the next night.
Tyler needed to work and therefore needed sleep.
For the following week, Vicky had not been able to sleep well, and it became hard to grasp reality. She
would forget about what she wanted to do and sit alone in her bedroom, staring into the distance
blankly. ninjanovel.com
Tyler was busy and would be gone most of the time except for when he tended to her wounds.
By the time he noticed the state Vicky was in, it was too late.
One night, a thunderstorm raged outside and Tyler woke up to the deafening sound of thunder. He got
up to close the window in the living room and heard a gasp when he walked past Vickyâs room.
It was barely noticeable and he might not have heard it had he not walked past the room.