Chapter 19

Sofia. 3:47 AM I jolted awake, gasping for air, hot tears ran down my face. Slapping my hand over my mouth, I tried to suppress my choked sobs and cries muffled with my palm only to fail as I shook and trembled. Another nightmare. It had been a few months since I had one that vivid.  It felt like I relived it, the abuse, the starvation, the mental and verbal torture. It was like the last two years away from them were just a dream that I conjured and that I was still stuck there. My tears turned to soft sniffles as the light was turned on suddenly making me flinch from its brightness. I removed my arm that was shielding my eyes and peeked through my red rimmed eyes to find Nikolai turning to me, sitting up. He scanned my shaking form, worriedly and reached a hand to my face On reflex, I flinched away, squeezing my eyes shut. "No, please," I felt another hushed cry leave me. "Kitten, open your beautiful eyes and look at me," his voice deep resonated with worry and a mere delicate whisper