Dr. Nicca James Alfarone

"Nicca, it is okay." The lady with white hair smiled in my face as she rubbed my cheek, much like a mother would. "You must accept that this has to happen." She nodded and I shook my head. "B-But it's not real!" I yelled and she chuckled. "Everything you have seen and will see is all real." She walked away, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "You can't deny that you desire to be with Mikhail." She clicked her teeth and I ran a hand through my hair.

"But I can't!" I said once again.  "Knowing that he's, he's l-like that!" I groaned and the lady looked amused. "What's wrong with the way he is?" She asked. "You have no place to judge when you dated someone for two months, believing everything he said. Unlike him, Mikhail actually loves you." She stated, a sigh in her tone.

"Don't break his heart now or you'll cause a feud."

I turned and fidgeted, clenching the sheets for relief of my terrors. I was next submerged into a dark dream where I was reliving my worst nightmare. "NO!" I screamed as if I was a bystander on the side of the road, watching as the car that I was in with Adrian flew across and smacked dab right into a tree. I could see my body rising forward as it was consumed by fire, a terrifying numbness within me when I realized I couldn't move from my spot. I was stuck and it was as if I heard my voice but no one else could. My muscles had me frozen and all I could do was hope that someone could hear my echoes.  "GET UP!" I cried, reaching my hands as I saw myself in the truck, dying slowly. It was if there was fire around us and we were slowly burning to a crisp.

"COME ON!" I screamed once again, watching as I faded away. I was dying, in a world all alone and I felt myself on the brink of insanity. There was nothing left, nothing to consume. All I could see was Steve cackling madly as he folded his arms, staring at me. "You're nothing without me, Nicca." He pulled out a gun and aimed it towards me. "NOTHING!" HE roared in a demonic voice, firing a round of bullets through me. "NO!"

I woke and sat up as fast as a bolt of lightning. I turned my head wildly around me to see where I was placed, in my bed.  Nothing had changed except for the position that I was in. My blankets were pushed to the side and my pillow was now knocked onto the floor as if I had been wrestling with it for some time. I ran the backside of my hand across my forehead and removed it to see beads of sweat streaked across the surface. What had happened? I looked around the room in a disoriented mode as I realized I was breathing all too rapidly and I forced myself to take quick, even, and deep breaths. "You're okay, Nicca." I put a hand on my heart to still the beating but that was no solution.

"Damn it!" I cursed, panting as a pool of sweat laid beneath me. What the hell? "What's happening to me?!" I screeched, flinging myself over the side of the side of the bed, content that I didn't wear a shirt to bed. I looked over at the clock and it read, 3:31 AM. It was always around that time that I woke up after the incident occurred. I guess I was still afraid that it could happen again. I was still afraid to get into a car if it wasn't Mikhail's. He had earned my trust so easily and I knew he wouldn't jeopardize that.

But why was Steve in my dream? I had never had those type of dreams before, especially not ones where Steve shot me to death. Those hadn't started to happen until I saw that mark on his shoulder. It had to have meant something because you don't get things tattooed on yourself without a reason. I was a little afraid of him but I knew nothing would happen.

I mean it couldn't. Not with Mikhail around, right?

"I need a glass of water to calm myself down." I sighed, standing up. I was still a ball of nerves and I was still so scared. I ran a hand through my hair as I walked over to the door, opening it. I could see as I stepped out into the hall, that Mikhail's door across from me was slightly cracked. I peered in to see that his bed was untouched. "Mikhail?" I called out but I got no answer. I looked further down the hall to see that there was a small light on downstairs. I made my way towards it, wondering what Mikhail was doing up this early.

My heart thundered as I made my way down the steps, reaching the last with ease. "Mikhail?" I called out once again but nothing. I could hear distant howls coming from outside as the light of the full moon shined bright in my eyes. I stared wide eyed, my feet rooted in the same spot as my blood ran cold, landing on the sight in front of me. I froze in action, noticing that the screen door was wide open and cold air made its way in.

I didn't hear Catalina barking, which was unusual. I tiptoed across the floor to the kitchen to grab a knife. I looked around after I pulled out a long knife, leaning against the wall. I heard a loud roar and I shuddered a breath, licking my lips. "It's okay. We just," I nodded. "We just have to close the door." I closed my eyes, counting to 10 as I made my way over to the open door silently. I didn't know if there was someone already inside the house but I had to close the door. When I reached it, there was something odd about the surroundings outside. I peered closer, noticing that there were several pairs of red eyes hidden in the bushes. I blinked many times, but they were still there. "The fuck?" I managed to sputter out, fear of God in me. Are they fucking demons?!

All of a sudden, the eyes vanished and the howls stopped.

Horror stuck within me and I peered closer to see what was happening. I squinted my eyes out into the dark, cold night, hearing the sound of my blood thumping in my ears. I held my breath, unable to feel calm at this moment. I knew there was something out there, something dark, something sinister. My blood ran cold in my veins, my heart jumping around in my chest in a fearful position as I felt breathing all around me. I put one foot outside of the screen door, ready to see what it was. My pulse was pounding as it was now or never.

"What are you doing?" I screamed in fear, jumping and hitting my head on the door. "WHAT THE FUCK MIKHAIL?!" I screeched, rubbing my painful bruise. "Ah, sorry, sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck and I noticed that he was sweating madly. "Where did you come from?" I asked and he motioned towards the outdoors. What could you be doing outside at this time of morning that has you sweating that much?

"God fucking damn it!" I shut and locked the door, holding my head as I turned right back up the stairs, knife been sat on the countertop. Mikhail was following behind me and I could smell the musk of his sweat as it mixed it with his cologne as he sprayed it on earlier. I willed myself not to inhale deeply, not understanding why I was so heavily attracted towards him. My wounds still hurt but not too much.

"Good night, Mr. Alfarone." He nodded his head towards me and I reached a hand out to stop him from walking. My hand landed on his upper arm and I jolted at the feeling of sparks shooting up my arm, waking my heart. What was this feeling? The mark on my wrist was blazing a bright neon green, something I could only see. He stared at me, a mix of emotions in his eyes as he smiled gently. "Don't go!" I sputtered out. "I still have nightmares about it and I don't think I can be alone tonight." Or ever again, for that matter.

"Sure, no problem." He nodded and I let his arm go, leading him into my room. I felt shameless, like I was back in high school, leading my girlfriend into my room. I closed the door and motioned for him to pull a chair over to the side of my bed and he did. "You can't sleep, eh?" He chuckled as I climbed back into bed, his eyes the only bright thing. I shook my head and he opened his mouth.

"When I was younger, I lived in Russia for most of my time. "Mikhail began, leaning on his arm. "I would always get scared of the dark so my mother always told me a story. She would say, 'Misha, you can't be a big, bad wolf if you're afraid of something so small.' That was my favorite animal as a child." He explained, a fond grin on his lips and his eyes were a shade lighter than they were earlier, resembling a grassy green as I found myself enamored by the sight of him. "She'd say, 'You want to be an Alpha, then act like an Alpha. No one wants someone scared of everything to rule them.'" He chuckled and I smiled at his words.

"In Russian, she would say, Вы должны отказаться от своих опасений, если хотите стать сильными и достойными." He muttered, a small leer forming on his lips as he nodded towards me. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as he turned away from me, a knowing look in his eyes. I knew that his words had a calming effect on me and I knew I was able to come back from my nightmares. I laid down on the pillow, watching as he sat up in a position to keep an eye on things and I knew he wasn't going to sleep.

I closed my eyes, pondering his words as I felt him shifting so he could keep watch. But somewhere in my mind, somehow, I knew what it meant. "You have to give up your fears if you want to become someone strong and worthy." And nothing made me more happy than to hear that from him.

* * *

It was 12:31 in the afternoon and my phone wouldn't stop ringing. "Mikhail!" I whined, gathering his attention from his rigid form. "Yes, sir?" He asked in all politeness. "Who the fuck is that calling?" He chuckled, reaching over to grab my phone. "It says it's from Mercy General." He stated and I all but snatched the phone from him. "Hello?" I spoke into the phone.

"Hello, is this Mr. Nicca Alfarone?" The voice on the other side of the call asked and I put it on speaker. "This is he." I confirmed and they coughed. "This is Kaylani Whitman from the testing center here at the hospital and we were calling to tell you about the results of the DNA and the blood samples that you sent in two months previous." Mikhail raised an eyebrow at me and I raised a finger up to tell him to wait. "First, we tested the blood and we found traces of Rophynol and gamma hydroxybutyric acid or GHB. These are two common date rape drugs." She explained and I almost died at her words. "So you're saying that I was date raped?" I could not believe what I was hearing and how I was hearing it. What the hell?

"Yes, sir. It must have been the reason why you couldn't remember anything and it must have caused you to black out after ingesting them. Most likely someone placed them in your line of taking them. There was also evidence of this found in the DNA." I panted in anticipation, not noticing the look of anger on Mikhail's face.

What she said, confirmed my greatest fear. As I sat there with Mikhail listening, my heart began to beat erratically and I began to sweat in horror. How could he? Why? As she began her confirmation, the phone fell from my hands, my heart shattered into pieces. "Mr. Alfarone, the DNA of the sample hair that you sent us matches the DNA in the semen that you found in your perineum." My hands began to shake in dread, having realized that I have been lied to. "But there was something else too." I looked at Mikhail, a tear slipping out of my eye. "W-What was that, Kaylani?" I mumbled, feeling defeated. "We found two more DNA samples within the semen." My eyes widened and my chest felt tight all of a sudden. "WHAT!" Kaylani sighed as she continued.

"One belonged to one Emiliano Capaldi and the other belonged to an Felix Denisov."