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ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ: ᴍɪᴅɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴡʜɪsᴘᴇʀɪɴɢs

❝ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ʟᴀsᴛ ɴɪɢʜᴛ? ❞

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   ONE WOULD THINK THAT FINALLY decoding a super secret code that could possibly help save the entire world would bring enough peace to someone's mind to allow them to fall asleep without any problem, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case for you.

Maybe it was because it was the first time in months that you were back in your own bed, or maybe it was the fact that simply being in this house knowing that your parents would never come home made you sick to your stomach, but no matter how hard you tried, there was just no way you could bring yourself to fall asleep.

But eventually, after hours of tossing and turning, you were finally able to force yourself to go to sleep; except this proved to be even worse than staying awake.

The nightmare happened in fragments. Very short, very graphic fragments. You tried your hardest to wake yourself up. To try and tell yourself that it was just a dream and you could control it. To try and bring yourself back to reality so that you didn't have to watch your parents get murdered.

But it was no use.

You watched them die. Over and over.

It was the worst kind of torture imaginable; watching the people you loved most in the world being brutally murdered and not being able to do anything about it. It was especially worse knowing that it was something your mind made up. Something you did to yourself.

Apparently, you'd been much more vocal in trying to wake yourself up than you were aware of (or unaware of, since you were asleep), because not too long after you'd watched your parents die for the sixth time, you were woken up by the feeling of strong arms enveloping you, pulling you into an equally strong chest while their owner whispered soothingly in your ear.

"Shh, shh. It's okay. You're okay," Brendon whispered, trying to reassure you. You were still in a slight trance from the nightmare, and you still thrashed about, which caused Brendon to hold you closer. "It's okay, it was just a bad dream. I'm here; I won't let anything happen to you."

This managed to calm you down significantly, and now, instead of trashing about wildly, you just curled yourself up, whimpering quietly, the images from your nightmare still fresh in your mind.

Brendon continued to hold you, and began stroking your face, wiping away your tears and shushing you. When after a while, your crying still hadn't ceased, and you were clearly on the verge of having a panic attack, he realised that he'd have to find a way to distract you from your mind. And then, Brendon found himself doing something he previously swore to himself he'd never do again...

"Hey moon, please forget to fall down

Hey moon, don't you go down

Sugarcane in the easy morning

Weather vanes my one and lonely," he sang softly. Although he started apprehensively at first, after noticing that your frantic sobs had decreased to soft sniffles, he started again, more confidently.

"The ink is running toward the page, it's chasing off the days

Look back at boat feet and that winding knee

I missed your skin when you were east

You clicked your heels and wished for me

Through playful lips made of yarn, that fragile Capricorn

Unravelled words like moths upon old scarves

I know the world's a broken bone

But melt your headaches, call it home

Hey moon, please forget to fall down

Hey moon, don't you go down

Sugarcane in the easy morning

Weather vanes my one and lonely..."

Looking down at your now extremely peaceful, sleeping state, Brendon couldn't help but let a small smile grace his usually stone-cold features. "Sleep well, moon."

~

The vibrations from your cellphone on the bedside table woke you up, and you groaned as you reached over to grab it. You were mentally and physically exhausted, and you were far from ready to get out of bed.

You let out an even bigger groan when you realised that the vibrations that woke you up were only a result of a Candy Crush notification. Mumbling a few curse words, you swiped away the notification, your eyes darting to the time displayed on the screen.

08:42

Sighing, you decided that it was probably best if you dragged yourself out of bed now, before your bodyguard marched into your room and pulled you out of bed by your hair, yelling about how lazy you were.

Alright, maybe he wouldn't physically drag you, but that icy glare of his definitely made it feel like he would.

You turned over onto your back and stared at the ceiling for a little bit while stretching, allowing you to fully wake-up before you got out of bed. As the effects of sleep started to slowly wear off, the flashbacks of last night began.

The nightmare was the first thing that you remembered; even though it had stopped hours ago, every minute detail was still fresh in your mind, as if it had just occurred.

However, everything that took place after the nightmare was a blur.

You could remember screaming, and crying; the same scene playing over and over in your head like a broken record.

Then you remembered warmth. Enveloping you, comforting you. You could remember the feeling of safety and security that came with it. And the... singing?

No, that couldn't be right.

But... you were certain you'd heard singing. You could even remember part of the words.

"Hey moon,

Please forget to fall down,"

You'd never heard that song before, so it wasn't possible for your conscious mind to comfort you with it. It must've been a dream. Yes, that's what it was. A dream.

Unless...

You shook the ridiculous thought from your mind. There was no way it was possible. Walking pillars of stone with a heart and soul made of ice don't sing.

Although, the warmth that saved you from the darkness of your mind last night did feel strangely familiar, as if you'd felt it before. Maybe when it threw itself on top of you to protect you from bullets? Or when it clasped your hand and guided you to safety more than once. Or when it brought you coffee all those times.

You let out an incredulous laugh at the absurdity of it all. Your thoughts drifted to the hard-bodied, stone-faced agent.

Yeah, there was definitely no way.

Or was there?

You didn't know much about him, other than his work for SHIELD and his relationship with Agent Smith, which he opened up to you about that night in the safe house, so who's to say that he couldn't sing? Admittedly, the prospect seemed highly unlikely, but you couldn't shake the feeling that it was his voice that had brought you peace and lulled you back to sleep last night.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

~

"Good, you're up," Brendon's cold voice cut through the warmth of the kitchen. "There's coffee in the pot." He gestured to the coffee machine on the counter before returning his attention to the papers in front of him.
"Thanks," you replied, walking over and pouring yourself a cup.

Taking a sip, you narrowed your eyes and studied the man sitting at the island, his handsome features hardened more than usual. "Can I ask you something?" you questioned, pulling your cardigan tighter over your body.

"Is it important?" he responded, not even bothering to look up from the papers.

"Yes. Well... not really. Uh, sort of."

"Well, which is it?"

"It is important. To me."

And why exactly is that? the little voice in your head spoke. You ignored it.

He didn't respond.

"What happened last night?"

He tensed up momentarily, his movements ceasing and his gaze locking on one spot on the paper. For a moment, his face softened. But it was so quick and subtle, that if you hadn't been staring at him intently, you wouldn't have noticed it.

"What do you mean?" his voice was cool and calm. He still hadn't looked up at you, and his previous movements resumed.

"You know what I mean."

"No, I don't think that I do."

"My nightmare," you sighed frustratedly.

"What about it?"

"Did you come into my room to comfort me?" you asked, deciding to just get straight to the point. "And... and sing?" you whispered.

He finally lifted his gaze to meet yours. His eyes were darker than usual, and there seemed to be a fire of emotion burning behind them. What emotion exactly, you couldn't say.

He looked at you intensely for a few seconds before simply stating, "I don't sing."

But the voice in your head told you otherwise.

"Are you sure?" you questioned. "Cause I swear-"

"I think I would remember if I sang, because it's something I never do," he cut you off, giving you an icy glare that sent chills through you. "You had a nightmare, you screamed, I came to check on you. You were thrashing around, so I held you down until you stopped. Then, I left. Nothing else happened. Especially not singing."

His words sent a twang of disappointment through you. You hated to admit it, but there was a part of you that had hoped that he really did sing to you. Why? You didn't know.

But it made sense that it wasn't him. The voice you'd heard was much too hypnotically beautiful and soothing to have come from someone with no soul, like your bodyguard.

"Must've dreamt it up then," you muttered, taking another sip of your coffee.

"Must've." He looked at you again, and a part of you expected him to confess that the singing voice really was him, but of course, that's not what came out of his mouth. "Go get dressed. We're leaving soon."

~

"Sir, I think now would be a good time to tell her."

"Not yet, Agent Urie. It's not time."

"But with what she found," Brendon shook his head as he spoke into his cellphone, "You and I both know that she'll want to pursue this. And I think it would be better if she kne-"

"Agent. The less she knows at this point, the better. When the time is right, it'll happen. You're not to do or say anything to tip her off. Understood?"

Brendon clenched his jaw. "Yes, sir," he replied through gritted teeth.

"Excellent."

The line went dead.

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Thank you for reading x

Note: I've just been made aware that this book has won both 1st Place and Honorable Mention in The Shooketh Awards. I am speechless. 🖤