Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 176: Rent free

Once again and for the second night in a row, nightmares weren’t kind to Arabella.

She could’ve sworn Ammund’s face appeared bigger, eclipsing the totality of the world behind his head.

The sight and noxious stench of his rotten teeth simply wouldn’t leave her be. Although even in her state of mind, Arabella was able to be honest with herself.

Truthful about the fact that the previous image was nothing compared to the one that really haunted her.

The way Cynric’s claws sank into Vali’s throat was what would have wrenched the first scream out of her on that day. Had it not been for the thick knot twined around her vocal cords, of course.

The sea of red that followed did not reach her for the sole and only reason that Ayyura had yanked her back.

The screams of those men as their flesh was being ripped off their bones rang louder whenever the world around Arabella would go quiet. Nighttime was the worst in that regard.

Blaring over and over as if they expected her to go back in time and change it all or fix it somehow.

The colors had long since faded from their eyes, but they promised to live rent free in her head for the next months if not years to come...

The darkened canopy above greeted her the instant her eyes flickered open, and the chandelier candles lit up the moment her feet touched the ground.

The sun hadn’t yet risen but sleep refused to return her way. The young woman dragged herself to the bathroom where cold water was abundant.

One splash wasn’t enough. The second demanded a third and the third was only interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

"Arabella! Is everything alright?"

Arabella was taken aback by hearing not Katherine’s voice but Allegra’s on the other end.

"Yes! Come in, Allegra," knowing her words would still reach the vampire’s ears, the young woman did not put any effort in raising her voice.

Only seconds after that, Allegra joined her in the bathroom and much like Katherine had done so the first time she found her after a nightmare, that one too stood in place momentarily, eyes a little wide.

Allegra’s irises went a little frantic, seemingly unsure where to land and stay.

"Oh dear...," the vampire then extended her hands forward before reaching Arabella in order to pull her into an embrace.

"Is Katherine alright?" that was the only question Arabella had managed to utter.

"Yes!" Allegra leaned back to glimpse Arabella’s face, "Yes of course she’s alright. Why wouldn’t she be?" she shook her head, but the twitching of her eyebrows sort of betrayed her.

"She’s usually the one to rush here when...," Arabella broke eye contact and trailed off.

"Please," Allegra cupped the young woman’s cheeks and turned her face back towards herself, "Don’t worry yourself about her and tell me what happened? Was it a nightmare?"

"Did I scream?" in the most brittle of mutters, she asked.

"It sure sounded like you were trying your best to, but only moans and groans came of it," Allegra offered her a grimace that only distantly resembled a smile.

"That doesn’t surprise me," Arabella freed herself from Allegra’s hold and turned towards the bathtub, "I think I might need another bath,"

"You certainly do not, girl," Allegra walked around Arabella then slid between her figure and the bathtub, "Keep that up and you’ll make yourself sick,"

In response, Arabella gave the weakest of chuckles before speaking, "Katherine had said the same thing to me,"

"Well, she was right," Allegra nodded, a sort of stern expression on her, "I think it’d be best to rinse your limbs with some cold water, drink some and go back to bed. We still have a few hours before dawn,"

Arabella did not protest and allowed Allegra to guide her towards the sink, wash hand after hand before dampening her neck.

Once on the bed, the vampire handed her a full glass of water and stood watch until she gulped it down to the last drop.

When tucked in, Arabella turned towards the window and never closed her eyes in preparation for the hours of tossing and turning that were about to hit her.

Indeed, the sheets bundling her as well as the mattress carrying her weight no longer offered the comfort and security they once did.

After exiting the room, Allegra was not at all surprised to find Silas behind her upon spinning around.

On the contrary, she curtsied with grace and greeted him, "Master,"

"Where is Katherine?" he cut straight to the chase, wasting no time with courtesies.

"She... I don’t know, Master. I was keeping an eye on her as you asked, but the moment I heard Arabella wake up from her nightmare, I assumed Katherine would come here, but when I arrived, she was nowhere near this place,"

"This is becoming a problem. She needs to be assessed," his eyes drifted to the side momentarily.

"I am afraid she does," Allegra cast her eyes down.

"Was it a nightmare?"

His question brought Allegra’s gaze back towards him, "Indeed, it was, Master. She wanted to run another bath, but I stopped her and put her back in bed,"

"You did well,"

"Pardon me if I am overstepping if so, but I believe she too needs to be assessed," a little sheepishly Allegra had asked.

"She went through an ordeal that is bound to leave its marks on her. Humans aren’t like us in that regard. Her reaction is somewhat in line with the level of severity the recent events held," his voice was neither too cold nor did it carry a single hint of warmth. It sounded simply measured.

"That I understand. However, expected or not she might still need a helping hand to cope better than she’s doing on her own,"

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Allegra looked away from him, seemingly pensive for a moment, "I believe summoning Madame Morgana one more time would do. She may come up with something that could help without shutting her emotions off,"

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