Chapter 5: Nightmare ...?


It had been two weeks since the post-party incident.
Maya went straight to her friend the next and apologized a thousand times for leaving her alone, that would never happen again.
No, it wouldn't, Lefia had replied, because she would never go to such a party with her again.
Maya had received the rebuff relatively well and had not shown up at Lefia's daily to help her since then.
She had also forced her friend to go to a doctor and have another look at her foot.
Lefia had grumbled at first, but then bowed to her friend's will and left. She was told not to put any weight on her foot for three weeks, after which she returned home exhausted.
Marik hadn't seen her in the meantime either, but his words just couldn't get out of her head. She had to confront him again to find out what that was about.However, after this nightly attack, her nightmares, if you could call it that, had returned. The strange thing was that she always seemed to have the same dream:
She stood on a market square, surrounded by hundreds of other people who pushed past the various stands and tried to ignore the barkers who loudly presented their goods. Lefia was also in the middle of this hustle and bustle. She and the other people all wore strange clothes: they were mostly white cotton sheets that were wrapped around the body and tied together with a knot at the shoulder. The women all wore lots of gold and bronze bracelets and chatted here and there with other people.
She herself only looked in one direction in which a man disappeared and felt a stabbing pain in her heart. It looked somehow familiar to her and she wanted to call his name, but she couldn't think of it. But the man seemed to feel that and wanted to turn around, but always shortly before she could see his face Lefia awoke from sleep bathed in sweat and with a constricted throat.It was always the same dream, but it never went on to this point.
What did it mean? the black-haired asked herself again that night.
She had just started up again and was now lying motionless in her bed. The sweat ran cold down her back and made her nightgown stick uncomfortably to her body. The black-haired woman turned on her back and looked absently at the ceiling. How exciting white woodchip wallpaper could be. The moon shone brightly in her room and had just peaked, which meant that it was probably still the middle of the night.
Sighing, she got up and slowly hobbled into the bathroom to take a shower and put on another nightgown. Her foot was still aching and Lefia had vowed never to wear killer shoes like that again, no matter how beautiful they were.
Relieved, she let the warm water run over her body and tried to wash away her thoughts.She was ordered to already have enough things to agonize because their dreams were only a hindrance.
Freshly showered, she went back to her room and was about to lie down when a bloodcurdling scream was heard.
It was clearly from the other apartment, thought Lefia, straightening up on her pillows.
Didn't Marik live next door? But what made him scream like that?

Concern spread throughout Lefia and she listened intently for more unfamiliar noises. Suddenly we heard something fall to the ground and break. Now the black-haired woman was even more alarmed. She got up, quickly put on her dressing gown and left her apartment.
She stopped in front of Marik's apartment and listened again to strange noises, but nothing could be heard anymore. Lefia knocked carefully on the door and waited, but nothing happened. She tried again, but a little louder this time.
"Marik?" She called softly, waiting for a movement which, however, failed to materialize.Great, what should I do now, please, she thought sarcastically, kneading her fingers.
Maybe ..., thought the young woman, took a few steps back and went down on her knees. I hope she was correct in her guess, Lefia thought, and picked up the runner that was in front of the front door.
A triumphant smile spread across her face and her dark purple eyes sparkled in the darkness of the Ganges, which was only illuminated by the cold light of the moon.
Resolutely she took the key and used it to unlock the door. Lefia entered cautiously and looked around, which was not very helpful as the apartment was wrapped in deep black.
She entered as quietly as possible and closed the door behind her. Her eyes slowly got used to the darkness and she could dimly see the individual objects. Slowly she walked on towards the room, which she hoped was the bedroom, since the apartments from the building plan were all the same, but you could determine the room layout yourself.Lefia noticed that the apartment was very sparsely furnished and that it made a very sterile impression. When she got to the bedroom door she listened repeatedly, but this time again nothing could be heard. The black-haired woman took another deep breath, then gently pressed the door handle and peered into the room.
Why was the duvet on the floor? The first thing that crossed her mind was when she found the empty bed. Then she slipped completely into the dark room, in which there was nothing more than a bed, a closet and a small bedside table.
She was about to close the door when someone pushed it hard against it.
The scream of terror that tried to escape their throats was nipped in the bud by the shock.
With her eyes wide with terror, she looked into the face of the person who was holding her arms to the left and right of her body. Apparently Marik didn't seem to have recognized who she was yet and his contorted expression scared her again and again.She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, which almost took the breath away.
"Marik ... please ... it's me ..", she tried desperately to make it clear to him who she was, because his grip was getting tighter and he was hurting her meanwhile.
But Marik still didn't react. Lefia looked at him more closely and her breath caught. He slept!!! His eyes were closed, but they moved restlessly back and forth and seemed to see her exactly too.
He was sleepwalking and apparently was still dreaming !.
What should she do now? Lefia had heard that sleepwalking people should not be woken up, otherwise they would go into shock. The affected people did not notice what they were doing when they were sleepwalking because they were back in their beds the next morning.
Her mind was feverishly looking for a solution to this situation, but with the best of intentions she couldn't think of anything. The black-haired tried again to wriggle out of the iron grip of this young man, but it just made no sense.As I said, his grip was iron and she was too weak to break free.
An uneasy feeling spread in Lefia and her eyes flicked restlessly back and forth, because Marik had started to come closer and closer to her face. They were only a few centimeters apart, but Marik paused and Lefia had the feeling that he was piercing her with his eyes, even though they were closed.
"At last you are with me ... Eftelia ...", he mumbled, barely understandable, and overcame the last few centimeters and closed Lefia's lips with his.
She had stiffened completely when he whispered that name and was no longer able to turn her head on its side. So she tensed even more than she felt his warm lips on hers and looked at him with terrifying eyes.
Marik's grip slowly loosened and he caressed Lefia's lips as gently as if they would break at the slightest touch.
This butterfly-light touch sent the black-haired girl a pleasantly cozy shiver down her back and she closed her eyes.Marik, meanwhile, was still asleep to pamper her neck with kisses.
"Eftelia ...", he breathed the name again and that made Lefia wake up from her stupor and think clearly again.
She managed to wrest her hand from his now somewhat loose grip, then reached out and ...
GOSSIP!!!
That had been eaten.

Marik opened her eyes in amazement. The sudden pain had torn him from his beautiful dream and ...
What the hell!? ... He wasn't in his bed? B-but ... he fell asleep in his bed.
He saw himself irritated in his room, but his gaze stayed on a petite person who was leaning against his door and had wrapped her arms protectively around her trembling body.
"Eftelia ...?" Marik exclaimed uncontrollably and continued to look at Lefia. No ... it wasn't Eftelia ... it couldn't be her ... but then who was it? the white-haired man asked himself, taking a closer look at her.
"Oh ... no ... damn it!", he cursed when he recognized Lefia who was leaning against the door, distraught.
"Lefia ... I ...", he started, but as soon as the black-haired woman had heard her name she winced and felt the tears welling up in her eyes.
Marik took a step towards her and when she saw that she wanted to move backwards, but that was not possible. Marik saw it and stopped as a precaution. He didn't want to scare her off any more than she apparently already was ... but what had shocked her so? he asked himself, but then he remembered it, too hot.
Just before he woke up he had dreamed ... he had dreamed of her, how he spoiled her with his kisses and she didn't resist ... oh no ... he hadn't ...
He looked into Lefia's eyes and the fear and ignorance that were reflected in them only confirmed his fears ... he had also pursued his dream ... and that on Lefia ...
"I'm sorry ..." was the only thing he could manage.What should he say? He had scared her again ... but this time there was nothing he could do to undo it.

Lefia looked at me for a moment, but then her mind set in again and she noticed that she had woken him up.
The situation was more than uncomfortable for her and she didn't know what to do now. She just looked at Marik with a frightened expression. Then she turned around, opened the door, and disappeared.
The further slamming of a door made Marik wake up from his thoughts.
"Damn it!", Angrily he hit the door