A pungent, acrid scent, heat coiling around the body and shriveling lungs. This could only mean- "Fire!"
Cherry gasped awake and immediately regretted it as the vindictive smoke entered her lungs, sapping the oxygen away from her.
She coughed, tears singing her eyes. Desperate to leave, she tried to move, only for a burning pain to launch through her spine and nail her back to her seat. She bended over, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "W-What's going?" She groaned, forcing one of her eyes to open narrowly and one look at the blood between her thighs trickling down her seat made both of her eyes bulge open. Her head twirled to the side, trying to peer through the ribbons of vaper that concealed her environment.
The urgency choked her, allowing only a cracked, but raw voice to escape. "Help!" The volume was enough to tear down her throat, but she didn't care. She needed to get out. "Somebody, please help!"
Then she saw it. What started out as a vague dot in the distance grew in size in a matter of seconds. A figure cloaked by the violent smog ran up to her until it towered over her. Upon recognizing the figure, Cherry expected her arms to reach out to the person for comfort. For the tears that dragged her mascara down to glide past a watery smile. Key word, expected.
"No!" Instead, she detected fear in her own voice mixed with betrayal. Her battered body tried its hardest to scramble away from the window that posed as a barrier between her and… Brandon.
I don't understand. Outside stood Brandon, disheveled with his clothes clinging to his sweat-drenched. His body language screamed in reprieve upon seeing Cherry still being alive. So why was she cowering away from him in fear? She just couldn't understand.
The violent rattling of the doorknob shook her out of her thoughts, only worsening the stutters in her heart. When Brandon couldn't pry the door open, he switched to banging the window with his fists, causing webs of cracks to appear, and Cherry instinctively pushed herself further to the other side as she pressed her elbows to her sides; making her self as small as possible.
"Please make him disappear," she kept whispering in a squeaked voice. Another bang to the window and a cry from Brandon moved Cherry's hand to shield her ears from the noise. She didn't notice how the draft outside the car begun to pick up. The air violently moving the vehicle around, whirling itself in a compact ball until it imploded into a young girl.
"We finally arrived at this part of the memory. Great!" Her younger self grinned, but that smile quickly fell flat seeing the heap of mess that Cherry was. She phased through the door and, like a mosquito, hovered over Cherry, poking her, calling her out in a childish voice,
"Hey. Hey. Hey!" But it only gained her mumbles of 'please save me'.
The young child sighed, running her hand through her locks. She stomped her feet mid air in agitation and huffed, "Fine, I will wake you up. Only this time." She placed her hand over Cherry's teary eyes and, Like a switch, everything went still, expect for the childish voice ringing in her ears. "Next time, you'll have to remember. Everything."
....
It was like her soul got smacked back into her body knocking the air out of her longs. The sharp intake of her breath resounded in the room as her eyes snapped open. Her gaze frantically scrutinized her surroundings and only rested once they landed on the sleeping expression of Brandon.
With a sigh, Cherry closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. Her hands covered her face and her body cringed, feeling the dampness beneath her palms. The sweat cladding her body brought tremors down her spine. She rubbed her arms with her hands in an attempt to soothe herself. "It was just a nightmare. You're fine Cherry. You're fine…"
The soft breathing coming from her husband grappled her attention. The warmest hues of the sunrise trickled through the window, splaying a gentle glow on Brandon's face. As her gaze lingered, the initial fear that had gripped her like a vise around her heart slowly gave way to disbelief, a hesitant hope blooming in its place. The change in her emotions gave way to a small smile. Yeah, there's no way that nightmare was real. A memory.
"I need to pee," she whispered to herself as she rose deliberately, groaning against the feeling of her body sticking uncomfortably against the bed sheets "…and I need a shower. Hmm?"
In the corner of her eyes, she noticed a small wrapped box on the nightstand next to her. Her name written on the card fastened down by the glossy ribbon called out to her and she reached for the box. A single pull on the delicate ribbon, and it unraveled with a soft whisper, leaving behind just the wrapping paper. She tried to be quiet, but the paper crinkled under her touch as she ripped it open. Cringing under its cry, her shoulders hiked up to her ears as she shut her eyes. As if someone pressed her hands down on a sizzling hob, she retracted her hands before opening one of them to steal a glance from Brandon.
Seeing him still fast asleep, she sighed, relieved. She didn't want to wake up him up if necessary. If anything, she feared her body would involuntarily flinch away from him if he awoke now, still feeling the residue chill of the dream coiling around her body.
Bringing her focus back to the half-wrapped box, she continued stripping it deliberately until it fluttered to the ground. Her eyes grew wide with eagerness viewing the inside of the box.
"Oh my God!"
The shrill cry pierced Brandon awake, his body jolting into a sitting position as he vehemently whipped his head from side to side, eyes still shut.
"W, What's wrong!?" Through his squinted eyes he found Cherry's silhouette and snatched her with his legs and arms, coiling around her like a snake and smashing her against his chest in a protective stance. Brandon didn't feel any presence, but he didn't relent his hold on Cherry, feeling her tremble in his arms.
"What happened?" He asked, flitting his gaze down to her awestruck expression. His eyes followed hers to the present that he had bought for Cherry sitting on her lap. Putting two and two together, he understood the situation, but still didn't let her go, allowing himself to bask a little longer in her sweet scent.
"Tell me what's wrong, princess?" He feigned the worry in his voice as he nuzzled his chin on Cherry's shoulder. Cherry, not registering how her husband's burly arms wrapped themselves around her waist, exclaimed, "You got me a phone?"
"Well, I do want to be able to contact my wife while at work, also I know that you have been eager to talk to April and your parents again since we have moved here. Sorry that it took me this long to get you a new phone," He simpered.
Turning her face to meet her husband's loving gaze with her glazed one's Cherry cooed before throwing her arms around his neck as she squealed with excitement, "Thank you, thank you and a zillions time more thank you! I'm going to contact April immediately. She will be so elated!"
Brandon chuckled, "I have already installed the phone for the most part. But how about we contact April later? I first want to take you out on a date that you've promised me." His hands run over her back before stilling at the touch of wetness seeping through her clothes. A shadow passed over his eyes.
Cherry blinked her eyes copiously. "What?" pulling herself away from the hug, her cinnamon eyes wandered confused over Brandon's face that now seemed unreadable. "Already? But I kind of expected to go this weekend. I'm sure that you need to go to work."
A low, disinterested hum escaped Brandon's lips before his palm found Cherry's neck, his other hand gently cupping her face. His face hardened in concentration. "Don't worry about it." He murmured as he tilted her face to the side, letting his eyes scan her complexion. His fingers that brushed against her skin tickling her in the process.
"Why do you keep touching me like that?" She whispered in a barely audible tone. His touch send shivers down her spine, turning Cherry hyperaware of his presence. Whilst his fingers left trails of heat on her skin, her eyes took the chance to study the man in front of her. Cherry wanted to praise her past self for snatching a man that still looked gorgeous when he just woke up. From the ruffled hair, to the scruffy beard, to the morning voice that gave her ears a nice scratch. He was everything and miraculously hers.
"What happened?" Brandon questioned.
She momentarily shook herself awake from her stupor. "Huh?"
"You're sweating, but you don't have a fever. Are you okay?" This time, the concern in his raspy voice was palpable.
She cleared her throat. "I'm fine." Brandon gave her an incredulous look and she reiterate, "I'm really fine". He glowered his gaze more. She quailed under his penetrating stare. "I'm just a really sweaty person," she tittered, a nervous quiver behind her voice, as she gently brushed his hands away and averted her gaze back to her present.
"Wow, you got me an iPhone? And it's the latest one too. You didn't have to do that-"
"Cherry," Brandon probed, his eyes burning a hole in her side-profile, refusing to let her change the topic.
Cherry sighed, "I only had a small nightmare. That's all." With a flick of her eyelashes, she looked at him. "I mean it."
Studying her expression, Brandon nodded with a tight smile. Cherry's face softens in relief and she was about to stand up so that she could take a shower and wash the sweat off her body, but Brandon kept her back nailed to his chest.
"Not so fast. Let me keep you in my arms for a bit more," Brandon said as he snuggled his face in the crook of her neck.
The breath that skittered across her skin brought an eruption of goosebumps. With flushed skin Cherry tried her hardest to pry herself free from his impeccable hold. "But I'm sweaty."
"Didn't I tell you? I love my food seasoned." He softly murmured against her skin before trailing his tongue from the base of her neck to the nape.
The small hairs on her skin stood straight, and with a gasp, she sprung free from his hold. "Brandon!" Her vision swirled as she became tongue tied. "You…! I…no, you!"
"I love you too," He confessed with an innocent smile that left Cherry speechless. Her flight response kicked in, she grabbed her crutches and dashed to the bathroom. Watching how his wife left a cloud behind the corner of Brandon's lips curled down. He runs his fingers through his arrayed locks as he grumbled under his breath.
"Nightmare or memory?"