As she slept Rosalina dreamt she was living with Darius. A peaceful happy life with a child who looked like the Darius. Suddenly there was a flash and everything went dark. She could hear laughter, cruel laughter. Darius was growling and the child was screaming and crying. Then all was silent, leaving Rosalina to tremble.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Feeling her tremble, Darius gently shook Rosalina to rouse her, figuring she was having another nightmare. "Ro, wake up," he whispered. "It's all right," he told her softly, wanting to wake her before her dreams turned too dark.
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"Calista, what is the matter? I am your father. Let me help you," Daniel told her softly.
"Abba, I'm okay, really..." Calista lied, although she knew that she sounded unconvincing to her own ears. Not believing her words, Daniel turned to Gareth for answers.
"She is under a lot of stress," Gareth remarked softly.
"Gareth, it's okay," Calista whispered, not wanting to burden her father too.
"Love, he is your father. He has a right to know," Gareth remarked.
"Yes, and if someone is troubling you under our roof, I want to know of it," he answered.
"Gareth, Abba. I'm really all right," Calista said again to the two men wishing they would just end this conversation.
"Tell me everything, Gareth," Daniel remarked instead, completely ignoring his daughter's protests.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina didn't wake as in her dream she wandered in the dark. The laughter returned, and it followed her as she became lost in the darkeness.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"Ro!" Darius remarked, louder this time as he shook her harder. "Wake up," he said yet again, once again trying to rouse her.
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"Besides the ravishing she endured, we found out that Rosalina is with child by one who had her before. As a result she tried to kill the child twice. Once through a herb she heard Calista and I talking about and another time with a knife. In the first attempt, Rosalina nearly bled to death and in the second, she accidentally stabbed Darius in the chest. Your daughter injured her ankle as she was thrown from her horse in the attempt to get the needed herb and in her effort to heal Darius collapsed out of sheer exhaustion..."
Not wanting to hear any more, Calista covered her ears with her hands as memories of the events started flood into her mind. It was her fault all of this happened. She should have been paying better attention to what was happening. Darius was right. She was to blame.
"Then what happened?" Daniel asked not noticing his daughter’s reaction, and bit his lip as the mage continued to recount the events as quick as possible. "Rosalina developed a fever from her wounds, I went out to find the herb, Darius at first blamed Calista for the herb incident and then used intimidation to probe her mind for a substitute herb to bring down Rosalina's fever and forced her to prepare it without offering assistance despite her exhaustion. So now, Calista is terrified of him, with good reason. Then Rosalina went out to gather some berries for dinner and from what I understand was startled, fell and has been blin---" he started to say but stopped as he felt Calista start to tremble against him. Even though she had her ears covered, she could not stop the flow of memory as she relived each event as Gareth talked on.
"Rose..." Gareth whispered as he gently rubbed her shoulder.
"Please stop," Calista whimpered as she squeezed her eyes shut and she shook her head as if trying to erase her memory. “Please…” she begged, tears sliding down from behind her closed eyelids.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina still wasn't waking. She was trapped in the world of darkness. Trying, trying to find light, trying to get out and away from the laughter that followed her, the screams of the child still echoing in her ears.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"Ro, wake up!" Darius shouted again, this time growing more frantic. Normally when he shook her, she woke almost instantly, but not this time and he was starting to wonder if some sort of magic was involved.
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Finally seeing his daughter's reaction, Daniel felt his heart clench at the sight. He didn't recall seeing her this terrified before, but then again for most of her life he had been only mildly affectionate and he cast her off to Gareth's care. Moving the chair forward, he gently removed her hands from her ears and gave them a gentle squeeze as she slowly opened her eyes. "I am sorry, my daughter. I did not mean to upset you," he whispered, seeing a glimpse of what Gareth was referring to when he mentioned that she was stressed.
"I can't erase the images from my mind," Calista whispered. "I see the events happening again and again. And always the blood remains..." she whimpered as she started to cry softly, burying her face against Gareth's neck as she did so.
"It's all right, my child," Daniel remarked. "This is all just too much for your mind and heart to take. Just rest and give yourself time to heal," he told her soothingly as Gareth just held her close, not even sure how many breakdowns she had already.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina heard the shout, but it was as if it was in the distance. "Darius?" she murmered. Was he alive, where was he?

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"Ro, I'm here," Darius told her. "Wake up, love. You are here and safe with me. You are just having a nightmare," he added gently.
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Unable to stop her crying, Calista managed to nod at her father's words, wanting to at least acknowledge him. "We are here for you, Calista. Do not forget that. Do not doubt it," Daniel added softly, hoping she would believe his words.
"Just let it out," Gareth whispered in her ear as he gently rubbed her arm. "Let it out, love. You don't have to put up a facade around us," he told her in a soothing tone.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina tried to follow his voice. "I can't find you." she whimpered quietly.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Touching Rosalina's face lightly, Darius then took her hand and brought it to his face so she could feel him. "I'm right here, Ro. You are safe in the guestroom at Calista's father's house. There is no reason for you to fear," he added gently.
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Calista cried until she could feel her energy starting to give out. As her sobs died down to a quiet sniffling, Gareth just continued to hold her and rub her arm and back gently as Daniel massaged her hands. Feeling her slump more against him, Gareth could tell that she was emotionally spent. "Just rest, love," Gareth whispered to her as he placed a light kiss on her forehead. "You need it," he added gently as he continued to rub his hand lightly up and down her arm.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina saw a light, and went to it. She opened her eyes, but her world was still black. "Darius?"

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"Yes, Ro. I'm here," Darius told her gently as he lightly caressed her face. "I'm here," he said again before kissing her cheek gently.
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Allowing her lashes to fall close, Calista sank into a light sleep in Gareth's arms. "Poor girl," Daniel remarked quietly as he gazed upon the sleeping form of his daughter.
"She is suffering," Gareth remarked softly. "I know she is trying to hide it, but she startles easily now and what you have witnessed is not her first outburst," the mage whispered wanting Daniel to understand the seriousness of the situation. "She will need all the love and support you can give her now more than ever," Gareth added as he looked the old man in the eyes.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

"I-I was lost in the dark . . . and the laugter, it followed me, taunting me."

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Giving Rosalina a sad smile before remembering that she could not see it, Darius could only sigh to himself. "It's all right, Ro," he told her softly and pulled her into his arms. "It was only a dream, nothing more," he said softly.
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"I am going to go and lay Calista down," Gareth whispered to Daniel. "Ever since her ravishing, she has not been sleeping too well," he added sadly as he brushed her hair back and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, hoping that she would be able to stay asleep for longer than ten minutes.
Sighing softly, Daniel gave Gareth a rather melancholy glance at his words. "Go," he said softly. "Just take care of my daughter. I will put the food back in storage."

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

"But it felt so real. Were so happy before the darkness." Rosalina told him. "and the child, the child looked like you, but the screaming . . . "

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"Sometimes dreams and nightmares can seem real, even if they are not," Darius told Rosalina gently. "What you had was merely a dream and nothing more. It does not signal events to come," he told her reassuringly as he gently rubbed her back.
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Nodding at Daniel, Gareth slowly got to his feet. Feeling him shift, Calista moaned softly and she opened her eyes a little.
"Don't fret, love. Everything is all right. Just go back to sleep," Gareth whispered soothingly to her.
Closing her eyes once more, Calista quickly fell back asleep as Gareth carried her to her room, being sure to keep his gait gentle as not to disturb her.
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As Gareth carried Calista to her room and stayed with his daughter, Daniel hobbled to the kitchen to put the food away. Sighing to himself, he grabbed the fish and carried it over to their small store room. Even though Gareth did not say it, he had a feeling that Calista had worked hard on the meal, only to have Darius and Rosalina leave before she finished it, and from what he had seen of her mental state, after her guests had left, she did not have the appetite to partake of anything. Shaking his head slightly in dismay, the old man kept replaying the mage's words in his mind over and over. When Calista had been in the room, he had focused all his attention upon her so Gareth's words had yet to sink in. But now that they did, he could not help but feel anger toward Darius and Rosalina for the trouble they caused his daughter after she had pleaded on their behalf and frustration at himself for even allowing them to stay. "This is all that woman's fault," he muttered bitterly under his breath. "If I had not consented to granting her shelter, Calista would be happier and whole---and not the emotional mess she is now."

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!