Red eyes shot open in the still darkness of the night. Delilah’s breathing was coming in short spurts and she was positive that there was sweat covering her body. The moonlight that was slipping in through her window blinds landed directly over the place in her abdomen that screamed in fresh pain. Throwing back her covers, and pulling the top of her pajamas off to reveal her perfect flesh, Delilah’s hands were searching for the cause of the pain.

She found nothing.

With the assurance her body was intact, Delilah’s body feel back against her pillows. She was staring up at her ceiling fan counting the ticks the pull string made as the fan turned. Every fifth tick, she would release the breath she was holding, calming her racing heart. It took several minutes of this repeating pattern but sure enough, Delilah finally felt her heart rate dropping.

Reaching over to the bedside table, she flicked on her lamp. Everything was as it should be. Minus the desk that sat on the other wall, her apartment was small but neat. Days as a college freshman must have started to wear on her nerves.

Rolling out of bed, she grabbed her pajama top and walked towards the full length mirror she had hung on the bedroom door. As she shut the door, the mirror swung side to side allowing her to gaze the the complete form that was her body. Everything was just as it should be. She was hole and clear of any flaws...minus a few small scar lines. Those were slowly going away with the cream she had gotten.

One more long sigh and she slipped her top back on before opening the door and heading into the main living area. ”What was that…” Delilah whispered out, finding herself a glass and filling it with cold water. Two long drinks and the glass was empty. It had helped calm her core but she was still shaking. The cold sweat still covered her body as she leaned forward on the counter. There was no memory of the dream. Strange. Normally nightmares were strong visually at least for a few hours.

Not this one though. And the more she tried to think on it, the stronger the ponding in the back of her head became. Shaking it off, Delilah stood back up and reached for the advil in the cabinet. ”Leave it alone girl. Feels like you have a migraine coming on. Last thing you need is to make it worse…”

That was when she looked at the clock on the microwave. 2am. She had been asleep only a few hours. Quickly switching from the advil to the benadryl, she returned to the sink and filled the glass again. ”Bottom’s up.” Delilah sighed and threw back the pink pillow.

At least she knew that she would be able to get more sleep. Hopefully...dreamless.