A thin sheen of sweat covered the red-haired woman as she tossed and turned in her sleep. Blankets had long been discarded to the floor and the single white sheet was well twisted around her legs and abdomen. In a heaving gasp she awoke with a start, breath heavy, eyes wide as she attempted to gather her wits and remind herself she was safe within her own bed. Her own apartment. Everything had been nothing more than a terrible nightmare.

Another, one.

Sleep was a fleeting thing for the woman now. She was lucky to catch short naps throughout the day, but each on always seemed to come to an end with some dark shadowy figure in her mind. Each nightmare was different, but each one always had a recurring theme of being chased. Hunted down. Or worse yet, seeing those she loved slaughtered as she was forced to watch unable to do a thing. A complete and utter failure.

Rubbing a hand down her face, blue eyes instantly went to the nightstand. It was an impulse now. A craving need to drive away the horrors in her mind. The constant feeling of being inadequate and the anxieties that came along with it. Needless to say, Gwen was an absolute wreck in so many ways.

Grabbing the small pill box sitting next to her phone she didn’t hesitate in retrieving one of the small white tablets and swallowing it down dry. It wouldn’t take long. She’d be free of her inner turmoils soon enough. The only problem was the effect was swindling. She required more and more of her new addiction to hide away from the constant nagging thoughts. In fact, Gwen had herself stuck in a cycle that she knew she wasn’t going to get herself out of on her own. The worst part was, she wasn’t sure she wanted help getting out. At least with her crutch she could be free for awhile. Free of her nightmares, thoughts, anxiety, depression. Free to live life a little.

Of course this problem was interfering with her life. Both her growing, and overwhelming insecurities were keeping her from barely functioning in the day to day let alone as her duty as a Knight. If asked, Gwen couldn’t even remember the last time she had visited her Wonder. She tended to only power up on days she was expected by someone. Otherwise her horrors seemed to double when she was Hy-Brasil.

Unraveling her legs from the sheets, she slipped out of the bed and padded out into the living room. There, a notable missing presence wasn’t there to soothe her. Worried that she’d somehow harm the dog or neglect it in some way, Gwen had convinced her brother, Dallen, to take Reilly for a while. It had been an easy enough lie to weave to her little brother, saying work had gotten too busy and she felt guilty leaving the dog home alone for such long periods of time. Telling him it would only be a few short months before things hopefully quieted down and she’d come retrieve the dog.

The apartment was eerily quiet and more lonely now but Gwen had felt some sense of relief knowing the one constant in her life was safe away from her. Away from the fits of anger and her absolute lack of ability to function as a normal human being.

But that was what had bothered Gwen the most. With these horrible thoughts and nightmares came a very short fuse. A fuse that tended to burn down far too quickly and ended in her raging. She’d broken and destroyed many of her own items. In fact, one of her fits of rage after a rare outing as Hy-Brasil and a lack of her much needed addiction had disturbed a neighbor so much that the cops had been called to check on Gwen.

Curling up on the couch she pulled a blanket over her legs. Pushing a button on the remote sitting on the table in front of her flared the TV to life, casting a blue glow in the room.

She waited. Waited for that bliss. Focusing on the TV helped to ghost away some of the horrors of her nightmare enough that she could somewhat relax. The infomercial with women discussing some hair removal product was nothing more than background noise as the ecstasy began to take it’s hold on the woman. Her skin became hyper aware of everything touching it. The couch, worn from years of use was oddly smooth. The blanket, though warm and comfy scratched at her exposed skin. The chemise on her, made of a satin and lace, was terribly pleasurable and luxurious. And the TV. WEll, that was nothing more than colors and noise. Trying to focus on whatever was being said was just too much work. Why work when she could just relax. Loose herself to the noise, colors, sensations and pleasure.

Forget.

And when the sensation eventually began to wear off, all it would take was another tablet. They were her escape from reality.

If she had cared to look, the clock said it was a mere 3 hours before her shift at work started. Chance were, it would be another missed day. Gwen had no interest in leaving her prison of freedom. At least not anytime soon.