Counting Sheep

Chapter 26

Layla frowned and stepped in further to the kitchen. "Everything okay, Charlene?" She asked and the woman jumped, startled.

"I'm sorry," Layla said automatically, holding out a hand. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Charlene took in a shuddering breath before shaking her head. "No, dear it is fine. I am just tired. I should get going. Will you and Hazel be alright?" She asked and Layla examined her face, looking for anything she could be hiding.

She found nothing and shook her head, hating the paranoia that was a constant inside her gut.

"We will be fine. We have guards outside. You'll be okay driving home?" Layla asked as Charlene grabbed her purse and headed to the front door.

Charlene nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine. You girls stay safe and please do come visit us again soon." They hugged and then Charlene left. Layla made sure to lock the door behind her before she wandered back into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around herself as she stared out where Charlene had been looking.

Nothing.

Layla let the drapes fall shut with a soft 'zipping' sound before turned to make sure all of the rest of the doors and windows were locked.

She turned off the lights behind her and trudged down the hallway to her room, peeling off her sundress as she went.

Grabbing some panties, a robe and a nightgown from her large dresser, she felt tiredness pull at her bones, to seep at the muscles and tissue surrounding them.

Worrying about Julian didn't make it any easier.

Where was he at right now? Was he okay? Could she...do this?

Could she go to bed constantly worrying about him every night for the rest of her life? Could her heart and mind endure it? Could she come to terms with what Julian did? With what he had done in his lifetime? Would she be okay living a life that wasn't mundane or normal?

Because she knew that as long as she was with Julian that it would be anything but and with what happened with Mason, could she willingly let herself live that life? It was different with Julian, though.

She knew that Julian wasn't a saint, by any means, but neither was she and she knew that Julian was a good man inside. She wouldn't have let him around Hazel if she had thought otherwise, she wouldn't have let him in her house—in her heart, or in her life. But he was a good man and she had let him in—or more like he had beaten the walls down that she had tried so hard to erect around herself and had taken permanent residence inside her heart.

He was a man with a good heart, a man that loved her for all the broken pieces that she was. She crawled into bed after pulling on her soft pink nightgown and laid her head on the pillows, pulling the blankets up to her chest.

Oh, Julian. She thought, eyes falling shut.

Be safe. Come back to me.

Darkness eclipsed over her mind and she fell into a deep, nightmare filled sleep, her heart and mind knowing he wasn't beside her to keep the monsters away.

***

A sound woke Layla up.

What sound it was, she wasn't exactly sure, but her entire body became alert and on edge. Heart beating like a drum against her ribcage, she listened closely.

Another bang...footsteps.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows and forced herself to listen further, knowing that there were guards watching the house. Had the sound come from outside? The sound came again and she knew that it was coming from inside the house.