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The first thing Adam was aware of was the heat. Then, the pounding of his feet on the ashy ground beating in tandem to his racing heartbeat. He became aware of flames advancing from behind him, coming up to lick at his heels. He knew if he stopped now he would be engulfed in the white-hot flames. Becoming aware of where he was going in the dark, barren landscape lit only by the fire behind him, he saw the incredibly tall barbed-wire fence that he was quickly approaching.
He made a snap decision to turn right, only to find that the flames had already made a semi-circle around him. Before he had a moment to dread the oncoming heat, it was already upon him. The fire quickly caught on the ends of his already charred jeans, moving within a tenth of a second to his ill-fitting t-shirt. Flames licked his skin and the scent of burning flesh reached his nose before he could find his voice to scream.
~~~~~~~
Adam awoke to screaming, inches away from falling off of his bed and tangled up in the blankets. He took a deep breath, hearing the screams stop and realizing that he was the one that was screaming, and let out an exhausted sigh. Untangling his sweat-covered limbs and torso from the overly-hot blankets, he saw Samandriel’s silhouette leaning over him in the darkness; felt his hands pressing onto the mattress on either side of his shoulders.
Before Adam could speak, the angel read the all-too-familiar post-nightmare expression on the hunter’s face. His expression, though tired, filled with pity and he said “That’s the third time this week. And it’s Wednesday.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Adam snapped exasperatedly, sighed again, and relaxed into the soft bed and plush pillows underneath him. “I’m sorry, it’s just.... Can’t it be over yet?” The hunter felt the angel stand up, then come to lie down next to him. He rolled over and looked into Samandriel’s blue-grey eyes glistening in the dark, searching for reassurance. “I mean seriously. I was already in hell for long enough. Why does the torture need to transfer over to earth, too?”
Samandriel reached over and trailed his fingertips gently down the human’s cheek, his lips turning up slightly at the ends in half-hearted reassurance. They had had this conversation, or some variation of it, every night since he had rescued Adam from the cage. It had been about 2 months, and they had developed their routine fairly quickly. Adam would go to sleep each night, with Samandriel sitting in the corner of his room, all night, ready to wake Adam from his surely awaiting nightmares night after night. After the first night, when they had been kicked out of the cheap motel they found for being too loud, they found an abandoned house in the middle of the country. It was a good place for them to collect themselves, for both of them to learn how to be human. Just last week, after the nightmares seemed to getting more manageable, Samandriel moved out to the living room while Adam slept. However, every night he still ran to Adam whenever he heard him screaming.
The angel didn’t say a word: all the words he had on the topic had been exhausted after countless attempts at comforting. Instead, he pressed himself to Adam, wrapping his arms around his broad shoulders and pulling him close. Adam responded as enthusiastically as he could, tiredly pulling Samandriel closer and burying his face in the crook of his neck. He took a shaky breath, breathing in Samandriel’s unique scent of crisp autumn air and grilling hot dogs. His arms settled around the angel’s waist, and pressed their bodies flush together.
Samandriel gently rubbed Adam’s back and shoulder blades until he released his death grip. Adam pulled away, still keeping them touching, but far enough away that they could talk.
“Do... Do you think you could stay here?” he asked gruffly. “Just for the night?” His face was relatively composed, but his eyes told another story. They were pleading, glistening with unshed tears. Samandriel could tell he was close to breaking. 2 months, the angel thought. 2 months too long for these recurring cage-themed nightmares. And if Adam thought this could stop them, then who was he to deny him?
“Of course I can, Adam,” he said with a soft voice. He pulled Adam in for another brief hug, before relaxing back beside the hunter in the old bed. Adam pulled Samandriel back into his chest, rolling him over so he could cuddle with him more easily. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, in fact it was fairly common during the first month. But it had been a while since they had slept in the same bed. They usually saved it for especially difficult nights. Samandriel guessed that this was one of those more difficult nights.
Adam curved himself protectively around Samandriel, their hands clasped tight on the angel’s stomach. Although it would have looked to a stranger like Samandriel was the one in need of comforting, Adam could think of nothing that would comfort him more.
The evils of the night avoided for now, Adam drifted into a peaceful sleep with his angel in his arms.