I awakened to answer the relentless knocking at my door, only to realize I hadn’t been asleep.

I don’t remember exactly when I knew I hadn’t fallen asleep. Just like every other night, I took my sleep meds, turned off the light, climbed under the covers, and watched short horror films on my tablet until I dozed. I now know that was probably not the best way to fall into an idyllic slumber, and you would think that my relentless nightmares would give me impetus to change my behavior. You would think.

But, alas, not. At least I was able to awaken from the troubling reveries before, before …

Until now.

As I walked to the door, I mistakenly glanced back at my bed and was horrified to see myself lying atop it, limbs askew, eyes oddly open.

That was the night I died.

And the monsters came for real.

His powerful hands tugged at the restraints, 

groaning with frustration. A smile tugged

On my lips as I crawled my way between his

Legs, my fingers trailing up as I went. His

Chest was heaving up and down, anticipating

What I was going to do next.

"Ari! You weren't supposed to be here yet." Rayna picked up Marco's shirt and threw it over her, following after me as I walked away, hands over my eyes. "Ari." She grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. I dropped my hand and stared into her wide eyes.

"What the fuck, Ray! Are you and Sam on a break or something?" I asked. She bit her lip and shook her head. "Rayna!" I yelled, turning around and walking into the living room, needing to sit down before I did something I regretted. Marco came out the room, shirtless, but at least he had pants on.

"I'm sorry, Ari. It just sorta...happened." I chuckled bitterly.

"It just happened? Is that what you're gonna say to Sam when you tell him that you cheated on him with Marc?" She flinched at my words and I turned my head to Marco. "What about you? What do you have to say for yourself?"

He shifted uncomfortably as he explained that him and Rayna have had feelings for each other for years, but never acted on it because they didn't want anything to be weird between them if they ever got together and then broke up. I sighed and put massaged my forehead, a headache coming on.

"You need to tell Sam." I pointed to Ray. "And you.." I swung my finger to Marco. "...I don't really know what you should do. Just....wait till Ray breaks up with Sam before banging my friend...again." He cracked a smile.

"Anything for my favorite pregnant lady." He kissed my cheek and I swatted him away.

"Ew, get away." I didn't want any sex germs from him.

"Alright, I have to leave and get to work. I'll see you guys later." Marco left, leaving me with a nervous best friend. I sighed and reached forward, pulling her onto the couch to sit next to me.

"Are you mad at me?" Rayna asked quietly, playing with her brown hair.

"Of course not. It's your life to live, not mine. I'm more disappointed at you. Why did you do it?"

She pouted her lips. "I just.....don't feel anything for Sam anymore. He's been into a lot of illegal stuff, mafia wise and I don't want to be caught up in all of that, ya know?" I nodded, totally understanding.

My ex, Lance was into the same thing, which is why we broke up. And the fact that he was an asshole and treated me like shit. Sam and Lance were best friends, so that's hows Ray and him met.

"You need to break it off with him, then. Today. Don't wait or things will just get worse." I explained.

"I will. Thanks for understanding, Ari." She hugged me tight and I laughed, hugging her back.

"That's what best friends are for. Now go buy me some sushi. Daxton's mom went all bat-shit crazy on me earlier, so I didn't get to eat."

"Aye aye captain." She saluted and grabbed her keys before taking off to the sushi place. When she came back, we sat on the couch eating the sushi and I told her everything that happened when Daxton took me to have lunch with his parents.

"She tried to make you drink wine? That bitch! I should've been there." She said with her mouth full of food. I chuckled and shook my head. After eating, I sat back and patted my pockets for my phone. I realized I hadn't checked it for days.

"Ray, where's my phone?" I asked, looking under the cushions.

"Oh, right here. You left it like last week when you went into depression mode. Here." She tossed it to me and I caught it perfectly.

I had a few texts from my job, just saying that they transferred money to my account. I deleted those and read the messages from my parents. They just wanted to see me as soon as I had a break. I was about to turn my phone off when I saw that I had a message from Daxton. It was from two hours ago.

We need to talk. Meet me at the office in 10.

Oops. Well, it's never too late. I got up, still in my dress from earlier, grabbed my purse and keys and left, not before yelling to Ray that I was going out. I drove to Daxton's workplace and parked in the CEO #2 spot. He won't mind, I thought, walking into the building. Plus, I should work things out with him if he was going to be in my life from now on.

Jessica, the receptionist, spotted me and smiled.

"Here to see Mr. King?" I nodded and she walked me to the elevator like she did the first time I met her. I frowned to myself. I was not totally helpless just because I was pregnant. Like before, the elevator stopped constantly and I grew uncomfortable as the spaces got smaller.

I sighed with relief when floor thirty appeared. Walking off, I proceeded to Daxton's office, memorizing where it was located. I laughed at the fact that I had forgotten where it was last time, even though months ago, I had frequented this place. When I got there, the door was cracked open, so I pushed it wider and saw that the office was empty.

Frowning, I looked around the large office and was about to leave, when I heard noises coming from the secret room he had inside his office. Why would he be in there, I thought as I walked and opened the door. The second I saw the scene in front of me, I wished I would've left when I didn't see him the first time.

In the secret office was a large bed. On the edge of very large bed was a very skinny girl, moaning loudly as Daxton, who was standing on the side of the bed, thrust hard into her repeatedly. I froze, not able to take my eyes off them. Tears welled up in my eyes and my chest tightened.

"Oh, yes Daxton, harder!" The girl yelled. My purse dropped from my hands and Daxton looked up, his eyes widening when he saw me standing in the doorway.

That made me unfreeze and I turned away, trying to get out of there as fast as possible. Tears streamed down my face and I hurried to the elevator, pushing past people as I went. How dumb could I be, thinking he wouldn't have sex with anyone else since I was pregnant with his child. Deep down, I actually thought he cared for me.

"Ari!" Daxton voice carried down the hallway and I panicked, pressing the button harder so that the elevator could come faster. Daxton appeared and he looked left and right before spotting me. The elevator door opened and I hurried on, pressing the close button.

He growled as people got in his way as he tried to make it to the elevator before the doors closed. I breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator went down. Not many people got on as it went down, which I was grateful for. When I got to the lobby, I reached for my keys, but came up empty.

"Fuck!" I yelled, hitting the wall. I left my purse in Daxton's office.

"Arielle!" I turned and gasped when I saw Daxton running at full speed towards me. He actually came after me? I didn't stop to think about that because I sped walked out the doors and kept walking, not caring where I ended up.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and I turned, swinging at the person.

"Shit, Ari. Stop it." Daxton grabbed my wrist and I swung the other one. He grabbed that one too and stepped close to me, breathing hard from all the running he did. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were dark with irritation.

"Let go of me, Dax." I said, trying to get out of his iron grip.

"No." His eyes challenged me to protest and I sighed with defeat. "Why did you leave?" A pang shot through my chest at that question.

"Why did I leave? Did you really want me to stay there while you banged some whore?!" I yelled, tears coming back. I couldn't control my emotions as anger washed through me, along with hurt.

"Look, I-"

"No! Don't try and explain yourself! I'm tired of these games you like to play. Make me feel like you actually feel something for me one day, and then next treat me like shit!" He let my hands go.

"Ari-" He tried again, but I was full on ranting.

"Maybe it's these hormones but I'm tired of walking in on people fucking each other! Especially you, dammit! I'm just so-" I broke down, sobs coming out in full force.

"Fuck, Ari, come on, don't cry." Daxton pulled me into his chest and I cried my heart out. I hated that he made me feel so vulnerable and weak.

"You're such an asshole." I sobbed and I felt him sigh.

"I'm sorry." I paused, sniffing back the snot that threatened to slide out my nose.

"What?" I whispered, lifting my head to look up at him. He blew his hair our his face and looked down at me, eyes sincere.

"I'm sorry, Ari. Fuck, you don't understand. I don't-" He breathed out his nose, seeming to try to find the right things to say. "I don't like hurting you. I just...nevermind. Forget I said anything." He turned to walk away, but I grabbed his hand.

"No, Dax. Tell me. You just what?" Instead of answering, he turned back to me, stalked forward, and crashed his lips onto mine.