Page 72 of Heal For Me

“You didn’t save me, Daddy.” The little girl’s lips wobble, and she drags her tiny arm under her green eyes. Green eyes, like Payson. She is similar to my baby photos, but Payson shines through in her features. She is the perfect mix of us, and it’s fucking terrifying how beautiful she is.

“I tried.” My voice is as mute as the storm around me. The only thing I can hear is this little girl’s sniffles.

Payson fades from nothingness, now looking normal.

“It’s okay, baby. He failed me too.” She holds her arms open, and my eyes drop to the long slices on them and the blood that just barely trickles out.

I reach out for the girl, but my hand goes right through. “Wait,” I say, but I can’t hear it.

“Come on, princess. We don’t belong here anymore.”

The little girl’s face twists with disappointment, and her frown might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Like someone kicked me, I fall to my ass, and the little girl walks into Payson’s arms. Payson looks beautiful as a mother.

But I don’t like this, I don’t like it at all. I saved her that night, I know I did.

And what about the little girl, what happened to her? She looks perfect.

That changes as soon as I think it, and slowly a thick red line appears across her throat. Her eyes turn the same black as Payson’s from earlier.

“No!” My voice booms and it startles me. I climb to my feet, but no matter how much I run, I can’t catch them, and eventually, they fade from view.

A black figure appears in front of me, yards away so I can’t make out if it’s Payson. I walk toward it this time, hopefully walking actually gets me somewhere, and to my surprise, it does. I’m nearly ten feet away when I come to a halt. The black figure I saw is a man, but I can’t see his face because he’s wearing a black hood.

Not that I care about him when in his arms is a lifeless Payson.

Another scream builds inside me, but it doesn’t come out.

I can’t do anything.

I gasp awake. Peaceful early morning sun shines through the windows I forgot to close last night. I slip from bed and walk over to the window. With the wet wood beneath my feet, I know it rained. I stand in the window, breathing in the fresh air, trying to calm my beating heart.

What the fuck kind of dream was that?

That’s the third night in a row I have had a similar dream, but tonight I got close to the man holding Payson. I shiver, and it’s not because I’m soaked with sweat and the air blowing in is chilly.

Glancing over my shoulder, a relieved breath escapes me seeing the mess of Payson’s hair fanned across my pillow and Todd resting at her feet. I tried to keep him off the bed, but it was useless when Payson turned on her charm.

Today will be her fourth day here, I still can’t believe it. Waking up to next to her is the best bloody feeling. If only the dreams would stop.

I press a kiss to her forehead and tuck the blankets around her so she will hopefully sleep in. We are heading into the city for a few days and it’s going to be exhausting.

Parker comes home in three days, and if I’m being honest, I’m nervous how he will be once he sees Payson. We haven’t spoken much about her since we came to England. With being busy with other things and it’s a subject we don’t see eye to eye on, so there is no point in discussing it just for us both to get upset. I don’t fully understand his issue with our relationship, but I understand enough. She’s closer to his age than mine, and when she is around, I have difficulties focusing on anything else. That was before when she required more attention, when I worried about her slipping through my fingers. The fear is still there, but the past few days have been better than I could ever imagine days with her being. It’s hard to remember a few months ago I was holding her lifeless body in my arms. Difficult until I fall asleep apparently.

The other great thing about Payson being here is my showers are much shorter—when she’s not involved—and my cum isn’t wasted down the drain any longer. It rests deep in her pussy right where it should.

I jump out of the shower, style my hair, and trim my face so it’s not clean but just more than a five-o’clock shadow. I’m ready for the day and it’s not even seven a.m.

Mum is sipping on a cup of tea in her usual spot on the bench in the bay window that looks over the pool. I grab a cup and make my tea before joining her.

“How did you sleep, sweetheart?”

“Fine, you?”

Mum flicks her gaze to me with a look I saw many times as a kid. The I know when you are lying look.

“Ashley,” she warns.

Sighing, I take a drink from my cup and set it onto the small table in front of me. “I keep having a dream where I don’t save Payson.” To put it lightly.

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