IT HAD HAPPENED AGAIN. The nightmare she had eight years ago was scratching at the surface again, leaving her panting with a cold sweat at any memory it left in her brain. Like a sickness crawling into every corner in her mind, tormenting her with it like it was the devil itself. It was weird seeing her powers being affected by it, almost like she couldn't control herself no matter what.

Her red hair laid around the pillow like a halo consumed by fire and her eyes never left the window on the side in her room. On other days it calmed her, hearing the people who went out every night. How the city was alive.

But this time it made her restless.

Annoyed she closed her eyes, wishing to just fall asleep again, without any disturbance stirring inside of her, wanting to wake her up in the middle of the night. She threw her blanket to the side, missing the slight warmth from it already before she was standing up slowly. The redhead already knew what she had to do so her mind would calm down, making those nightmares disappear again. Her body felt stiff while she stretched her arms and legs.

As she walked towards her door, her eyes caught her own reflection from the mirror in her room. Her eyes had an orange golden shimmer in them, her skin looking like the power inside of her wanted to break out of her entire body, creating golden lines, cracking her skin in the process.

It left orange and red marks on her skin when she used her powers, it was a look she had seen before, way too many times for her.

Shaking her head she disappeared through her door, walking into the kitchen. Her apartment was small but enough. The one thing she really was glad about where her neighbors, Dawn and Hank, as they had introduced themselves to her, lived inside the other apartment since she came. A cute couple, really.

Knowing it would calm her down, Daphne made herself a cup of tea, waiting for the boiler to finish the water.

Her finger tapped against the wood of the table, flashes of her nightmare came to her mind, almost blinding her with the imagines. She needed to distract her thoughts, the sound from the boiler brought her out of her mind and the redhead grabbed it, almost eager to fill her teacup with the warm water.

She flopped down on her couch, while her left hand turned on the TV, zipping through networks she had no interest in.

The warmth of her tea made her relax, stopping on one channel as the news came on.

It was nothing new and Daphne almost changed the channel, but suddenly the video they showed got her attention. The video was about a fight, the two heroes that call themselves Hawk and Dove thought off some bad guys and the redhead shook her head with a little smile.

She knew who they were and if she was honest, they weren't that sneaky about it either.

The heroes slept in the apartment next to her. The redhead had seen Hank and Dawn in those costumes as they quietly wanted to get in. But the noise they had made a few years ago alerted her and as a good neighbor, she knocked on their door only to find it not be closed fully.

Daphne saw them, she saw the wounds that Hank had and without hesitation, she had helped Dawn to clean his wounds.

Since then they were kind of best friends.

A sudden knock on her door made Daphne freeze in her spot. Who could possibly knock on her door so late? Or more like so early? Carefully she put her cup of tea on the table before standing up, her bare feet now accepting the cold wooden floor as she made her way towards the door.

There was a knock again, shuffling feet were heard and suddenly Daphne knew who stood there. She yanked the door open, eyes landing on the figure of the woman before her.

Her white hair was braided towards the side, letting a few strands falling out of place and yet it didn't seem messy. "Dawn," the redhead started, blue eyes traveling around before they halted on her again. "What are you doing so up early? Did something happen?" She didn't raise her voice, they definitely didn't want to wake the other people up in this building.

"Sorry to bother you Daph, but Hank went out alone and I don't have enough sterile compresses or band-aids," the voice of Dawn was soft and calm as always. It fitted her persona so well and Daphne was always relaxed when she was with her.

Without another word she opened the door more, so Dawn could walk in. "Again?" Daphne asked, feet dragging her towards her bathroom to get the first-aid-kit where she kept most the compresses. Worry was shining in her eyes as she handed it towards the white-haired woman that held the same expression on her delicate face. "He does it a lot at the moment," the redhead added, even when it was more of a statement than a question.

"Is he okay?"

With a sigh the white-haired woman leaned against the wall, there was no point in denying it. The redhead always had a watchful eye, knowing when something wasn't alright. "Hank wants to get those weapon dealers so badly, he thinks with the money we could build a new life."

Daphne leaned her head little to the side, listening to every word that Dawn was saying. She felt a pang in her chest, thinking about how they would probably leave their apartment to buy a house somewhere else.

A future. Probably without her.

It was like Dawn had read her mind, her shoulders dropped down, not missing a beat with her next sentence. "Do you really think we would leave you here? Alone?" Daphne's mouth felt dry, of course, she knew that they would never to that to her and yet it still pained her heart just thinking about it. Her hands fiddled with the hem of her oversized shirt, distracting her nerves a little.

"No, it's just-," she stopped at her own words, seeing the look that Dawn gave her. "I know how much you two wish to have a normal life, more than anything. But I can't."

Daphne looked towards her fingers that were still playing with her shirt, not wanting to face the emotions that were very clear in Dawn's eyes.

"Not with my powers. It would be selfish of me if I would stop you from getting that," she added as silence followed. It wasn't the first time they had this conversation but it was the first time it felt real for the redhead. She could see their new life, a happier life they both deserved. "Do you forgot what Hank and I did? Our past? We can't move on from that so easily Daphne."

The regret for her words shone in her eyes like diamonds in the sunlight, her bottom teeth nibbling on her upper lip nervously.

"I know." But you can try. She didn't add the words as they laid on the back of her mind. Dawn always looked like a beautiful flower that could be broken within minutes but no one could spot the thorns that laid beneath her skin. Daphne had seen first hand how angry the white-haired woman could get and it was a fearful imagine.

"Dawn?"

Daphne looked up as she heard Hank calling for his girlfriend and so did the white-haired woman. Dawn turned her head a little, the things she needed to patch him up fully where in her hands, ready to be used.

"I think someone is getting impatient," the redhead spoke slowly lips curling up in a slight smile, trying and hoping to lift the mood.

A sigh left Dawn's lips and her head turned towards Daphne again. The redhead knew that she saw the bags under her eyes, showing clearly that she wasn't getting enough sleep as she should, but at that moment Dawn kept quiet. Dawn knew that Daphne would tell on her own what is troubling her, now she just needed a little time.

"I think I better go now, we don't want Hank to wake the other neighbors like last time," Dawn started eyes watching her for a moment.

"If you want you can visit us later. We all need a good sleep now."

And with that Dawn walked out of the door towards her own home. Daphne watched her for a moment before she closed her own door as well. The sudden silence again felt heavy against her shoulders and she leaned against the door for a bit, closing her eyes. Maybe she could sleep a little after all.

The haunting nightmare appeared again, this time it felt like she was not only seeing it with closed yes. Quickly the redhead opened her eyes again, she could feel the power pulsing in her veins again like lava trying to finally break out and destroy everything in its path. Something Daphne feared the most. With a shake of her head, she stood upwards, making her way towards her couch again, hoping that some movies would keep her from sleeping and getting her mind off the nightmare.

But after a while Daphne couldn't help it, with a yawn and falling eyelids she sank into the darkness without knowing, letting the nightmare run loose.

Even she could not know that something much more horrifying was waiting for her in the darkest depths of every shadow around her, just waiting to finally let her power havoc over the earth.

(gif made by the amazing antigalactic 💞)

Ahhh I'm really excited about this story! How did you guys liked the first chapter?

Daphne's past may seem a little confusing but don't worry everything will make sense.

Ebbyoxox