Some Quiet Place

one pops up to take her place.”
    At my silence, the monster cocks his head yet again, examining every inch of me. He doesn’t seem to be worried about anyone driving by and seeing my abandoned truck. After a minute, he sighs. “Well, let’s get this over with.” He reaches down again and digs his finger into my hair.
He begins to drag me through the long grass, and I barely feel the pressure on my scalp before the rest of the pain tightens its hold on me, and my world goes dark.
    Something soft against my cheek. Something cold. I stir but don’t open my eyes. Instinct drives me deeper into the shadows. But then the soft, cold thing on my face leaves and quickly returns in a decidedly less pleasant manner. Slap . Frowning, I come awake. My vision is swallowed whole by a pale oval. I swallow to wet my throat. “Where am I?” It comes out as a croak.
    “Don’t worry. You’re safe.”
    I blink rapidly, and the oval solidifies and becomes a face I would recognize anywhere. “Fear?” He’s lying next to me, head propped up on his hand, looking down at me with a gentle light in his eyes. His fingers brush a strand of hair away from my face.
    “What—” I start. My memory chooses that moment to come back in a roaring current and I let out a gasp. My hands clutch at Fear’s shirtfront of their own volition. I sit up, head swimming. “We have to get out of here.” I look around, and Fear’s nearness must be affecting me, because my heart is pounding against my rib cage so strongly that it just might break it. “Nightmare—”
    Fear shushes me, smoothing my hair back from my face. “Don’t worry about him,” he says. “He won’t touch you.” Dimly, I realize that I’m drenched in sweat.
    We’re on a bed in a huge, shadowed room. The sheets are twisted around my waist, pearly white. The walls are elegant, painted in a muted shade of lavender. There’s one large window to my right, and curtains have been drawn over the glass. It’s warm in here, a feeling of safe isolation crowding close. My pulse slows.
    The Emotion shifts so that his hip rests against mine, and I lift my chin to look up at him. I didn’t think I’d see him again. Where is Rebecca? I study his expression, wondering what this means. Before I can open my mouth and let out a torrent of questions, he tells me, still in that calming tone, “Nightmare just needs to know where your father is.”
    The words bring the dread back in a rush. Forgetting Rebecca and the rest of the questions clogging my throat, I shift uneasily, struggling to breathe. “M-my father? Tim? Is Nightmare here? Where are we?”
    Fear lowers his mouth to mine. It’s so startling that every coherent thought flees my mind. Fear doesn’t wait for me to recover. His palm brushes over the bare skin of my stomach and his lips are sweeter than anything I’ve ever tasted. He shifts so that his body is turned toward mine. My back falls against the mattress and I drown in the fire of Fear. His hand becomes a fist in my hair. Different sensations gust through me, and for the first time in my life, I feel that place down there tingle. My grip tightens on his shirt and I pull him closer, as if every part of him isn’t already fused to me. This is what I wanted that day in the hallway, this is what the illusion stops me from—
    Fear pulls away so abruptly that our lips make a smacking sound. “Just tell me where your father is, and I’ll go relay it to Nightmare so you won’t have to,” he says with a drowsy look in his eyes. “Then I’ll come right back.”
    I open my eyes. “W-what?” The haze of lust begins to ebb. My brow furrows and I look up at Fear. His expression is impatient, demanding. After a moment I tell him, my voice a rasp, “I have no idea where Tim is.”
    He shakes his head, caressing my spine. This time the touch doesn’t distract me. “Not Tim. You know I don’t mean Tim. Please, Elizabeth, just tell me. Then this will all be over and you and I can be together.”
    I stare. “No, Fear, I don’t know who you mean. Charles kicked Tim out, and he left. Who are you talking about?”
    He stares at me three full seconds. I count them. One. Two. Three. Then, without warning, the beautiful Emotion screams. Before my eyes, a cut slashes across the mouth that just kissed me with such passion. He rolls out of the bed and hits the floor with a dull thud. I scramble to reach his side and Fear rolls, holding his stomach. “He’ll kill me if you