Valkyrie Cain has been having trouble sleeping lately. She would lay in bed with an active mind and a restless body. Even when she was able to fall asleep, her recurring nightmares were always there to wake her up again and again. Valkyrie started today by waking up, at an unreasonably early time, from a nightmare. She rolled out of bed and put comfortable clothes on, then made her way downstairs for coffee. A lot of coffee.

Tanith and some of the dead men had been coming over a lot, and it was becoming difficult to hide her newfound insomnia. The efforts to conceal this only made her more tired. Really, she couldn't win. For example, the other day, Tanith and the dead men had been over. They were playing several board games and card games. At one point, Dexter elbowed her gently and mouthed, Are you OK? Valkyrie smiled and nodded. Dexter hadn't looked convinced, but he didn't push her either. Valkyrie was grateful for that. She did not want anyone to be worried about her. She could deal with it on her own, she told herself.

Dexter accepted this, because he assumed that whatever Valkyrie was dealing with could be dealt with alone. He started to get concerned when her exhaustion and stress only worsened. A few factors finally drove him to realize the severeness of her insomnia, pushing him to involve himself. The first thing that aroused concern was her sleeping pills. Tanith was the one to find them.

Valkyrie's phone Tanith glanced over, she noticed the message was about medications for insomniacs. Tanith never meant to read the message, but did so accidentally. Hesitantly, Tanith picked up the phone, and read the message over. There must be pills somewhere in Valkyrie's house, she realized. Tanith quickly and quietly searched the living room cabinets. After finding nothing, She sat up and walked to the bathroom. Tanith hoped that finding the sleeping pills would lead to insight on Valkyrie's recent odd behavior. Valkyrie's been acting sluggish and slow.

Digging deep into Valkyrie's cabinets, Tanith found bottles of Zolpidem and Trazodone hidden behind other, more mainstream products. Tanith snapped a photo and sat back on the couch like nothing had ever happened. She looked each pill up. Trazodone was an antidepressant used for treating depression and insomnia. Zolpidem helped insomniac's fall asleep.

Valkyrie walked into the living room. She must have been searching for her phone.

"Hi," Tanith waved.

"Hi," Valkyrie greeted. She looked exhausted; she had eyebags and a large cup of coffee in her hand. Her hair was messy, but at least she had changed out of her pajamas.

Before Valkyrie walked away, Tanith mentioned, "You've been drinking a lot recently."

"You're making me sound like an alcoholic," Valkyrie joked. Although, her tone was flat.

Tanith frowned, "I'm serious. Maybe you should take a break from the caffeine."

Valkyrie shook her head, "It'll be fine."

"I'm here if you ever want to talk," Tanith assured her.

"I know," Valkyrie smiled gratefully, and walked back towards her bedroom. Her bedroom was cold. Val developed a fever from her lack of sleep, and her body temperature has made her hot and sweaty. Despite it only being morning, Valkyrie sank back into bed and tried to sleep. She hoped the sleeping pills were still working. Valkyrie had started to take more pills every night, so she fell asleep faster. Still, she layed in bed for over 2 hours before falling asleep.

Valkyrie woke up in her dreams. The first thing she noticed was the cold metal floor against her naked skin. She opened her eyes, but she was surrounded by darkness. Her wrists and ankles had heavy shackles. Valkyrie stood up unsteadily and started walking. The shackles' chains dragged behind her.

She had been here for awhile. She didn't know how she knew, but she did.

Her shackles were longer than she originally thought. No matter how far she walked, they extended on with her.

When she felt like she had been walking for days on end, she curled up in a ball on the barren floor. But she didn't have much time to rest, because thin shadows began to creep from the darkness, curling around Valkyrie's body, stretching her out. Valkyrie tried to cry out, but nothing came out. All she heard was the cling-clang of her chains. The shadows tightened around her until it tore into her cracked, sun-deprived skin. More shadows came from the darkness. They slithered around her, travelling up and around her breasts, spreading her thighs apart. She felt exposed in her naked bloodied body. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying for it to stop. The shadows enjoyed tormenting her. They were malicious and sadistic. They laughed when she tried to scream, and squeezed harder when she didn't react.

Valkyrie woke up again. She was being hauled onto a medical bed by men in long white medical coats. She screamed and screamed, and this time, the screams escaped her mouth. The men- who she understood to be scientists- strapped her down to the table. She struggled and kicked and punched, but all of her knowledge of fighting was gone. LET ME GO! LET ME GO! They ignored her. Instead, they cut her body apart, limb-by-limb, and pulling her insides apart. They were looking for something, but Valkyrie didn't know what. The scientists didn't tell her.

Valkyrie woke up for real this time. She was covered with sweat and tears. Her breathing was heavy. She felt detached from everything in her lonely bedroom. All she wanted to do was lay down and fall back asleep, but she was too scared of having more nightmares. Plus, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. She felt sticky and gross, so she rolled out of bed and turned on the light with the intention of taking a shower, but she felt something on her legs. She looked down and saw blood running down her thighs. Her period blood had leaked through her shorts. Valkyrie swore, and grabbed a pair of underwear. She tiredly made her way to the bathroom to clean herself up.

She sat down on the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face in her knees. She checked the time on her phone. It was 2 A.M, and she was exasperated. All she wanted to do was sleep. How much longer was she going to have to deal with this?