She Woke Up

"Val?" William rolled out of bed, didn’t bother to put on his shoes, and rushed out barefoot in his pajamas. With his mind in disarray, having just extricated himself from a nightmare, his limbs were exceptionally weak, leading to a staggering pace. Did Grey come tonight? Did the nightmare come true? Did Grey take her away? The fear and despair he had in the dream when he lost her carry over into reality, taking on substance, threatening to kill him. With a pale face, he went out as fast as he could. He noticed the talisman paper on the door frame had fallen to the ground, it wasn’t blown off by the wind nor did it fall off on its own. The talisman paper was crumpled into a ball, clearly it was torn down by someone. William, who couldn't think calmly at the moment, didn't have time to speculate. His mind was empty one moment and in chaos the next. He rushed out of his room, desperately looking for people, searching for Valentina, asking the servants in the villa if they had seen her. V