I dream of a lot of things that night. Everything is back to normal. I’m with Aleks and we’re happy. We’re getting married. It’s perfect. My dress is gorgeous, and the flowers are beautiful. I walk down the aisle to stand next to Aleks. The church is completely empty, except for the two of us. No preacher, no guests, none of his family. Aleks grabs my hand and we run back down the aisle towards a large, open door. He gives me a malicious grin that chills me to the bone and shoves me through the door. I hit the floor hard as the door slams shut. The room is cold and dark. I get up and feel along the wall for a light switch and flip it on.
I was all alone back at the museum. I felt a strange presence around me, but I can’t see anyone. I call out into the darkness with no response. I hear familiar squawks behind me, and I start to run but my feet won’t move. Before I know it the Stymphalian birds are flying at me. My feet finally start to move so I run and scream for help, but no sound will come out. Feathers are flying past me and glass is shattering all around me. I scream and scream but still no sound escapes me. I try the knob of every door I run past, but all of them are locked. I can’t see anyone, but I feel someone staring at me, making me uneasy. The birds seem to be driving me towards someone, as if there’s someone waiting for me. I feel eyes on me and hear someone whisper my name. I don’t recognize the voice, but it frightens me. I call out hoping maybe, just maybe someone will hear me. I try again and again even though no sound escapes me. “Help me please! Help! Someone! Anyone! Please, someone help me! Please! Anyone he-.”
“Jess! Jess, wake up!” Brit yells, shaking me awake. “It’s okay it’s just a dream!”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m awake now. I’m okay. It’s fine.” I tell them.
“No, you’re not. You’re shaking again.” Daemon says “And you were screaming bloody murder. What were you dreaming about?”
With that I start to explain everything that happened in my dream. The further I progress into my dream the worse the shaking gets. It goes slowly, and my voice shakes despite my trying to hide it. The more I talk the harder it gets to keep my nerves in check. By the time I tell them everything I’ve lost all control. I can’t stop myself from shaking and crying.
“It’s okay. It was just a dream. You’re alright.” Brit says. I don’t know when it happened but at some point, she had started to hold my hands. She squeezes them reassuringly. “You’re okay. A lot has happened in a short amount of time. Nightmares are a common way our brains process things. I know it was scary and seemed real, but it was a dream. Nothing more. We can handle dreams.”
“Remember that you can always talk to us about this stuff. You shouldn’t bottle anything up. For a while, things are going to happen quick. How about I go get you a glass of water?” Daemon asks.
“It’s okay I’ll be alright in a minute. Besides me and Brit should start getting ready. Clio said that a lot is going to happen today, and it would be better for everyone if we didn’t wear pajamas.”
“Are you sure?” He asks again, this time I catch the same look in his eyes I could have sworn I saw yesterday.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
With that Daemon leaves and we all take turns in the bathroom getting ready. I pack a few bags of things I don’t want to leave in the apartment. As quiet as we try to be, we make quite a bit of noise but Aleks never comes out of his bedroom.
“Alright. Do you have everything you’re going to want?” Brit asks.
“Yeah I’ve got everything that isn't replaceable. Are Clio and the others meeting us here or are we meeting them somewhere?”
“We’re meeting them at the museum. It’s closed today so we figured it would be our safest option.” Daemon explains as he finishes gathering the things he and Brit brought with them and putting them in bags. He turns to go out the door but stops dead in his tracks when Brit clears her throat.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbE5G1J2o7J
"Daemon why don't you give me those bags while you go wake up Aleks? Whether he wants to or not he needs to come with us. He's in danger too." Brit says. Daemon turns and gives her a look. I'm not sure what it means but it definitely isn't happiness.
"I could go wake him up but I think he may be more receptive if it comes from someone else. You can be more diplomatic in this situation than I can. I can take these to the car."379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH9JMeLwfI
"Go wake him up." Brit says giving him a hard stare.
"Fine. I'll go but don't say you weren't warned." Daemon says as he hands the bags over. She mumbles something under her breathe and starts to repack everything. We hear him knock on Aleks' door. If there's a response we don't hear it but Daemon opens the door anyway. Daemon comes back without Aleks. Brit looks ready to lay into him. He holds hid hands up before she can get a word out.
"If he was there I would wake him up but he's gone." He says, looking between the two of us. Brit gawks at him and goes to look for herself. I follow her. I think to myself that he's got to be there. Where else could he be? Where else would he be? As I reach the door I see that Daemon is right. Aleks is gone. He has left every picture of the two of us. As far as I can tell everything else he left is replaceable. I turn and go back into the living room where I left my bags. I reach into one and take out the pictures he and I took together. If he left them behind it means yesterday really happened. As I lay them face down on the coffee table it occurs to me that I was still hoping it was a dream. As I look up I realize that Brit and Daemon are watching me.
"I'm fine. I didn't really need to take them anyway. They're bulky and take up too much space." As I say the words I can tell it sounds like I am trying to convince myself they're true. Daemon walks up and grabs the bags. Brit moves to open the door for him. There's a look on both their faces and somehow I know they aren't going to press the issue. 379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3ZE57hSBi
"We should get moving. Clio is waiting for us and we have a lot of ground to cover." Brit says as she opens the door. Daemon walks out carrying all but the two bags I packed. He and Brit walk out the door. I bend down andpick up my bags. As I head towards the door I stop and take one last look around the apartment that has been my home for so long. I put both bags in one hand and grab the door knob. I turn and walk out knowing I will never see it again.379Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8Vw64FZ0Y
