Chapter 2: Chapter Two
Camila sits up in her bed rubbing her sleepy eyes and squinting at the morning light. She stretches her numb body feeling grateful that she hadn't had another nightmare after getting back to sleep.
She sucks in a sharp breath as her bare feet touch the tiled floor which feels ice cold.
The few steps to the window are agonising if not more and she curls her toes, staring silently at the morning fog. It clings onto the trees like a living pest choking the leaves, the river flowing with a slight hum just across the road. The occasional bird jumps from rock to rock happily.
For a moment she forgets all about last night, wishing she were as chirpy in the morning as that bird. She had never been a morning person and especially not on a school day.
She can feel the fatigue burning in her sleep deprived body having only managed to get in about two hours of sleep.
The nightmare had kept replaying in her mind making her feel crazy.
She'd been seconds from picking up the phone and calling Nina to confirm that her mom was indeed okay when sleep had finally caught up with her.
And calling at three in the morning just because she had a nightmare felt like something a five-year-old would do. Not a teenager who was almost seventeen.
She spends some time watching her reflection on the glass, the face that stares back at her is one filled with evidence of the restless night she'd had. Her hair facing all angles making her look like an electric current had passed through her. More evident are the ugly, dark rings that settle around her eyes showing just how little sleep she'd managed to slip in through the night.
Heaving a deep sigh she walks to the bedside table where her phone lies. The time reads thirty minutes past seven and the lack of any new notifications somehow brings some little joy in her.
Pulling herself together, she turns around, slowly flexing her tired muscles. Dragging her feet toward the bathroom feels like work. But she knows her mom would be up here any minute to check if she was awake and ready for school.
She applies some concealer to hide the rings around her eyes before walking out of the bathroom drying her hair. Even the quick shower does nothing to sooth her tense body.
The thought of school makes her groan to herself, wishing she could just stay home today and rest, pretend that last night had not happened. But her mom would never agree to that.
The simple thought of the nightmare starts creeping back into her head with the question of, was it real, still nagging at her. A question she hurriedly tries to push to the back of her mind as last night's events come crashing back into her head. The nightmare, still fresh and burning in her memory as if imprinted there.
Taking a deep breath, she wishes she was ready for the day to start. Wishing she could convince herself that she was okay.
"Cami!" her mom calls from the living room pulling her from her thoughts. She can't help but chuckle knowing she had been right, her mom would walk in here soon to check on her, check if she was ready.
Physically she feels fine, besides her body complaining, protesting the lack of rest. Mentally however she isn't fine and maybe her mom could feel it too.
"You'll wake the neighbors mom," she calls back amused while putting the books she'd had with her last night together.
As always she had to rack her mind to figure out where her backpack was. It was a bad habit she'd developed, every day she'd walk in and dump her backpack somewhere and in the morning she'd forget.
"You're going to be late for school and if you don't hurry up, I'm coming up and you know I'll drag you to school in your pajamas." her mom answers, ignoring her playful jab making her pull away some clothes tucked away in a corner. She takes a look around, making a note in her head to clean up later in the evening as her room looks untidy.
She finds her school bag tucked well into a corner under her bed, wondering how it had gotten there just as a knock sounds at her door before her mom's voice carries through to her.
"I'm coming in."
A smile tugs at her lips as she holds up the now packed bag and hoping she looks better than she did half an hour earlier. The normalcy of the little exchange is a welcome distraction from her current muddled thoughts.
"I'm all ready mom," she says.
"You're not always that fast in the morning, I had to check." her mom says, chuckling a bit. "Are you feeling okay after last night?"
"Mom, I am completely okay. It was just a nightmare, I'm already over it." She says placing what she hopes is a convincing smile on her face. Hoping not to worry her mom despite the aginising uncertainty tugging at her and the gut feeling that something is wrong.
"Come here honey," she says, pulling Camila in for a hug. "I'm going out of town today, I have to go to Breakhaven and I might be late in the evening. Be careful, okay?"
"Why are you going to Breakhaven?" She pulls back looking at her mom's eyes which she notices hold a worry.
"Well, you know what I do for a living. Hopefully, I get to close a good deal." her mom says.
Knowing she was in real estate, she normally worked here in town, it was a fairly small town but it somehow always had people moving in or out. It was weird that she was going out of town for this. It was the first time she'd heard her go outside town in a long while. The look on her face doesn't help ease her mind either. She looks how Camila felt, as if she's hiding something from her. Not the I have a surprise for you but don't want you to know, she has a worried look that she tries to hide behind her smile making Camila worry.
"Okay, I'll be with Sophie or Nina later," she answers, at last, knowing she could only hope that there was nothing really wrong.
"Okay, I have to get going. Have fun at school." She says, heading to the door after kissing Camila on the cheek.
"Does that mean I have to drive myself to school." She asks, pouting.
Her mom nods, a toothy smile on her face before closing the door.
"Okay, I'll see you in the evening," she says, huffing at the closing door.
The sound of her mom's car leaving the garage brings her back from worrying about whatever her mom was hiding about the trip to Breakhaven. If anything it brings her some hope for consolation and to convince her mind what happened last night was all a dream and nothing else.
She finds herself hoping that her mom going the same way she'd been dreaming about would be better, she'd confirm that Helena didn't actually have an accident along that road. It's all going to be okay, she tries to tell herself as she walks to the kitchen, picking some pancakes mentally thanking her mom for making them. It was amazing how her mom could wake up that early and manage to look so happy.
From outside, a cool breeze slaps her face as soon as she opens the door. A comfortable caressing wind making her close her eyes momentarily and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
For a second she considers calling Nina or Sophie to pick her up but looking at the time she knows it wouldn't be ideal. And besides that, she wanted to have some time to clear her head of the thoughts of the nightmare that refused to leave her.
She'd have to drive, the thought comes with a defeated sigh.
This was a day she'd say had the ideal weather, not the freezing cold and definitely not the hot scorching sun. Better than yesterday, she thinks as she lets her engine warm before pulling off the driveway heading to school.
Days like these weren't plenty in Bighton Valley. The weather here could be so fickle, changing ever so constantly it was confusing. The worst was when there was the sun, the heat would be trapped in the valley and the nights, as well as the days, were unbearable. Otherwise, it would be as cold as the tips of the mountains, never was there snow but the weather could feel as cold as such, or that's what she figured a cold snowy day would feel like.
Theirs was a mystery town, the seasons never meant a lot as it could change within hours from the scorching heat of summer to the howling cold of winter.
***
Nina paces her room, unconsciously biting her lip worriedly as she heads for the tenth time that morning to her window that conveniently faced the gate and the driveway.
Not too far, she could see the school buildings, as well as the stone wall that had been erected around the compound, the clock tower at the library, was visible, towering above all buildings in town with there not being many storied buildings. Behind it the church lay, ever serene and quiet except on days of mass. Fog seemed to hold the town captive, it's smoky hand touching every tip of the buildings in town.
She'd always woken up to that view.
From her window, Bighton Valley seemed elegant, beautiful even. But today the view is blinded by her worry. She checks for the tenth time, hoping that this was the time her mom's car would pull into the compound and finally ease her distress. However, just as the other countless times, it wasn't so and her heart drops even further.
She finally picks her school bag which lay carelessly on her bed, checking absentmindedly that everything she needed was in there. When she's finally convinced, she makes her way out, pulling out her phone and dialing her mom's number again.
And again, as the last thousand times or so she'd tried, it goes straight to voicemail.
The fact that she couldn't get through to her since last night makes her worry that something bad had happened. A deep worry that she couldn't seem to shake no matter how much she wished it away.
"Dad, have you heard from mom yet?" She asks as soon as she makes it to the bottom of the stairs.
"Not yet, I'm sure she's just held up. The rain last night must have something to do with it." He answers, head buried in today's paper his eyes scanning it quietly and unworried.
Nina wishes she were that calm, she wishes she could be that calm but the worrying thoughts she has keep flitting through and through. The most insistent one is what if she had an accident, with the intensity of the rain it wasn't an improbable thing to think but neither was it something she wanted to think. But she couldn't control the thoughts.
She shoots down the little voice immediately and nods before realizing her dad couldn't see her.
"Okay, I'm heading to school now. Please call me when she comes so I don't worry too much," she says knowing only too well she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything really before her mom called and told her she was home and safe.
"Sure thing, have a good day at school." her dad says barely looking up from whatever it is he's reading on the paper. Now that she looked and listened closer, she could hear the worry in his voice too, as much as he was trying not to let it show. He had a look that made Nina feel like she should worry, he looked almost scared.
The drive to school is silent beside the song blasting from her stereo, a habit she picked from her mom. She can't help but worry and wonder where she could be, she wasn't one to just stay the night somewhere without at least calling them to let them know. Not even at Phoebe's who said she'd left for home, granted it was late, she had left.
Living right behind the school, Nina had always seen it as both good and bad, sometimes she had the urge to just climb up the wall and get into school instead of driving all the way up front which was much further than it looked. Despite the knowledge that it was somewhat a futile thing to be doing, she picks up her phone to call her mom's number again, her thumb is halfway to the screen when it lights up and starts ringing. Sophie's name pops up and she picks up slowing to a stop not far from the Library.
"Hey loser," Sophie calls joking as soon as she picks up.
"Hey Soph," she answers chuckling softly at her friend.
"You in school already?" Her friend's voice comes through almost immediately.
"Not yet but I'm on my way there now. Why?" She asks for a moment wondering if she'd heard something about her mom. She decides it's an illogical thought, there was no reason anyone should have heard anything about her mom because she was okay, it was just the weather that had her tied up somewhere.
"How are you the one who lives closest to the school but always the last to get here?" Mila's voice comes through making her laugh softly.
"I don't know, maybe since you guys can't let me drive since you always call despite knowing I'd never miss school." It had always been like that with the three of them, whoever was late got a call, not necessarily an important one either but she feels grateful that at least one thing seemed normal today.
"Oh, I forgot, you have to stop to pick a call. " Sophie mocks her jokingly, "Who literally pulls up just because of a call?"
"Someone who wants to live another day."
"Yeah, a cute reminder. I think I'll start attending your survival skills class now, I think you'd make a great teacher." The lighthearted sarcasm in Sophie's voice isn't lost to her as Mila's chuckle streams through.
"You're very funny Sophie, not everyone is as daring as you." She lets herself laugh softly. "And besides, look at Mila. She's too scared to even drive."
"Not cool Nina. I do drive when I have to. Like today, I drove here!" Mila shrieks, feigning hurt as both her friends laugh. "Besides, you only stop because you're a lousy driver."
"Ouch!" she feigns hurt but chuckles as Mila adds that it was true and their banter goes on for a few more seconds.
"Anyway, hurry up, we're right outside the main doors to the science block waiting for you," Mila says at last.
"Why the science block, that's a crappy place to park," Nina recalls how there's no shade near the science block.
"I don't have my car today. I caught a ride with Norman. And as you know, Mila is like a bad getaway driver, she'll park anywhere so long as it's empty."
"Okay, I'll be right there. See ya." She finishes chuckling softly at Mila's protests.
As soon as the call ends, her momentary reprieve from the reality that still was, ends with it, her nagging worry still etching at her brain. She bites her lip looking at her phone, contemplating calling her mom again before deciding not to, she decides to wait for her to call her. She was going to call.
She's alright Nina. She's alright. She keeps repeating in her head willing herself to believe it as she tries to calm her mind when the school gates come into view.
The large arching metal gates with the school logo, a brown circle with intricate drawings of students and sports inside, but the most shouting thing on it being their school mascot, a huge brown wolf with large orange eyes that had always seemed a little too lifelike. The brilliant blue paint on the gate shining in the soothing morning sun, all part of the things she'd usually find beautiful but seem dull at the moment. Everything seemingly losing its color to her worry.
Mila waits for her friend, zoning out as her foot taps unconsciously on the floor. In her head she keeps repeating to herself the same thing over and over like a mantra, it wasn't real.
Giving herself the many reasons why it could never be real, there could be no way, absolutely none, that she'd been outside and on the road at that hour. And even if somehow she'd been, there would be no explaining how fast she'd been running, how she could smell all the things she could, how she could see in the dark. And there was absolutely no way in the world there was anything like what she'd seen in the dream, there was no way something or someone like that could exist. All those things had to be her crazy imagination, creatures, and events purposefully forged by her mind to scare her, there was nothing to suggest what she'd seen was real.
But despite knowing all that, and accepting it in her mind, she wishes she could convince her heart of it, fight off the stupid question she had been asking herself since last night. Could it be real? Knowing herself, however, she knows that the only way she'd truly believe was through Nina's reassurance that everything was okay, that her mom was home and safe, only then would she really be calm. She could almost see how she'd start laughing at how stupid this all sounded in her head when Nina told her that Helena was home and safe.
"Hey, Mila. Are you okay, you look a little pale." Sophie's voice pulls her from her worry.
"Yeah, just didn't sleep well last night. Had a pretty bad nightmare." Sophie smiles softly before her face scrunches up as if remembering something.
"Did you hear that Wills shop was broken into?"
Camila can't help but laugh at the question."No, I haven't heard, but who would break into that shop. There's absolutely nothing of value there."
Will's shop was an antique shop, at least by name. The said antiques were things no one would never want. It stood alone at the edge of town, a banged up lonely building with grayed walls who's paint was scraped off, it's signboard alone seemed like a health hazard, looking as if it'd fall off the rusted chains that hung it from a very rusted piece of tube. Inside it were old books, vases, and cupboards that looked like things you were likely to find in a medieval horror movie recreation and other weird objects that looked as old as time itself.
"Apparently someone would," Sophie's voice comes with a certain tone of worry that makes Camila wonder what there was to care about in that shop. She's distracted from asking though as Sophie waves to someone a little far off from them, a tall slim Asian-looking girl with black hair that seemed to shine in the morning sun and a smile brighter than the sun itself. Even she could say, the girl was beautiful. She can't help but wonder however whether she'd ever seen her around their classes but comes up blank, she had to be a class below them for her not to have seen her around.
Her thoughts of Will's shop and the girl are forgotten however as she spots Nina walking to them. The look on her friend's face makes her worry grow tenfold.
Nina's face is a mask of worry that was very visible despite the smile she spots, most likely trying to hide it. Camila had known Nina too long to be fooled by that smile which doesn't reach her eyes, something was wrong. However for her sake she still tries to convince her unbelieving heart that it couldn't be what she'd seen, it had to be something else. It simply could never be about her crazy dream.
"Hey." She says, her attempt at sounding cheerful failing miserably.
Despite Sophie convincing her that the only reason Nina had sounded off on the phone earlier was because she wasn't a morning person. The grim look on her face now tells her otherwise, making her heart beat a thousand times faster.
"What's up with you, don't tell me you also had a bad nightmare." Sophie's joke is met with a blank stare from Nina and silence from Mila who's lost in her thoughts, looking for a way to ask about Nina's mom.
"Well, I did not have a bad nightmare since I couldn't sleep. I was worried about mom, she didn't come home last night and her phone goes directly to voicemail."
"What!" Camila's voice unintentionally comes out as a worried shriek as Nina answers her unasked question. Thoughts whirl around her mind leaving her dizzy.
Both her friends give her a curious look at her reaction. Her attempts at hiding her dread with a sheepish smile fail terribly, coming out instead as a deep grimace.
Her worry soon turns into panic. There was absolutely no way of explaining her reaction without sounding somehow unhinged. She runs a hand through her hair, looking for a way out of their questioning gazes.
She feels nauseated, her vision blurring and a certain tightness in her throat.
Her mind that had seemed to accept the nightmare as such, just a dream now starts drawing up images, images of her nightmare happening all over again. This time the fear is for far more reasons than one, she was afraid of what it would mean if it was indeed true. For Nina mostly but also for herself.
She turns around, not once looking at her friend's faces as the nausea grows, she'd throw up right there if she stayed another second.
She had to get out of there. Giving them a vague excuse she couldn't even remember formulating, she heads blindly into the building with her heart thumping at a scary pace in her chest.
"Hey, what's wrong." Sophie's worried voice carries to her as she almost runs into the double doors at the front. She doesn't bother answering, afraid her voice would come out as a sob and she'd break down in front of everyone with absolutely no explanation of what it was she was crying about.
After pushing herself through the countless number of students in the hallways, not without some fairly ugly words being thrown her way as she'd stepped on toes and bumped on unaware shoulders as she pummeled her way through the seemingly unending sea of people.
She pushes herself into the washrooms grateful that they were empty at this time of the day. Unsure if she was still dreaming, she takes a look at the mirror, grabbing the sink to steady her hands that had been shaking uncontrollably at her sides.
She splashes water onto her face before looking back at the face in the mirror.
The girl she finds staring back at her is almost unrecognizable. Eyes wide and red from lack of sleep and glistening with the unshed tears she could feel burning beneath as well. She steps back, one step, then another. Until her back hits the wall. Eyes still fixated on the alien figure in the mirror as shaky fingers find their way into her hair. She closes her eyes before slowly allowing herself to slowly slide to the ground, repeatedly muttering 'it can't be real' to herself.
She cringes as the sharp pained scream from her nightmare resounds in her head, a sound she could only relate to death itself. A choked and hoarse sound filled with unsaid words and unadulterated pain, an unchecked yearning, a yearning to live when it had been clear she wouldn't. A sound of someone who wasn't ready, who had had dreams and hopes for another day. But the look on her face had been one that carried the rawest emotions, a look that was in itself a painfully ugly one, filled with agony and pain. Her normally beautiful and kind face contorted in absolute terror and resignation, her eyes wide and filled with a pain that was painful itself to look at, a hopelessness and acceptance of a fate she couldn't have imagined. The image and the horrible scream seemed to have stuck in her memory and were now replaying effortlessly and slowly torturing her.
She mutters incoherent words to herself though the same sentence keeps resounding in her mind, what is happening to me?
She moves her hands from her hair staring at them intensely, wondering if she could see them even now, the claws that had been in place of her nails last night. She could clearly remember how confusing they'd looked both terrifying and fascinating, ugly but somehow holding a certain amount of beauty. Sharp unforgiving claws that were alien but still managed to somehow look as if they'd been meant for those hands all along. They had held an unearthly beauty like the boy that had been behind her but now all they did was haunt her mind seeing them on her despite knowing it wasn't true, like flashes of memory, appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
A lone tear flows down her cheek, settling on her opened palm paving way for a torrent that leaves her feeling as if she were empty. A sob racks her body, carrying with it all her strength and will to fight the images replaying in her mind.
She shakes her head trying to convince herself it was just a bad dream but the worry seems to have a mind of its own and the feeling it was real still clawing back up.
Despite everything, her mind is hell-bent on convincing her that it was all real. She could almost feel the energy to fight the belief slowly ebbing away, scraping away and in its place leaving another emotion. Guilt and acceptance, a deep burning guilt that she knows wouldn't be leaving her any time soon.
She shuts her eyes, taking a deep breath before squeezing her eyes shut trying to get the image of Helena's scared face from her mind. Breathing deeply through her nose and out through her mouth, feeling stupid for even trying to calm her mind this way. It was something Helena had told her about, how to beat panic and such emotions. The thought of her, however, brings her close to tears again making her effort feel useless. After countlessly and unsuccessfully trying to stop the tears and to clear her mind, it's the sound of footfalls making way into the washrooms that makes her scramble to pull herself up facing the sink, quickly dabbing at her tears.
"Mila, are you in here..." Sophie's voice sounds unsure as she calls for her.
She feels relief flow through her knowing it wasn't Nina who'd found her or some random teenager who'd either run around spreading gossip about how she was probably pregnant or pretend to care and try helping. She takes a deep breath before splashing water on her face trying to get her tears to stop just as Sophie comes into view.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Sophie asks as soon as she meets her eyes in the mirror, she could only imagine how she looked to her friend.
"I'm okay Sophie." if it's not the look on her face, then the shaking in her voice makes her wince knowing Sophie wouldn't believe her.
"Yeah, right." her friend scoffs before pausing to look at her reflection on the mirror making Camila look down at her hands to avoid her eyes.
"And I'm Santa Claus, but here we are," Sophie says lightheartedly before her face takes on a serious look. "Now please tell me what's wrong, and don't give me that 'I'm okay' bullshit"
"We both know you're not, so," she adds with a somber look, "don't lie to me."
"To be honest, I don't know what's going on," Camila says after a moment of consideration knowing it was useless lying to Sophie, even without all the evidence in her face, Sophie always seemed to sniff out even the smallest and simplest lie.
"Where's Nina?" she asks in the hope of not talking about her nightmare knowing how crazy she sounded even to herself. She lets out a frustrated laugh at the thought.
"She's looking for you on the other end, we split up when you dashed into the building," Sophie says softly. "Mila, stop trying to change the subject here, what do you mean you don't know what's wrong. You have to tell me something because right now you look like crap."
She can't help but chuckle uneasily, "Jeez, thanks for that Soph."
"You know what I mean," Sophie says with a little-crooked smile.
Opening her eyes, she studies Sophie who looks back at her curiously and patiently, not with pity but with understanding. She decides to tell about how she felt in the hope that she'd at least tell her how crazy it all sounds and maybe give her mind some semblance of peace.
"Remember how I said I had a bad dream?"
"Yeah."
"Well, this will sound crazy." She pauses trying to find an easy way to put it. "I feel like it was not a dream at all, I feel as if it all happened for real."
She looks at Sophie to see her expression finding one she can't quite place, bordering on curiosity and understanding. She was somehow disappointed that her friend wasn't looking at her like she was crazy.
"What do you mean?" Sophie asks carefully, almost as if she was scared of the answer. "Are you saying you were sleepwalking or what exactly."
"No, not sleepwalking," Camila starts, trying to find a way to explain, "I mean that the events that happened in my dream, they seem to have really happened."
"In the dream, it was like I was there almost as if I was spectating, and I could see everything happen but I couldn't do much of anything about it. And when I try to tell myself it was just a dream, my mind seems so bent on convincing me its not. And the crazy thing is that I can feel myself believing it." She pauses taking a deep breath, Sophie just watches her silently, giving her time to recollect her thoughts.
"At first it was just some little things like how in the dream it had been raining, and when I woke up it was raining. But then I had this really strange feeling that I hadn't really been asleep, and that somehow this wasn't a dream and I know that sounds stupid but then something I heard made me fear it might all have been true. Somehow what I saw in my dream was true. Well besides this guy I saw who had claws and yellow glowing eyes which are crazy. But well, all of this is crazy." She almost misses Sophie's expression as it disappears almost immediately. Surprise, or maybe disbelief as her eyes widened a bit.
"Its stupid I know but I can't figure out a way to believe that. Which makes me feel like I'm going crazy." She finishes with a sigh.
"First, you're not crazy, sometimes people do feel like their dreams aren't just dreams and sometimes coincidences happen, it could be real," she answers to Camila's agony, she didn't want it to be true, coincidence or not.
"And besides there's always a way you can know if it was true," Sophie adds a determined look on her face.
"I mean if it's close by, you could always go there if you really want to know whether it was real or not. There might be something to tell you if it was or wasn't, right?"
Camila spends a second wondering how she'd been so stupid as not to think of that despite knowing the truth as to why she didn't want to face the possibility that it could be true. She couldn't face that road alone, as selfish and cowardly as it sounded even to her, she didn't want to handle the truth. The agony of not knowing was way easier than the pain it would bring to know it was true. And deep down she was afraid it was.
She wanted, no, needed someone to hold on to, someone normal like Sophie despite having the feeling she was dragging her into something that was as crazy as her dream.
"It was not that far, I think I'll go there and see for myself." She says as she wipes the streaks of tears from her face hoping she didn't look like a zombie.
"That's good," Sophie chuckles, "So you don't have to run and cry in the washrooms. I mean, really, with all the stench? You could do better, even the emo kids find a spot behind the bleachers to bawl their eyes out!" she says, making Camila chuckle at her attempt to lighten the mood.
"Sophie, will you come with me. I know it a lot to ask because I'm going to skip school, well, not the whole day but still some of the first classes. But I'd rather not be alone to face it." She faces Sophie, a determination in her heart only shadowed by her fear of what she might find.
"Of course, bunking school is way more interesting. I was honestly looking for a reason to avoid Scrutton, he gives me the creeps," Sophie says with a small laugh.
"I'll just text Nina and tell her we're carpooling for a rebellious dream catching adventure, where are we headed?" she adds pulling out her phone making Mila almost have a heart attack.
"No! You can't tell her." She shrieks pulling Sophie's phone from her hands which takes Sophie back clearly.
She hands Sophie her phone back as she takes a few deep breathes composing herself.
"Trust me, not until we're sure of what it is I saw."
"Why not, does the dream have something to do with her?" Sophie looks at her with a worried look.
"Not really.." She trails off deciding to just hide the truth for now. "Just trust me, Sophie, you do not want her to know about this right now. And besides, she's worried about her mom."
"Okay," Sophie agrees, albeit half-heartedly and clearly unbelieving, "Let's go then."
Heading through the now empty hallways, they walk fast and quietly trying to get to the parking lot without being seen. All this time, Camila tries to calm her heart, both for the fact that she had never snuck out of school and that she was afraid of the truth.
As Sophie drives past the bridge making her way zooming through the steep road she glances at her friend. Mila seems deep in thought as she stares at the forest, her face etched with worry. When she'd mentioned a guy with yellow glowing eyes, Sophie's heart had almost jumped right out of her chest, dreams she could handle but if Mila was somehow seeing werewolves, she was almost scared now.
She was however very confident that it was just a dream. The only pack in Bighton Valley, she and the others had been in the cabin last night, no one had been running around in the rain, not even Jing was that crazy. Despite all that, she can't help but wonder what the dream had to do with Nina, even with Camila trying to keep a poker face when she'd asked, she had failed miserably. Mila had never been a good liar, and besides that, her heart had made a million beats at that instant and Sophie had known she was lying. She couldn't help but hope that it wasn't a bad thing, a hope that seemed far-fetched as she recalls how broken Mila had seemed and still did.
"What exactly happened in the dream Mila?" She asks, hoping she'll get an answer this time. The reality of what it is that had her friend so shaken up.
"It's not that easy to say." She glimpses at her, seeing the retired look on her face also riddled with hope. Hopeful for what, Sophie couldn't tell, maybe hoping that it wasn't true. Maybe hopeful that she wasn't imagining things. But she could see Mila was torn up by both possibilities, Sophie, on the other hand, was hopeful of only one thing. She was hopeful it was just a dream, and if it wasn't, she hoped it was a one-time occurrence that wouldn't mean that Mila would be dragged into their world. A world filled only by darkness and death, hatred and wars.
"To be honest, I really hope it's just my imagination. As crazy as that sounds, trust me, you don't want it to be real either."
As Sophie comes closer to the Dead Man's Corner, she can tell that they were close by the tense look on her friends face, making her reach for her hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. A small gesture, it would be alright, she wasn't sure whether her friend took it as such so she puts it into words.
"It's going to be okay." She says, not sure she believes it herself now that the words had left her mouth.
A police siren wails behind them passing them at a fast speed and Sophie feels Mila grip her hand harder as an ambulance seems to sound not too far away from them.
"Stop." It's barely a whisper but Sophie hears it making her glance at Mila once before pulling over. The sirens can be heard a short distance ahead, only being out of sight because of the sharp bend on the road. The noisy waterfall that would normally be heard from this close now drowned in the wailing.
"Why'd you ask to stop?" She asks despite having the feeling that the sirens meant her friend's dream had been real. Unsure of what to feel about it, she just reaches for Mila, unbuckling her seatbelt and hugging her friend who seems completely shaken up.
"Sophie, it was real." Her voice shakes with emotion, the amount of sadness in it making Sophie feel a lump forming in her gut.
"I'm sorry Mila." It's all she manages to say, not sure what she's sorry for but as she feels her friends tears roll down into her shirt, she feels her own burning her eyes, knowing her friend's life just turned. For the better, or for worse. She has no idea.
Nothing could have ever prepared her for what Mila says next. She wasn't even sure it wasn't her ears playing tricks on her but the tears that had burned her eyes now flowed freely.
"It's Nina's mom Sophie." The words echo through her mind repeatedly as she holds her friend tighter, letting her tears flow harder.
Reaching for her senses, she could feel her hearing growing, her range expanding and reaching the scene, a male voice, probably an officers', carries to her ears confirming her fear.
"Goodness gracious! It's Helena. What the hell did that to her!"
At that moment she knew both her best friends' lives had changed. And none changed for the better. As she holds her weeping friend, she now can only hope it was just a one-time occurrence, a blip of cosmic coincidence, despite knowing it was nothing she'd ever heard of, she still finds herself hoping. Hoping for her friends' sake that she wasn't supernatural. And for Nina, she allows herself the weakness of tears. After such a long time, this reminded her own pain. And for once in a long time, she let herself cry.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone