Once Upon A Rodeo

Six - [Car Troubles.]

I woke up in a dark room.

Before I even opened my eyes, I knew that it was not my room in Hudson. The mattress below me was too worn; too rough. The sheets covering me were too cold, too unfamiliar, though I'd been away less than a month. I remembered nothing. Throwing the covers off of me, my bare feet hit the rough carpet.

My eyes sprang open. I couldn't be back in North Carolina.

I stumbled into the living room, my eyes raking the house for any sign that would tell me how I'd gotten here. It was dark, empty and cold.

"Kennedy."

A voice sounded from somewhere in the distance. I couldn't distinguish it because it wasn't someone I knew. It was so quiet, so faint, I wasn't even sure of the speaker's gender.

"Kennedy."

The voice spoke a little louder, but no more distinguishable. Still, I didn't recognize it but I was able to tell where it had came from; the front door. I rushed forward, feeling an intense and sudden need to get out of the house.

Terror, ice cold, slithered it's way from my heart, wrapping around my lungs and squeezing. I wasn't sure why I was so terrified, or what was on the other side of the door. But I didn't find out because in the seconds before my hand closed around the door knob, I woke up.

I sat up with a start.

A cold layer of sweat coated my forehead. My limbs were entangled in my sheets. I lifted my hand, wiping the sweat off of my head. The dream had confused me so much...Why had I been so desperate to get out of that house? What was it I had been afraid of? Who was that voice?

Shaking my head, I pulled off the covers and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Well aware that it was entirely too early to be awake, I pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I got into my Jeep and drove down town, finding the only place that was open.

It was a small cafe tucked away in a corner of the town I hadn't explored yet. I pulled into the gravel parking lot, still rather distracted by the dream.

"Good morning!"

A bright, happy voice greeted me as soon as I stepped into the parking lot. She was a beautiful girl that looked to be about my age. She had long, dark brown hair and bright brown eyes. She was wearing jeans, a nice sweater and a black apron tied around her waist. She was holding a coffee pot in her hand.

"Good morning," I answered her.

"Have a seat anywhere you like," She said. I looked at her name tag. Callie, was what it read.

"New to town?" Callie asked, pouring me a cup of coffee as I slid into stool at the breakfast bar across from her. It was as if she'd read my mind - I needed some coffee.

"Just moved here a few weeks ago," I responded.

"How you likin' it so far?" Callie asked, her southern accent just as thick as anybody's around here.

"It's pretty nice. I've even met a childhood friend. Rose, maybe you know her?"

Her eyes widened.

"I love Rose!" She exclaimed. "Great girl. But that Mia she hangs out around..."

Callie turned to refill some salt shakers.

"I don't like her either," I answered, feeling for some reason that Callie was someone I could trust. "I don't know, it's just something about her that gives me a bad feeling."