Chapter Eight
Nightmares, Numbing and Noticing
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Leah Fox
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I tossed and turned beneath the sheets, my body sweating, my muscles clenched but my mind was not in my room. I was seeing the event that I'd never actually taken part in but the event that I saw on a regular basis. In my nightmares. I was lucky tonight. The scene was less vivid.
I saw the blur of streetlights passing overhead and the outlines of two bodies as they were revealed by the light. They were holding hands. I clenched my fists, fists that I shouldn't have even felt in my ghostly existence. I tried to pull out of the dream, it had never worked before but I refused to sit passively and watch this event unfold. Not again.
Two sets of bright lights smothered my vision and I could see nothing else. Then the car swerved, I could hear the tires screaming against the tarmac. And after that there was a thud. Not the type of thud you hear when you shut a door but an ear-filling, crumpling thud that haunted me. The borders of the car seemed to be sucked inwards until the two bodies were crushed by it. I heard a scream, a horrible echoing screech, one that would make anybodies blood run cold, and I awoke sweating.
It wasn't the worst of the dreams. It had been blurry and short. Some of them had lasted to the point where men began to pry my parent's bodies from the car, their two hands the only parts clear of blood. I stared up at the ceiling, shivering uncontrollably. I couldn't close my eyes, I knew that the images would just flash behind my lids. The nightmares didn't get easier to handle, even after the time since their death passed.
I needed cool, night air. I needed to breathe in something fresh and cleanse the smell of leather and smoke. I needed to talk to Rhyley. I wouldn't tell him what had happened. I didn't want him to worry. But I needed to talk to him, to remind myself that he was there.
I grabbed my cell and crept out of my room, down the hall until I reached the exit, just in between the male and female dorms. I stepped outside in my oversized t-shirt and a pair of Rhyley's boxers and was instantly caught in a frosty swirl of wind. My heart raced, goosebumps lifted on my arms and legs and my trembles became cold-induced rather than fear. I pressed speed dial and Rhyley's number came up on the screen.
His answer was almost instant. "Lee? You okay? Are you in trouble?"
I was a little taken aback by his immediate concern but then I remembered that it was probably past midnight.
"I'm fine, totally fine. I just wanted..." To hear that you're alive. "To catch up. How's university going?"
"Leah, it's two am." His voice was hoarse with sleepiness.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. Not tired enough. And then I remembered I haven't called you since I got here. Sorry, the time wasn't really on my mind."
I heard him sigh down the line. "It's alright. Uni's boring and tiring but that's nothing new. How're your lessons going?"
"Err, great. I've made some new friends..." I trailed off, knowing that he would pick up what I was going to say next.
"And some new enemies?" he chuckled. "I feel sorry for them. What'd they do?"
"One just gets on my nerves. The other's trying to date my new friend. And the third... she just isn't human."
"It's been less than a week. You move fast."
I laughed softly and we fell into an easy silence as we thought of something else to ask.
"What's that noise?" he asked.
