Dark Passenger

Chapter 16 Long Road

Ashton's dad told me something that made my skin turn pale. As crazy as it sounded, it was true. They were evacuating earth. It was whispered through the radio. There was another meteor heading straight towards earth, and this time, we would not survive the impact. Brian said they were building ships, spaceships. I wanted to cry, just thinking of leaving earth. But it was happening, boarding was most likely to a select few. Me and Brian agreed we had to go, but finding "Star Ship City" was the least of our worries, getting in was my greatest fear. We had little time to think. Some people didn't know, but these ships were leaving soon. I walked with fear up to Ashton's sleeping body, I shed a single tear. It ran down my face and landed on Ashton. His eyes gently opened and saw mine. The only color I had now, was brown. He knew something was wrong, he looked at me with concern. "What's wrong Riley?" He asked. "We... we're going to, to um ships." I couldn't tell him. Brian came to my aid. I couldn't hear the news again so I went in the other room. I heard Ashton gasp, and exhale. He rushed up to me. "Is that true Riley? Tell me it's not fucking true." His eyes were turning bloodshot, along with his face. I just hugged him tight as he cried into my chest. I tried not to cry, I needed to be strong, but I started to cry softly too. I looked up and saw Brian there, he wasn't crying, but I knew he was devastated by it as well. I motioned him to pack up while I comforted Ashton. About an hour later, everyone was calm, scared, but remained calm. I packed up light things, like blankets, canned food, etc. Ashton took my hand. He took a picture of us. "Show what you feel. I want this picture to be true, our last picture on earth." He said trying to giggle. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and smiled. "I feel happy I'm with you, now and forever, no matter what." I said. Ashton's eyes sparkled as I said that. "If you guys are ready, we have to go." Said Brian. We got our bags and walked to the car. I took one last look at Ashton's house. I looked at my house. And the house I never knew who lived there in. Hope filled my ears when something came through the car radio. It was a place. Star Ship City is here in America. Nevada. It's somewhere in Nevada. That's good enough for us to go on. Me and Ashton sat in the backseat holding hands while Brian drove defensively. I almost couldn't bare to watch the world crumble, but at the same time, it was the first and last time I'd ever see it crumble. We passed car wrecks, death, and just so much devastation. Getting to Nevada was a long trip of course, but at the same time, there was a ton of gas canisters in the trunk. As we approached Nevada, all I could think about is everyone I knew. The kids at my school, even just everyday people walking down the streets. They were soon to be gone. Maybe so were we. Maybe we don't make it to Star Ship City. These thoughts shook me. I pulled out my phone and hooked it into the aux cord. The car filled up with my music. "A letter to my Freshmen self by atlas" was playing. It made me feel good, just hearing familiar music. Later, we were there. It was dark. The military had a barrier miles long set up. The only light we had were from cars headlights and the floodlights they had put up. The military had high powered riffles in their hands. They motioned us out of our vehicle. We walked into something that resembled a war camp. They had tents for testing, waiting, and retesting. Ashton was shaking. I took his hand and squeezed it to be reassuring. He went to the first tent. I was next in line. A military official asked Brian three questions. His age, his current health state, and was he capable of reproduction. The official told him he was not eligible for the trip because of his age. He felt the pain. The pain of not being able to watch his son grow up. He knew though. He knew I would take care of him. Before Brian got escorted  to a waiting tent, he pulled me aside. "Riley, I want you to have this. Wherever you land, just listen to it ok? Take good care of my son, he's all I got. And you were always like a son to me, never forget that buddy. Take care." Said Brian. He gave me his MP3 with his personal jazz music. That was it. The last time I'd ever see Brian. All the testing they did on me and Ashton took around two hours. Then another four hours just to wait. Then we were escorted to Star Ship 7. Ashton stayed close to me as we walked along a metal floor. Star Ship 7 actually looked scary. It had layers and layers of metal. You could see the vegetation sector of the ship. It sat up high, but you could see a good part of it. I'm assuming it was for sunlight, but they also had strips of artificial lighting placed there too. The doors were automatic. The first thing I saw when I entered was cold metal walls. They assigned us with room numbers on a certain floor. Me and Ashton sat down in our room together just thinking. He took another picture of us. Hours later we went to a room with a big window. We sat down and watched people board Star Ship 7. We could also see the people who were staying behind to die. An intercom came on. A deep voice announced we were getting ready for I guess takeoff. That was the scariest moment of my life. The whole ship shook. The next thing I knew was I was in the air. Just as we hit the exosphere we saw it. The meteor. It pushed the ship to the left it came so close. It soared down to earth. Before it even collided with earth it struck the nearby Star Ship 5. It exploded on impact. There wasn't a piece of debris left. I couldn't help but watch the devastation happen. Some time passed. The ship was quite, compared to what it was when we first got on. I thought to myself, looking into dark space. Home, where is home? There was no more time, no more society. Just space. Only god knew how many years we would be in space. As I was going through some things I packed, I found something that brightened up my day. It was an old watch I had completely forgot about. It was still ticking which is why I was happy. A man came on the intercom again. He announced that there was a planet within reach of Star Ship 1. It was unnamed, but scientists had found it could very well, support human life. It would take about a year to get there. But honestly, I don't know could I take staying on a ship for that long. Three months pass. About 4 percent of everyone on board Star Ship 7 had to be put in a special room. They had gone insane. Ashton had started to wright a book. He had such creativity. I helped contribute to the story as well. He mostly wrote about stuff back on earth. The greatest thing we had to currently fear was, each other... As time went by, cabin fever arose. Everyday, it was now mandatory to socialize with people from other sectors of the ship. It was different, but most people just wanted out. But the real question in their minds, is where? Me and Ashton weren't tired of each other, but inside, the spark we had for each other was gone. Month ten. We had all Star Ships except for 5. One late night, I left Ashton. I was sneaking around different parts of the ship. Security was low, but the officials they did have were pretty legit. I could have just found a window and looked out into space, but I had ten other months to do that. After a half hour of mindless wondering, I stumbled upon what I believed to be the captains quarters. I could hear talking. What I heard kind of alarmed me. Star Ship 1 was low on oxygen. Their vegetation sector had been punctured. Their means of oxygen was no longer functional. They were estimated to survive no longer than 48 hours. The coldest part is we couldn't help them, we could only talk to them and listen to them die. This made me wonder, did we have enough oxygen to survive? Nearly two months passed. Everyone was getting excited now. Some terrified. One day, the "Found Day" will be told for generations to come. This day, we saw our new home for the very first time. It was a vast planet that resembled very little of earth. But this planet looked beautiful. It was bright, and we could even see the star it revolved around. It took a few more days to come into the planet's atmosphere. The closer we came, the more fascinating it became. We didn't just see blank fields and lifeless rocks. Officials on the ship locked and loaded after what we had saw. There was life. It was dark, but we saw lights. Green lights just moving around. Before we could react, all Star Ships lost all control. We were slowly being pulled down towards the ground. As soon as we hit that soil, all the officials jumped off with their guns and opened fire. It was dark, but it was like they were making the bullets disintegrate in mid air. They made a high pitch sound, and just like that, everyone was motionless. They announced in English that they meant no harm. They were pacifists. As I took my first step onto a new planet, I saw a familiar face. The man who was in the desert. I also saw a boy. He had strong blue eyes, along with blue hair that had life to it. He was only feet away from me. He looked up to me and smiled. Soon there were thousands of people talking to "new people" now. A transport vehicle soon came. They had advanced houses set up. They were outlined with blue. There was only one road. Everyone knew when another vehicle was coming. They placed us in designated homes, and told us at 6 PM tomorrow there would be a meeting. These people seemed to be very friendly, almost as if they knew we were coming. Ashton and me got separated within the homes. "I'll find you after I get settled in, ok?" I said. Ashton seemed a little upset, but accepted. Oddly, I was placed with blue boy. To break the ice, I asked him what his name was, the name he said sounded like gibberish. I asked him could I call him, and before I could say the name I thought of, he beat me to it. Cayden. After hours of talking about his life, he told me "I had a dream I would meet you, Riley. I know who you are, what you've been through." His eyes could read my thoughts. They glowed in the dark. He then concerned me for a minute, he cut himself with own finger. His fingers could turn as sharp as metal just like that. Slowly, blue blood came seeping out. It ran down his arm a little. "I want you to suck my arm." He said. I was almost freaked out, but at the same time, I wanted to taste him. As soon as I sucked on his arm, I felt like I was floating on air. I laughed as if dopamine had flooded my brain. He was laughing too. I sucked more of his blood. It was so sweet. He moaned a little which made me want to do it even more. After ten minutes, I quit. I cuddled up with leg and bit off his socks. I couldn't keep track of time, this boy was fuckable. I eased up to his lips and bit his bottom one. A little more blood came out. His veins were blue. Afterwards, I laid on top of him. His hands were on me as I stared into his eyes. He dimmed the ceiling which double down as the light. He took his hands and unbuttoned my pants. I can't remember taking off my shirt, but I did. His naked warm body was close to me. My eyes had their multi changing color back now, and right now, they were blue. I had sex with Cayden that night. My only problem I was not aware of, is that I never saw Stripe. I couldn't remember his first name, I forgot what his voice sounded like too. This caused me to feel like I need him. But I also wanted more of Cayden's blood. 6 PM rolled around. The meeting went fairly quick. We learned about their culture and how they came to be. They had longer nights than days. That night, I slipped away from Cayden to try to visit Stripe Ashton I think. The houses were placed about 15 feet from each other. They even had a moon, it was blue. I couldn't wrap my head around how that would work. I made it to Stripe Ashton's. "Where the hell were you!" He yelled. "What the... You- you seem different." He kissed me and squeezed me for a second. "Nothing, I feel nothing." He thought in his mind. I could hear him. "I need some time to think, Riley." He said. I wasn't done with my night yet. In the distance I saw a quick flash of pink. I didn't waste much time. I ran to the sight to find a hole in the ground. It was like a slide kind of. I went down slow. The first thing I saw was the walls. Dirt, with light sparkling pink fused in. It tingled when I touched it. As I walked further in, it got warmer. The ground became damp, then wet. I stepped in a pink gooey puddle. Was this their oil? I couldn't feel my leg after that. It was asleep. I put a dab on my tongue. It made it twitch and then it was hard to wiggle it. I limped back to my house and laid down next to Cayden. He put his leg over mine. I licked his lip with my tongue. Then I fell asleep. The next morning came around. Cayden was still right next to me. I got up and looked around for a bit, what I found confused me. I got up to go see Ashton. I tried knocking, but there was no answer. The door was unlocked. Come to think of it, the doors were never locked, there was never a need to. Right there I saw him. He was still in bed, sleeping softly. I could hear his thoughts. He was thinking about me, how I was different now. He's right, I am different, I hurt him. I walked away from him, closing the door behind me. I woke up Cayden. I asked him about the rest of the world. He told me they have cities, not like mine, bigger, more colorful and free. I asked him could he take me their. He jumped up with excitement, to him it was like going to the mall. "We will walk there. It's not that far, really. Just trust me." He said. Considering I couldn't even see a large building in site, he sounded crazy, but he hugged me and looked me in my eyes. "See, you wanna go, your eyes are blue, just like mine." He was right about my eyes, but I still couldn't believe I was falling in love with him. We walked for about an hour. We sat down to take a break next to a grey rock with blue particles sticking out. "I need a drink of something." I told him. He then slit open his arm. The bright blue blood came pouring out. "Here, don't hesitate, I know you like it." He said laughing. I blushed a little as I drank his blood. It was getting dark now. I was fascinated to see my veins were coursing with blue. I felt tingly. I still wondered what that pink stuff was. Before long, we hit the city. It had building with colors highlighting them. This was something I've ever saw before. I had to slow down just to see all the attractions. What caught my attention was this particular building. I asked Cayden what it meant. It was their place for music. One of them anyway. I entered after Cayden. Immediately, there was sound in my ears, it felt like it was everywhere. I couldn't explain it, even if I heard it a thousand times. It toyed with my emotions, I could breathe whatever I wanted to. I stayed in this place for hours not even realizing it. I checked my wrist watch, as if it mattered. We left around 11 PM. The walk home was shorter than the way up. I asked about Cayden's history. "Let's see, to you I would be 16. I was birthed in zeechkaia. We don't have parents, just each other. The funny part is, we rarely fall in love around here. All of us are friends." He said. "I think I might like you though." I said shyly. He told me it's ok because he liked me too. He's never let someone drink his blood before. On the way back, I found something I blindly overlooked. A park, it had oddly shaped swings, but they would work. I jumped on and went for it. In between swings, I would try to reach out and grab Cayden's hand. It felt soft. I thought to myself. He giggled at me as he heard that thought. We started to walk again. We held hands staring at the blue moon. It felt nice. I got back to the house around 1 AM. I don't know, but something just wasn't right. Everyone around here was just too shady. I told Cayden I'd lay down with him in a bit. I missed Ashton. I walked over and knocked gently. He opened the door, he had been crying. I tried to hug him, but he pushed me away. He started screaming at me. I tried to calm him down. He fell to the floor. I laid right by him telling him I'm sorry over and over. I blamed it on the blood. I said it took over me. He could barely look at me. "I need to show you something, something between just you and me." I said. He pretended not to care, but he was a little curious. We walked outside and I showed him the hole I stumbled upon. He got real close to the pink stuff I found, then he took a taste. His tongue wiggled a little then stopped. He laughed at this. I don't know why, but to him, it was just fun. He had a "self adjusting cup" in his pocket. He used it and collected some of the pink stuff. Before we left the hole, a voice came from behind us. It was Cayden, he had on a blank expression. "I can send you somewhere, where you can be free, ish." He said. We didn't know what he meant, so we just stared back. He cut himself over a puddle and mixed in blue with pink. Sparkles rose from the puddle, lighting up the place. He told us to drink it. I felt like an asshole for ever drinking his blood in the first place, but this time, it was me and Ashton, together. We drank a little then felt funny. My insides were melting into yogurt. I dropped to the ground staring at Cayden. He looked at me as if I walked into an obvious door. Ashton pulled my hand and squeezed before I passed out. I think I was falling, but I couldn't see where. I think it was somewhere colorful. I woke up in a bed in an orange room. The sun was peeking through a curtain from a window. My watch read 7 AM. Next to me was Ashton. I looked outside to see cars. Actual cars, but there was something different. These cars looked funny. This place looked retro. It was. A newspaper beneath my feet at the doorstep gave me some needed information. It read "July 8th, 1998." I was scared, but at the same time, I was excited. If this paper is true, I would get to see some things I've always wanted to see. Places, try 90s food, and really live again. I ran inside and woke up Ashton like it were Christmas. He couldn't comprehend this information. He came outside to see. His eyes widened as he tried to take it all in with me. We were back on earth, before everything ended. We couldn't really get back to 2017 now. The 90s is where we would start over. Me and Ashton decided to grab a bite to eat at a local Pizza Hut. The new edge pizza was being advertised, but honestly, me and Ashton liked plain cheese pizza. We sat down at a booth close to the window. Just seeing all these people made me laugh a little. So different. A waitress by the name of Trish came over. I couldn't help but stare at this woman. After she left, something came into my mind. My mothers name was Trish. Some time passed by. She came back with our food. "Here you are boys, enjoy." She said smiling. She looked at me a minute  "What's your name sweetie." She said. I hesitated for a minute but then told her. "I'm, Riley." "Cute name." She said. Ashton blurted out "We need somewhere to stay." We both looked at him kind of strange. She said to meet her here at 9 PM. Hard to believe my mother worked so much. We left Pizza Hut with full bellies. We walked around for a few hours, trying to think about what to do. I then got an idea. I was going to visit the house my mother lived in before she had me. It was on a nice street. The neighborhood looked friendly. I only found the house because of the mailbox. Before we went in, a voice came from the distance. "Hey guys, if you're not busy, do you wanna hangout?" Me and Ashton paused for a minute. The voice continued. "Me and my friends are gonna play some video games and eat pizza tonight if you're interested." We looked at each other. We decided we would, it sounded like fun. We walked to where the boy was standing. Then we walked to meet up with the rest of his friends down at the skate park. As soon as we got there we heard some music. Someone brought a boombox with them. "Aww, man. This song is poppin" said the boy. He was listening to "De la Soul- Me myself and I". This slang is quite weird to me and Ashton. We sat there for a few hours watching the other boys skate, we started to head back as it got dark. "My names Josh." Said the boy. Now we are going to Josh's house. We walked in to see a huge pile of garbage everywhere. Along with that wear some wires. He had a stereo hooked up under his bed. The speakers were hanging on his walls. Very creative. He brought out Resident evil 2. We all took part in this until about 8:30, then we had to meet up with my mother. We sat on the curb of Pizza Hut and watched her finish up. She came out right on time. "Alrighty, come you two." She said. She seemed to always be happy. She rode us to her house, asking a couple questions along the way. We walked in her living room. It was very clean, everything was in an order. I noticed something about my mother I failed to see earlier. Her stomach was big. I think it was safe to say she was pregnant. I thought for a minute, was that me? But I realized something, I wasn't born until 2001. I was too scared to ask her about it. She made us some Mac & cheese for dinner. Me and Ashton both grabbed a shower and slept in the guest room. It was around 11:30 PM now. I found a boombox in the closet. I turned it on low so it wouldn't wake Ashton. "2 becomes 1" by the spice girls was playing. I laid there staring at the ceiling with my arm around Ashton. He felt so warm. His soft skin touching mine made me feel good. I gently kissed his cheek, then his neck. He moved in closer to me. I held his hand until he fell asleep. Right before I fell asleep, I saw something, there were a few glow in the dark stars up on the ceiling. I wondered, why would my mother put up stars for a guest room? Seconds later I heard her car start. Was she seeing my father? And who is she pregnant with? I woke up to the smell of pancakes and sausage. The weird part is she made my favorite breakfast and she didn't even know me yet. I woke up Ashton. He had no shirt on. He put his shirt from yesterday back on and we both went to the kitchen. I saw Trish, she was just standing there. She seemed transparent. I went to touch her and she vanished. The smell of breakfast went away. There was no sound, the lights went out and the walls faded away. My skin was fading too. I couldn't breathe for a brief moment, I couldn't even scream, next thing I knew, I was back. I was back in the hole with Ashton and Cayden. "What'd you think, guys?" Cayden said. "What the hell happened!?" Said Ashton. "I thought Riley would like to see his mother." Cayden said shyly. Ashton fell to his knees. He was coughing up blood. He got up and looked at Cayden in disgust, he then left. I went to chase after him, but I slipped in the process. Cayden picked me up. I hugged him tight as I sobbed a little. He hugged me back, rubbing my cheek with his thumb. I buried my face in his chest. "You're soft." I mumbled. He giggled a little. "You wanna go home?" He asked. This place still didn't feel like home. I'd rather go back to when I was innocent. When I was 8 years old, before the darkness. I guess I just can't. A cold drop hit me. Then another, it was water, rain. It's started to down pour. I looked at Cayden, his face had a terrified expression on it. He whispered in my ear, "They said this would come." In my mind I thought, what would come? And how is it raining, all you could see was space. "The end of days." He said. I forgot he could he my thoughts. "We need evacuate to Center Form 10. We rushed to alert the people. They already knew. The houses with blue outlines were now violently flashing red. They loaded everyone from earth on buses first, then themselves. The rain just got heavier and heavier. The wind was intense too. I paused to look at everyone. They were all in panic. But of course the person I didn't see, Ashton. Cayden ran up to me. "I'm not leaving without my boyfriend." I nearly shouted. Cayden seemed a little hurt by this, but he managed to tell me I was right. We both looked up to see him on the last transport bus. Cayden pulled on my arm and we had to sprint. To him it was nothing, to me it was hell. We stopped at the hole where the pink substance was. He told me drink from the puddle. My tongue was numb, but I also couldn't feel my legs. I could now run without feeling anything, not even shortness of breath. We ran for about 30 minutes until we saw big metal ships stationed at Center Form 10. Sirens went off in the distance. It was obvious, they were boarding. Both of us took a deep breath and went for it. We pushed through crowds of people. Eventually we caught up to Ashton, he was on one of the three ships there. These ships very pretty vast. Ashton was curled up in a corner. Crying and coughing up blood. He became hostile towards us. He screamed at us, and then turned to Cayden. "You, you're the bastard who caused all this. If you would have fucked off, we would all be." He dropped to the floor. He was gasping for air and trying to say my name. Cayden sighed for a second. He took a good look at me, he kissed me and whispered, "It was fun while it lasted, Riley." He walked up to Ashton. Cayden cut his arm, this time pretty deep. He fed Ashton this blood, his veins were bright blue. Cayden's eyes lost their vivid color, they turned grey, and so did his hair. He pulled away. Ashton looked more colorful than I've ever saw him. Cayden stumbled to my feet. He fell. He was dead before he even hit the floor, blood loss, a human thing. I was going to miss him, he was nice to me, but at the same time, Ashton had been with me for so long, I had forgotten him. Cayden saved me, he saved me and Ashton. I ran over to Ashton and pressed against him tight, he was still on the floor. I repeatedly kissed his cheek. He gave me a smile and slowly wrapped his arms around me. "We need to find new piano." He said laughing. I laughed with him. We both just laid there staring into each other's eyes. A loud thump hit the outer metal of the Ship. Bits of rock were pelting against the ship now. But that's not why we were evacuating. There was a meteor heading straight towards us. This was revolutionary. Someone dressed in silky black addressed us. Not all of earth was obliterated. The man addressed us that not all of earth was destroyed. This time was different. With Cayden's people's advanced technology we could land on earth in a couple days. Me and Ashton remained in the room where Cayden died. Our bodies felt a little weird when we entered earth's atmosphere, like being in a car for too long. There were more dead bodies on the ground than when we left. We landed at the same place we took off. I couldn't really tell who was who, we were gone for so long, plus the way up. Ashton grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. We were both happy to be home, but what was left of it? The man in silk black said they were taking the deserts and going to revive them to life. A few weeks pass by. I smelled pancakes and sausage again, I panicked as I thought it was all a dream. Ashton came in with an adorable smile on his face. "Happy birthday, Riley." He said giggling. I'm 17 now and I still feel like a kid. Ashton put the food on my dresser and laid next to me. I cuddled with his arm and closed my eyes. He petted my hair slow and gentle. I've missed his soft warm hands on me. The sun was shining bright, peeking through the curtains of the window. It was still kinda chilly outside, but nice. Me and Ashton decided to take a walk. It was peaceful. We headed down to the school. It was still in shambles. Broken glass at the entrance, but aid was still offered to those in need. We walked for at least a mile. We stumbled upon an orphanage. It looked pretty abandoned, but we thought we would check it out. I went in first, using my phone as a flashlight. It was a little dusty. There were some old files on the floor of who used to be here. The sun, seeping through a crack in the wall, lit a small portion of the hallway. We walked down the hallway, checking each room carefully, I was about to call it quits when I heard some heavy breathing in the corner. I saw a shadow, it seemed to be shaking. I walked towards it. Without warning, it bolted into me and ran down the hall. I quickly chased after it. It screamed at me. I took baby steps towards it. I shined my phone light on it. I could see it clearly. It was a little boy. His eyes were wide. He was about to cry. I slowly got closer to him. I took my right hand and put it on his cheek. He was dirty. Both of my arms wrapped around him to let him know I meant no harm. He exhaled a breath of relief. Few a few minutes he sobbed lightly into my chest. "I, I'm Drake." He managed to say to me. "I'm Riley. You're ok, we won't hurt you, ok?" I said. "Who, who's your friend there." He said. I introduced him to Ashton. Ashton didn't know what to say to him. Drake was no older than eight years old. "Would you like to come home with us?" I said nicely. He shook his head yes. He didn't have much to take with him. Just some old stuffed animal. We walked outside when he pulled on my shirt. "Will you carry me?" He asked sweetly. "Yea, I will. Hop on" I said. I kneeled down and he climbed on my shoulders. I got up and started walking. I wasn't used to carrying extra weight, or someone hanging on to me like a monkey. I looked back at Ashton, he had a smirk on his face. The sun continued to shine on us for the rest of the walk home. I put Drake down and opened the door. He was a curious little fella. He was looking around at everything. I don't blame him. A new home is a big change. It was about 6 PM now, the sun was starting to set. All of us laid in the living room watching DVD movies. I always liked horror movies so that's what we watched. About ten minutes through the first movie, Drake was hiding behind my back. He hated scary movies. I cuddled up with him and put a blanket over his head. Towards the end of the movie, he was sound asleep. "You two look adorable together." Ashton said softly. I smiled at him. I picked up Drake and carried him upstairs. I put him on my bed and wrapped him in a blanket. Me and Ashton barely managed to to fit on the bed. To make room, I laid my head on Ashton's chest. Warm as always. I dozed off, listening to his heartbeat. It was calm, just like mine. Something woke me up around 4 AM. It was Drake, he was tossing and turning. I got up off Ashton and went to him. His stuffed animal was on the floor. I ducked under my bed and pulled out something from my childhood. It was my only stuffed animal that I ever really cared about. I didn't really use it, it was just my baby tiger I always had. I lifted up Drakes arm and slid the tiger in. I couldn't tell was he still dreaming, but he squeezed it tight and stopped moving. I bent over and gave him a little kiss on his cheek. I laid down with him for the rest of the night. I woke up at 8 AM. Waking up actually felt good for a change. There wasn't anything to alarm me.