Realise - Real Lies

Of dreams & nightmares

Jade's POV

"Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer - both in waking from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams."
- Bram Stoker, Dracula

Check it out here as well: https://jaderoxx30892.wixsite.com/reallies/post/chapter-1-of-dreams-nightmares

The pounding in my head was unbearable. I tried to open my eyes, but it was taking too much effort to do so. I felt cramped. I felt groggy. I groaned. With all of the strength I had I opened my eyes. A face swam into my view. I did not know who it was. My ears were ringing. I could see the face say something, but I couldn't hear it yet. "Whaaat?" I croaked. Finally, I heard the person say, "Madame, vous m'entendez? (Madam, can you hear me?)" The words sounded familiar. I blinked rapidly, trying to focus, "Huh?" The person then said, "Parlez-vous français? (Do you speak French?)" Oh. My mind finally got it. French. He was speaking French. With another croaking voice I responded, "Oui. Où suis-je? (Yes. Where am I?)" "Mistissini," he said. I tried sitting up. I had no idea what place he was talking about. My throat was dry. "Puis-je avoir de l'eau s'il vous plaît? (May I have some water please?)" I asked. The man nodded. I saw that I was surrounded by a few people. All unknown. I felt like I was inside a log cabin. The people were murmuring, looking at me as if I was an alien specimen. I tried standing up and immediately my knees buckled and sat down with a thud. The man returned with a glass of water. "Merci, (Thank you)" I said gratefully and gulped down the water in a swig. "Es-tu perdu? (Are you lost?)" the man asked. "Je ne sais pas. Comment suis-je venu ici? (I don't know. How did I get here?)" I asked. "Nous vous avons vu dormir devant la porte, (We saw you sleeping in front of the door" he said. "Étais-je seul?" (Was I alone?) I asked. "Oui. D'où viens-tu?" (Yes. Where are you from?) he asked. I told him where I was from. His expression was completely quizzical. "Jesus," I exclaimed. My neck was hurting. What the hell happened? And where is this place? "Parlez vous anglais?" (Do you speak English?) I asked. The man shook his head. He looked at one of the other people and exchanged a few words with them. One of them left in a hurry. The man looked back at me, "Patientez s'il-vous-plait."  (Wait please) I nodded.
I coughed. A woman handed me another glass of water. "Merci," I said again and drank the water. I looked down at my clothes. They weren't mine at all or atleast I don't remember wearing them, except for the jeans. I put my head in my hands. What was going on? I couldn't recollect anything. A few minutes passed and a young girl walked in. "Qu'est-ce qui était si urgent?" (What was so urgent?) she asked to the man. He said something and pointed to me. She looked confused and walked towards me, "You speak English?" "Yes," I said, glad that she spoke English as well. "Are you ok? Do you need a doctor?" she asked. "I don't know," I said. I really didn't know what was happening. "What is your name?" she asked. "Jade," I said. "Ok Jade. I'm Lorraine. What are you doing here?" she asked. "I don't even know where here is?" I said. "Mistissini," she said. "I don't know where that is? What state is this?" I said. "We are in the Quebec province in Canada," she said. "You're joking right?" I quipped.
"Not at all. So how much did you drink?" she asked. "I did not drink. I don't remember how I ended up here. Was there someone with me?" I asked. She looked to the man and asked him. "No. He says when he came here in the morning, he saw you outside the door, unconscious and alone," she relayed. I sighed. This was bad. I started searching my pockets. No phone, no wallet. The only thing I found was a tiny flash drive. The birthday gift from Jake. I remembered that part. Meeting Jake at the Marina. On my birthday. I tried to think what happened next. I couldn't. The last thing I remember was Jake saying goodbye and me getting in the car with Richy. Richy. Where was he? If I was here, he should be around too, right? He wouldn't leave me here by myself. Unless. What if something happened on our road trip? And what if he was lost? I looked at the TV that was on, showing the news channel. I squinted to see the date. Oh God. It was 2 days after my birthday. And the worst part was that I didn't remember anything about what happened after the marina. "I need to make a phone call," I said shuddering. The girl nodded and handed me her cellphone. I dialed Richy's number. Switched off. I tried again. Switched off. Damn. There was no way I could reach Jake. I dialed the other number I had memorized. After 3 rings a female voice answered, "Edelson, Parker and West Offices. How may I direct your call?" "I need to speak with Johnson West please," I said. "Please hold on for a moment. Let me direct it to his assistant," a tone sounded, and I heard a familiar voice, "Janet Brewer at Mr. West's office. How can I help you?" "Janet this is Jade, I need to urgently speak to Johnson please," I said desperately. "Miss. Jade? What a pleasant surprise. I thought you were..." "Janet urgently now please," I said. I felt bad pressing her. "Hold on for a moment," she said. The tone sounded again. After a few seconds I heard another familiar voice, "Jade?" Relief washed over me. "Hi. How is the road trip? How's Davis?" he asked. I got choked up, but I said, "Johnson. I need your help... I just woke up and I am in Quebec... I don't know how... I tried calling Richy but I can't reach him... I don't know where he is or how I..." "Jade, ok calm down. Start over. You said you are in Quebec? Where in Quebec?" he asked calmly. I had to give him props for this. He was always cool as a cucumber in any crisis situation. "Mistissini. I don't know where it is?" I stammered. "Ok can you give me a landmark? Or what place you're in Mistissini?" he asked. "What is this place?" I asked the girl. "Martin's rest stop," she said. I told Johnson the same. "Ok. I will talk to my friends in Quebec. Sit tight. Does the rest stop's phone work?" he asked. I asked the girl. She asked the man and he nodded. "Yes it works. Johnson, about Richy?" I asked. "Lets get you out of there first. Look Jade there is just one hospital in Mistissini. Call an ambulance and get there.." "But.. I don't.." "Just do as I say. Get to the hospital. I will ask someone to meet you there. Okay?" he asked. "Okay," I said. "Good, I will contact the hospital and get things in order. Jade do not go anywhere else. Go straight to the hospital, do you get that?"
"Yes," I said as he hung up. I looked up to the girl, "I need a doctor. I need to go to the hospital." She nodded. She called the emergency services, and I was taken to the hospital. I saw some weird looks from the paramedics as they thought I looked fine. I told them what had happened, and it seemed odd to them for sure. They obliged and took me to the hospital where a doctor was already expecting me. Apparently Johnson worked faster than anyone. The doctor told me to relax and said she would need to run some tests. A phone was in my room to contact Johnson or for him to get in touch with me. As I was lying down on the bed, I tried to stress my mind on what happened after meeting Jake in the marina. Nothing. It was all a blank. Richy's disappearance was causing me to panic too. Where could he be? What must have happened? I was drowning in my thoughts for hours when the doctor walked in with a somber look. "Hi Jade. How are you feeling?" "I feel fine. Is something wrong?" I asked. "I just wanted to run over your report. That is if you want it done now. Or would you rather wait for your friend to arrive?" "No. Lets just get it over with it," I said. "Okay. Well we ran some tests and turns out that you were roofied by the date rape drug.." the doctor started. "Excuse me?" I stammered. "We did check and no there were no signs of sexual assault but it was a heavy dose. After that you were sedated for a long time and also fed intravenously." She said. I shuddered, understanding the extent of what could have happened to me in the span of 2 days. Which pushed my mind to not even fathom what state Richy must be in. I squeezed my eyes shut. Where was he? I wish I could have reached Jake, but ever since he was on the quest, he said that he would contact us, so that even if someone was keeping an eye on us, they wouldn't be able to reach him through us. I felt vulnerable and alone. Was it just 2 days ago that the horrible nightmare about Luke had come to rest? And now this?
"Do you want me to send over someone you can talk this out to?" the doctor asked. I shook my head, "No. Its not needed. I think I just need some time to process all this." "Of course. Just ring the buzzer if you need anything," she said walking out. I groaned. What had we gotten ourselves into?