Paper Birds

Chapter Thirteen ; Nightmares

Hey there Delilah, what's it like in New York City?

"I have a feeling we're gonna get a long real well," he said, sliding her coffee across the table. 

I'm one thousand miles away, but girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do.

"Me too," she replied softly, letting him lay his hand on hers.

Times Square can't shine as bright as you, I swear it's true.

Flash flash flash.

The name that he says is blurred out.

"What, baby?" she asked obliviously.

Hey here Delilah, don't you worry about the distance.

"I have.. I was diagnosed with cancer."

I'm right here if you get lonely, just give this song another listen.

Flash flash lash.

Close your eyes.

White room. Noise, noise, noise. Beep beep beep. Worry. Sadness. Pity. Hatred, filling the room. 

Listen to my voice it's my disguise.

Beep beep beep.

I'm by your side.

"We're losing him!"

Beepbeepbeepbeep.

Silence.

Flash. Flash. Flash.

It's black. All except for a street light, lining the end of the drive. A young boy stands under it, drunk and confused, afraid. Afraid for his life. The street light flickered out then back on, but dimly. A second figure enters. Twice his size. He's holding something. Black and shiny.

A gun shot fills the night and the scared boy falls.

I woke up with a shriek, once again underestimating where I was on the couch and ended up on the floor. Thankfully my bad arm wasn't in the way. I didn't even realize that I fell asleep. I hate that nightmare. The worst thing about is that it isn't all imaginary. It actually happened (minus the last part, because I knew it was Big D and Talon), replaying it over and over again in my mind like the universe is trying to punish me. It was working, and I reckoned I deserved it for everything I did to my brothers. Not to mention Louis.

"Claire, are you okay?"

I rolled over so that I was face up. "Yeah. Just a broken back." Harry extended his hand to help me up.

The Talon and Big D part was new. Big D's real name was Dylan, but he was huge and hated the name Dylan. He hated anything to do with his parents. See, Jonah and I used to go to school with him, until he dropped out. He used to live across the street from us, and we were really good childhood friends until he got into drugs and gambling. After that, after he ran away, we stopped seeing each other period. I met his parents once. Wishy-washy people. They let him do anything he wanted. He kept testing and testing the boundaries, only wanting to be told 'no' once. It never happened. So he took it to the extreme. He bought a gun. He tried drugs. He took his dad's credit card and gambled and gambled. His parents didn't blame him, they blamed it on themselves. That's why he's such a mess. I wasn't scared of him, though, despite the fact he almost shot me. He was just another lonely kid in a big world, searching and searching for an answer just like the rest. 

"What was that about? You screamed," he asked softly.

"It's nothing, really. Just a nightmare." I glanced at the clock. It was only 9:00 PM. Why the heck was I asleep?