Keep Dreaming Up Ways to Survive

Chapter 23

Dawson walked down the street, confused about where he was and how he got there. He stopped walking, realizing he was in front of Felix's house. Walking up to the house, he saw Felix and his mom standing outside in the yard. Just as Dawson was about to say hi, Felix's mom started to beat Felix. Dawson tried to run up to her, but he was stuck in one place, then he tried to yell, but his voice wouldn't come out. Vicky, Felix's mom, started stomping Felix's head in. Creating a pool of blood under him but not stopping. Felix screamed Dawson's name so loudly that his vocal cords began to tear. Dawson could do nothing but watch, sadly. Felix's screams were halted by Vicky's final stomp to his head. She then kicked him to make sure he truly wouldn't be getting up again. She started to walk into the house, but before she closed the door, she said, "And that for staying out all night."

Dawson opened his eyes and saw he was still in his car. In the mall's parking lot, with Felix on him.

"Why must you always get your head stomped in...?" Dawson muttered, brushing Felix's brown hair out of his face, "You're too precious for all this...."

Felix's lips called for him, but something called louder. That "something" was his phone, which was on the floor.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Dawson quickly picked it up to avoid waking up Felix, he looked at the screen, and it said "Octavia," so he answered it quietly.

"Hello?" He whispered.

"Dawson!" Octavia cried loudly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Dawson asked worriedly.

"What's wrong?! You're fucking wrong! You were gone all night!" Octavia sobbed loudly.

"I'm sorry, Felix needed-"

"You were out all night with your boyfriend?! No! That's not good! You're a bad example for him!" Octavia interrupted sadly.

"He not my-" Dawson yelled until Felix stirred in his arms, "Octavia, we're ok. I'll be home soon."

"Soon? Wait... are you not at school?" Octavia asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, of course!" Dawson lied, looking at the clock, "Class is starting now, bye-bye!"

"Bye, come right home!" Octavia commanded, hanging up the phone.

Dawson sighed and looked at his phone's clock again, it reading 8:54. Dawson didn't know what to do; problems were swamping him. Felix was probably going to be beaten by his mom, the truancy police were most likely coming for them, they still hadn't done anything about Ms. Ann, and Dawson was one bad thought away from kissing Felix. Dawson looked down at Felix and chose it was a good idea to wake him up. He jolted his shoulder up gently, making Felix's head bounce slightly. Successfully, Felix lifted his head and looked around groggily.

"I was confused when I woke up, too; we're still at the mall," Dawson explained.

Felix took a second to comprehend what Dawson was saying, then asked, "What time is it?"

"It's..." Dawson checked the time once again, "Almost 9."

Felix's face drained of the little color it had, turning him into a ghost.

"Dawson, this is your fault! Bring me to school!" Felix seethed.

"My fault- whatever," Dawson replied, rolling his eyes.

Dawson turned on his car, and just as he put his foot on the petal, he remembered the dream.

"Felix... I had a dream."

"Oh, what about?" Felix asked, interested.

"It wasn't about the monster, though."

"So... Just a normal dream then." Felix's interest diminishing.

"I... No... It wasn't a normal dream either; it was one of the special ones." Dawson said, feeling a lump growing inside his throat.

"Was it predicting the future or something? You said that happened before?" Felix asked.

"Jesus... I hope not.... It was about your mom." Dawson answered, turning onto the highway.

Felix visibly stiffened; he turned his head to look out the window. The air in the car became stuffy and hot, so Dawson put his window down just a bit. Turning the radio volume up, Dawson continued, "She... was uh... angry at you for not coming home."

"Oh... was she just angry?" Felix asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah, I would say she was," Dawson remarked with a little nod.