"Where are we going, again? You'd think it's Las Vegas with all the traveling we've done. Or maybe the Mexican border." Nolan guesses. He tilts his head over in that manner of his. I wonder offhandedly how long he could hold his head like that before it toppled off his shoulders.
The bus lurches to a stop, but my companion moves no more than a shudder. People push onto the bus, moving through Nolan's figure, who again stays firm. The engine whines and we continue on.
"No, we are going somewhere." I grunt. "You'll see."
My attention is only half tuned into Nolan and his flurry of questions. The other portion is taken up contemplating last night's dream.
It was the same late night imaginings that I have been having for about two months. Two months, the same span of time that I have known Nolan.
There was nothing special about the beginning. It had began the same, with the vast, endless golden plain. It was the second scene that threw me for a loop. I was able to reach my mother, unlike I could before, and I had run right into her arms. Just as we embraced, though, she was yanked away from me, out of my arms. Then I too fell away, falling through darkness to the lake.
Shimmering in the undying sunlight, the lake stood quiet. The patrolling gray streaked mountains and stretching lawn is the same. The timeless landscape was also the same, but the difference there was not what I had seen, but what I had felt. The ever-enduring dark presence was accompanied by a new one, one neither good or bad. From what I could tell, it was somewhat neutral, but I was overwhelmed by the feeling that it was protective, like a best friend or an older brother.
The dream itself shouldn't have rocked me off my center as much as it did. The differences from this time to last weren't entirely staggering, but the questions it poses are.
What does the dream mean? Are the changes important? Why have I only had this dream since the time that Nolan first appeared? Is he somehow connected to it? My mother obviously is, but why?
"Ad. Ad! Are you even listening?" I blink away my thoughts, coming back to reality.
"Huh?" I manage brilliantly.
"I was asking what you thought of your mother's story. Does it add up? Do you think she really killed my mother?" he asks, and it doesn't take Einstein to discern that he dearly hopes it isn't true.
"Yes, Nolan, but it was a long time ago and her apology was sincere. She hates that it happened, and she feels so guilty that she never faced up to the consequences." I answer, backing my mother. My attempt to amend the situation doesn't work, it's like covering a stab wound with a Band-aid.
Nolan mutters something unintelligible, but the meaning of it isn't lost on me.
I make a few further attempts at conversation, but they end shortly in a "Yah" or a "Sure", and both of us staring awkwardly out the bus window. I grasp for anything, anything, that could lighten the mood, but I come up empty handed.
The bus slams to a halt, saving me, and I get to my feet.
"Let's go; we're here." I beckon.
Together, the pair of us hop gingerly from the bus. Cool air calms my lungs, a smooth relief from the thick air of public transportation, which smells fleetingly of feet and armpits.
"Where exactly is here?" Nolan inquires. It's a valid question.
At first glance, it appears to be no more than a housing development, perching on the edge of tangled wilderness. A lone doe scoots across the fresh asphalt road, its presence more of a claim than a misguided judgement. The forest and its creatures rule this part of the world.
YOU ARE READING
The Hades Test
Paranormal"My name is Adalia Kritant, and I can see, feel and communicate with ghosts." Adalia has lived her life with a curse: the ability to see and hear the dead. It has caused her to miss out on the joys of life. Friendship, happiness and love have elude...
