Fever Dream Red

30

I went to bed that night and didn't sleep for a while afterwards. I was silent. Even my breathing quietened so that all that I had as evidence of my existance was a soft breeze.

I could hear birds and wind and the waves of object becoming displaced by the force of the wind.

I couldn't hear someone trundling around trying locked doors. It made me nervous.

Perhaps Alfie and Doug didn't actually believe me. Maybe they were blabbing to Nick right that second. Maybe by morning I would land myself right back into that bloody room.

Eventually I must've fallen asleep because I when I was next conscious it was morning. Light streamed in even when it knew it wasn't welcome.

I also became aware of a loud thudding on my door. Whoever was knocking on there sounded as if they were about to bust it open before I could get up.

I knew it wasn't Nick because Nick had ordered knocks. These knocks were straight up chaotic.

"I'm coming!" I called to the person on the other side of the door.

They continued banging anyway.

"I said I'm coming!"

The banging stopped.

I opened the door to and over excitable Doug. I could tell he was excited because he was jittery and alert. He was like a labrador puppy in the worst way.

"Finny you're a genius!"
"I am?"
"I found him. I found where he is!"
"Who, Danny?"
"Yes, Danny!"

Doug now had my full attention.

"Where is he? Is he okay?"
"I mean, I haven't actually seen him, but I'm pretty sure of where he is."
"Can you take me there?"
"No. Nick would probably kill me. If he isn't on his way now."
"Can you tell me where he is?"
"Not here. It's too...open. Meet me and Alfie where we were yesterday, okay? Sharpish. No time for cake."
"I liked that lemon cake!"
"That lemon cake was actually quite nice."

An awkward pause ensued, until I ended it.

"See ya."
"Bye."

I closed the door softly. My mind raced with a million thoughts, but I had the overall impression that it was too good to be true. Good things never happened to me so easily and quickly. There would be more to come, I was sure of it.

I met Danny and Alfie a little while later at the same shaded spot in the gardens.

Alfie had a new canvas this time. He was painting it blue, presumbly for the sky or the sea. I wondered if he just repainted the scene every day. Maybe none of us actually had hobbies.

I greeted them and they greeted me. Then we got down to business.

"Doug thinks he's found Danny." Alfie started.
"I know. He practically tore down my door in the process of telling me."
"It wasn't that bad." Doug argued.

I have him a hard stare.

"Look, I was excited and I needed to wake you up. It did the job, didn't it?"

Alfie cleared his throat.

"Anyway. Doug, tell her what you found."
"So, I was walking around the hallways where I hadn't really been. I found that room that they always take you to, Finny. I thought that Danny must surely kept somewhere near there. It wasn't like he was going to be near the swimming pool or something, y'know? So I snooped around a bit. All the doors were locked. But, I did hear something. I was walking past one of the doors when I heard an odd noise. Actually, it wasn't odd, it was just snoring. Does Danny snore?"
"Yes." I answered hesitantly. "It's not a loud or annoying snore. It's just a soft snore. Did you hear something like that?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It was a bit muffled though. Anyway, I decided to knock on the door. Suddenly all these alarms started going off. But whoever was in there woke up and started talking. Asking who it was. Then after a while, he asked if it was you."

My mind whirled at a thousand thoughts per second.

"Are you sure?"
"Pretty certain."

Maybe it really was that easy.

"It'll be near impossible to get him though, Finny." Alfie reminded me. "No doubt Doug's gonna get a talking to. And he only knocked."

I sank down into a bench nearby.

"You okay?" Alfie asked me.
"No, not really." I replied with a huff. "I just thought that maybe Danny really had escaped. I liked to think that he would be out there having adventures and seeing the world. But he's not. He's locked in some alarmed room somewhere here. It's sad." The dissapointment nearly let tears slip. A part of me had still hoped that I would never see Danny again, if only as a sign of his happiness.

Right on cue Nick turned up.

"Doug, can I ask you some questions?"
"Sure, sir."
"Is this you here?"

He showed us footage of Doug, in his pyjamas, putting his ear to the door. You can see his clear confusion from the furrowing of his eyebrows. Then, as he knocked, red alarms started going off. Doug leapt back, obviously shaken. I felt for him, but it was hard not to chuckle at his frightened facial expressions.

"Maybe." I had to cover my mouth to stop the laughter from spilling over.
"Why were you there last night?"
Doug sighed heavily, as if embarresed to admit it, and said,"I sleepwalk."
"You sleepwalk?"
"Yes." Doug ensured with a nod.
"Then why are your eyes open?"

Doug faltered, his mind thinking frantically.

"I sleep with my eyes open."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"How convenient."

Nick was just about to make another scathing statement when one of his men whispered in his ear. His eyes widened. Without warning, he walked up the gardens into The Base.

Sunny practically ran to Doug and Alfie.
"Have you heard?" She took our blank faces as a no.
"Aggie's dead. It looks like murder."

At that point I think I had had enough.