Living a Nightmare

THE DAY AFTER

The next day I wake up to find Jay still sleeping next to me. His hair is all messed up from last night and I cannot help but smile when I see it. He looks so beautiful and so happy, even asleep.

I am just about to get up when an arm grabs me from behind and pulls me close.

"Good morning, beautiful. Where do you think you are going?" Jay murmurs, smiling, still half asleep.

"Morning. I was just getting ready to make breakfast," I explain.

"Really? Do we really have to get up? Can't we just stay in bed all day?" he pleads.

"No, we most certainly cannot," I laugh. "Cedric will be here in about an hour and I bet Markus is already up."

Jay turns me around, making me giggle.

"Really?"

I nod and give him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm going to take a quick shower," I add, climbing out of bed before Jay can pull me back in.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After we have both had a shower and are ready to go downstairs, Jay stops me at the door.

"How are you?"

"Me? I'm fine, why?" I am a little confused as to why Jay would ask such a question. "Is something wrong?"

"What? No. I am asking because of last night."

"Oh that," I smile, thinking back to last night.

"Yeah that." He smiles back at me.

"I feel like a completely different person," I reply, but quickly add "in a good way" when I see him looking unsure.

"Okay, good, because yesterday was magical," he smiles again, his eyes the same sparkle as the night before.

"Yeah, it was."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Downstairs, Markus is waiting for us with breakfast already on the table.

"Good morning, you two. You guys must have slept well last night, your faces are as bright as the sun," he laughs.

I am not sure if he knows exactly what happened last night, but I smile anyway. "Yeah, I slept like a baby!" I laugh and sit down at the breakfast table.

Just as I finish my last slice of bread, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it!" Jay shoots out of the kitchen, before anyone can beat him to it.

"All right, mate," I hear Cedric say, as he enters the hallway. Then I hear a slight murmur, but cannot make out anything until I hear Cedric again. "Gotcha, bro!" I have no idea, what they are talking about, but I just hope it is not about last night, because that would make things even more awkward between him and me than they already are at the moment.

"Morning everyone," he smiles, as he comes into the kitchen.

"Morning," I mumble, not looking up from the mug of coffee I hold between my hands, trying to avoid eye contact.

"So, listen. I've been doing some research and I think I may have found a way to reach out to Jane," he says, taking a seat next to me at the breakfast table.

"You have," Markus' voice sounds delighted. "Well, come on then. Let's hear it!"

"I have found a ritual that is supposed to call upon the dead spirits that haunt a place. I am not sure if it will work, but it is worth a try. But we have to wait until sunset. Then, you, Markus, have to think of Jane and have to chant some words that I will tell you later, okay."

Markus nods in response, seeming a little too excited for my taste, but it is his dead wife and I can understand that he would like to see her again and be able to talk to her one last time.