The Cycle

CHAPTER 9: AWAKE

                 

CHAPTER 9

AWAKE

            "Are you always this quiet?" Dylan asks.

            I faintly smile at him and shrug, wrapping my arms around my torso. He sits on the revolving chair by my desk, gazing around my room in curiosity. I sit with my legs crossed on the bed, deciding how to bring the subject up to Dylan without actually starting the conversation.

            "Hey, could you pass me that red folder? It's the one beneath the photo album," I say, trying very hard to sound casual and not so...desperate.

            Dylan sifts through the desk before pulling the folder from under the photo album, his eyes caught on the front cover.

            "Is...is that Kayden?" he asks in astonishment.

            I nod and make my way over, taking a seat in the extra chair by the desk.

            "Kayden was really into albums and photography, but she never had a chance to finish the album. She left it here at my house for me to fill with some of my own pictures, but..." I can't finish my sentence. "It hasn't been the same since she's left," I say instead.

            Dylan nods and licks his lips.

            "Do you mind if I..."

            "No, go ahead."

            He opens the cover of the album and his face immediately breaks into a smile. He flips through page after page of Kayden's memories and it feels like the very first time I went through the album.

            "I hope she knows how missed she is," Dylan says quietly as he turns the page of a young Kayden wearing a frilly princess Halloween costume.

            I nod my head and smile.

            "I hope she does, too."

            Dylan turns to a blank page in the album.

            "Were you...planning on finishing the album?" His question sounds like there's some underlying meaning behind his words.

            I stiffly nod my head.

            "Actually, yes," I say and reach for the pictures of Kayden's house I keep stashed inside a beige envelope. I hope he doesn't notice how much my hand is shaking. I slide the photos out and lay them on the table, avoiding any particular order or pattern. "Me and my friend Nayland stopped by Mrs. Larson's house yesterday and asked if we could take some photos of Kayden's bedroom and the front of her house to sort of...commemorate her in our own way and finish the album." My throat goes dry and I swallow. "Can you tell me what you see?"

            Dylan scans over each of the photos briefly before clearing his throat and pointing to a picture, the one with the silver haired woman.

            "I'm not the only one who sees the devilish woman, am I?"

            I shake my head.

            "No, you're not. I was shocked when I first saw the photo after being developed because I was there when this was taken. There was nobody else in the room with us."

            Dylan gazes at the assortment of photos when his eyes land on another troubling picture.

            "Did you see this when this was being taken?" he asks as he points to the picture of the front of Kayden's house. He's referring to the mysterious shadow in the upper left hand window.