The Wrong Side

Chapter 35

I had initially been skeptical about the two-day long road trip, but after a few hours in the car, I am surprisingly enjoying myself. Luna and I sit in the back while Matthew and Kadiya are in the front. Everything had gone smoothly, and we left the building at around 7:30 in the morning on May 25. If everything went according to plan, we'd be in the city by tomorrow evening.

I'm tired. I have not slept much since the night of my last dream, and it's reflecting in my actions and mood. I blatantly refuse to sleep on the drive while the others try to convince me to get a few hours of shut-eye. At one point, Luna looks over at me and says, "Okay, I can't stand seeing you sitting there completely depleted of energy. Either sleep, or drink some coffee."

"No," I say, shaking my head. "Coffee's disgusting, and I'm not going to sleep."

"Can you, at least, pretend to?" She asks. "For my sake? It's painful seeing you like this."

I laugh and look over at her, saying, "Alright. Just for you."

She smiles and leans over to plant a kiss on my cheek. I stretch out in the back seat, resting my head against the window, and I close my eyes. The others are quiet, and the rhythm of the drive is calming. I eventually fall asleep without realizing it.

It's a peaceful, dreamless sleep. It's the kind where your thoughts just melt away into the darkness, and all you know is bliss. I feel like I haven't had any of those periods of sleep in a long time, and it's refreshing. It's the first time in a while I've woken up without a pounding headache. I think there's a little smile on my face when I open my eyes.

It's dark out. Luna and Matthew are asleep, and Kadiya is silent up in the driver's seat. It's unsettling. How long have I been out? It must have been for at least twelve hours.

"Kadiya," I say, groggily. "What time is it?"

Kadiya looks at me in the rearview mirror and grins. "Well look who finally decided to wake up," she teases. "How was your sleep? You were out for a while."

"What time, Kadiya?" I repeat.

"Sometime around three or four in the morning," she yawns. "I take it you slept alright then. No nightmares or flashbacks?"

I shake my head. "I haven't had those since Luna's birthday."

"Bull. You've been having them for the past few days. You think I'm an idiot?"

I cringe slightly. "No. I just didn't want you to worry. Is that a bad thing?"

"If you're going to lie about it, then yes. It is," Kadiya sighs and it's quiet for a minute then she says, "There's food underneath in the bag on the floor if you're hungry."

I grab the bag eagerly and go through it, finding a sandwich and a bottle of water. "I'm starving," I say, just realizing I've missed lunch and dinner.

Kadiya keeps her eyes on the road, but she asks, "What was the first dream? The one on your birthday?"

I shrug and say with a mouthful of sandwich, "Just more of those inexplicable memories. It was of my house and I was running in the neighborhood." I decide to leave out the part about the doppelganger.

"Is that why you brought up your house?" Kadiya asks. "We can still go if you've changed your mind."

I shake my head. "No. Let's just focus on what we're doing."

"Alright."

She doesn't say anything for a while, and I sit quietly in the back, eating my sandwich and drinking the water. Eventually, dawn creeps over the horizon and Luna wakes up. She's groggy for a bit, but an hour or so later, Kadiya stops in a little town for a cheap breakfast consisting of a muffin and a bottle of juice.