Restless

Chapter 14

Dayna stood outside the library for a few minutes. Her fingers were clenched into fists and her head lay back against the wall. She knew she was breathing too fast. She wasn't prepared for that horrible memory when it slammed back into her. The animal that hurt her was vile, disgusting, and very, very dead. She had seen to that. It had taken her time to get past that, but she had for the most part. She knew that all men weren't evil and bad, that men like Daryl, Abraham, and the others in this group were good. She just had to concentrate on the good.

Oddly enough, thinking about Daryl calmed her down. Most women wouldn't think of another man in a situation like this, but Daryl was different and so was she. Dayna's breathing slowed down and she found her hands no longer clenched into tight balls. She shook her head to help banish the memories that she wanted to stay hidden and went to find someone who could help her get some answers.

Dayna found Sasha leaving the kitchen having just finished helping clean up after dinner. "You have time now?" Dayna asked her new friend. She was so confused about Daryl that she needed to talk to someone. 

She and Daryl were friends for sure, but Dayna had thought they were slowly moving past that. She loved how they woke up every morning snuggled together, well that was except this morning. She had no idea why Daryl didn't come upstairs to sleep last night? It was driving her crazy trying to figure what went wrong. Then the accidental kiss this afternoon completely made her head spin. Did he want her or not?

"Definitely!" answer Sasha.

"How about we go to my room?" suggested Dayna. She really didn't want anyone to overhear them. This was too personal of a conversation.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to go over there. Rosita is there and I think it's best I stay away from her for a while," Sasha told her.

Dayna realized how awkward that could be. "Of course, you're right. Where should we go? This is kinda private, so I don't want everyone to know."

"Let's go up to my room. If Abraham is hiding out there, I'll kick him out."

"But..." Dayna started to say.

"It's okay, let's go up." Sasha led the way up the stairs to the second floor. It didn't get past Dayna how luxurious these houses were. She still couldn't get over that she was part of this community now.

Sasha stopped in front of as door and turned the handle. "You decent?" she called out.

"Not for long," came a husky reply from inside the room.

"Keep the pants on big guy, I need a little bit of girl time with Dayna. Why don't you go talk to Rick about this mess you created? Okay?" Abraham was certainly no pushover, but Dayna laughed as Sasha had him already wrapped around her little finger.

"Fuck. All right I'll get it over with," Abraham said. Dayna waited outside the room for him to leave, but he turned to her in the hall. "Glad you're here with us, Dayna," he said to her before he headed downstairs to find Rick.

Dayna entered the room and Sasha closed the door behind her. This house was bigger than the one she was in next door. Even though there were five bedrooms here, this one even boasted a small sitting area with two soft chairs in a navy and white print. That's where they sat to talk. Dayna's nerves kicked in the second she sat down.

"So...start from the beginning," Sasha said.

Dayna took a deep breath and began. "You know how Daryl found me walking along the road. Up until that first night in the green house, we just worked together as a team. Everything was normal, in fact early on I was a bit afraid of him, he can be a bit intimidating. Then that night he was going to go sleep on the sofa and give me the room, but I felt bad. That was sorta his house. He would stay there when he needed to and I didn't want to kick him out, but I also didn't want to be by myself downstairs, so I suggested we both just sleep in the bed. After a bit of convincing, he agreed. He went to sleep on one side and I did on the other. It was when we woke up in the morning things sorta changed."