Dreams & Other Lost Things {Sequel to B&TBR}

Chapter 15: I Won't Give Up.

In my dream, I was sitting on a hammock outside of Asher's aunt's house – the same place we stayed when I first met his family. We had ended up sleeping outside on the porch somehow, I couldn't remember why, but in my dream, I was just sitting on the edge of the porch.

The yard was perfectly trimmed and the sun was at a perfect place in the sky to be shining beautifully down on the yard and the trees. A few birds were whizzing around in the warm air and just sat there.

Why was I sitting there?

I pushed myself up off the porch step and turned around. Standing in front of the sliding glass doors were three people: Quentin, Luke, and my dad. They were all looking around, and when they saw me, they smiled. Quentin waved at me but stayed put and Luke and Dad did the same, except Dad barely smiled, which was normal. He looked tired, like he used to when I'd get up to eat breakfast as a kid and see him chugging a cup of coffee down to stay awake after working all night on a case.

I looked back at the perfectly trimmed yard and noticed something lying far in the distance. Just like any other person in any other dream, I stepped down off the porch and started walking toward the shiny object. Who wouldn't go searching for the shiny thing that caught their eye?

The closer I got, the worse the feeling in my stomach got. I couldn't handle the feeling, so I stopped.

The feeling continued to get worse until I lifted my hand to my stomach only to pull it away and find it covered in blood. Observing my wound closer, I could see that I had been shot from the back.

I twirled around quickly to find Quentin, Luke, and Dad still standing there. They all looked terrified in a different way, but I couldn't explain it. I clutched at my stomach again and fell to the ground, pulling my legs into my chest. The pain wouldn't go away, and I knew it was telling me something.

But what could it be?

"Bea?" I was being shook. "Would you wake up? I have no idea what's wrong..."

Asher.

I shot up from the spot I was lying in and shoved the blankets off of my body. My arms wrapped sloppily around his neck, pulling him close to me.

"Whoa, what kind of nightmare did you have?" He asked breathlessly and tiredly as he hugged me back.

"I, um..." I pushed my messy hair out of my face and pulled away from him. "A nightmare, just a nightmare."

"Okay," he soothed. "You were crying in your sleep, I don't think it was just a nightmare." The moonlight shining through his bedroom window in the barn lit his face up. I could see the frown on his face and the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.

I turned to look out the window and see the full moon sitting just on top of the mountains of Pennsylvania.

"It was a scary nightmare?" I tried to convince him not to ask again, and as far as his tired facial expression, I think I won.

"You can tell me about later, let's just go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us," he whispered before planting his lips on my forehead. We both settled down under the covers on his bed and wrapped ourselves together and fell asleep.

*****

I was awake before Asher the next morning. It took me a second to remember the events of the past two days and make out how they made me feel. I was sad, yes, but I was also angry. I didn't understand why Lia had to do it, no one did. She could have been saved. She could've stuck around for Brody's wedding that's in a few months, or see her first grandchildren, or even see her sons' newest album, whenever that was coming out.