Inner Demons

Chapter Eleven: Why?

          

          Quinn awoke to what she hoped for, a warm sensation on the back of her neck as Jamie gently shook her shoulder. Half asleep, she rubbed her eyes with her forearm, trying to brush her dark brown hair into position. 

          "Mm...huh?" she muttered sleepily, looking over her shoulder to see Jamie peering down on her. She rubbed her eyes again, rolling onto her back. 

          "...Jamie? What's wrong?" when she looked closer, she could see his pupils were dilated, huge and square, a characteristic of demons. He looked absolutely terrified. 

          "There's something in here..." he muttered, eyes shifting back and forth frantically. Quinn suddenly grew scared as she looked around, the look in his eyes told her that he wasn't going to get up to look. She steeled herself as she inched to the bottom of the bed. 

          "D-Don't go over there..." he stammered, part of her wondered if he was talking in his sleep, but part of her mind told her that there could be no way. She let her paws touch the floor as she rose up, 

          "Quinn...No, I don't want to lose you...stay here..." Jamie's voice was up an octave as he spoke, the fear emanating from him was almost tangible. Whether it was the sleep clouding her mind, or maybe the curiosity she felt, but she didn't feel nearly as scared as Jamie looked. She looked into the dark hall, only a slight amount of light filtering in from the white curtains illuminated the floor around her. She knew that the light switch was just to the left of the door. 

          "...It's okay...I'll go turn the light on." she said calmly. 

          "Quinn...no stop...you're all I have left..." his words trailing off into a pitiful whimper, she reached the switch as fast as she could get there. Light illuminated the room, but there was nothing, nothing at all. She looked back, there was no doubt in her mind that Jamie was awake. He had a strange expression on his face, a mix of lingering fear, shame and exhaustion. She was about to open her mouth when a figure walked around the corner, Quinn nearly let out a scream as she felt something brush her arm. 

          "Calm down!" Gwen barked, her steely, militaristic voice instantly distracted her. What Quinn first thought was that Jamie's nightmare was what woke her, but she was fully dressed and her hair was done. She looked wide awake. 

          "...Gwen, where are you going?" Jamie asked, he seemed to be slowly calming down. She feigned confusion. 

          "What do you mean? I heard you talking and was concerned, is everything alright?" she asked, expertly switching topics. But Quinn knew there was no way she could be telling the truth, unless she slept in full clothes with a knife on her belt. 

          "Just...nothing..." Jamie muttered, eyes wandering to the ground. Gwen let out a small sigh. 

          "Go back to bed you two, it's three in the morning." she said, sounding a little sympathetic for Jamie. Quinn wanted to argue, but sleep was slowly pulling her back. 

          "...You sure you weren't going anywhere?" she asked again, Gwen sighed a little in defeat. 

          "Couldn't sleep. Was going out to grab something from the car." she said, Quinn nodded. Just wanting to go back to bed. 

          "Alright..." she nodded. Jamie looked relieved when Quinn walked back over to the bed. Gwen waited until she was situated. 

          "Good night you two. Sleep well." she said, flicking the light off, her footsteps going back to her room.