Unforeseen: Questions and Revelations

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I couldn't tell what was worse – the warm, luxurious feeling of a bed I never wanted to leave, or the fact that I'd been made a human sandwich in order to feel that way.

Ironhide had folded the mattress-seat around me.

"Afraid I might escape?"

Something tickled my feet and I squirmed. "I don't need you turning my cabin into a bounce house."

The mattress barely moved when I push against it. On a better day I might have cracked a joke in return, but not tonight. My heart was far too heavy for games, though it seemed Ironhide felt differently.

"How long are you planning to mope?" He asked.

"How long have you known me?"

I sank like quicksand into a void and was completely immobilized.

"Real funny." I tried to worm my way free but he held too tight. I couldn't move more than a hairs breadth before he readjusted. "Come on, Ironhide," I complained.

"You're letting an illusion command your life," he said.

"I had a bad dream just this afternoon. We spent all day discussing it, not to mention I now have a broken nose, and you want me to forget it ever happened?"

The mattress whacked me on the head before lifting away. "It was just a dream. Don't confuse it with reality."

"Nose," I pointed at the offending appendage.

"Your sudden desire to sleep walk is a problem, but your focusing on it is even worse."

"You don't understand."

"Than explain."

I didn't know how and I wasn't sure I wanted to try. I just had this ominous feeling. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was taking the dream too seriously. It was such a silly thing - a poorly written horror flick with a ridiculously bad plot twist. It was the sort of thing my friends and I would laugh about over a bowl of popcorn and far too much cola, and yet I could not shake this feeling Annabelle had stirred up within me.

This feeling of having too little time.

"Melry?"

"It's nothing."

It was just a hug, I told myself. I had received at least a billion of them from Anna since moving in with my relatives. This last one shouldn't have been any different. It was filled with just as much love as any.

The world suddenly flipped and I found myself on my back, staring up at the ceiling. "Quit being a bolt biter," Ironhide scorned.

If he kept that up I'd find a bolt cutter.

My feet met his ceiling with more gentleness than he deserved. My neon colored socks were a stark contrast to his gray cabin. They brought back memories of happier times. They'd been a gag gift from Jessy when I had visited the gang in Texas last year for the holidays. She'd painted super deformed robots all over them. One even looked a bit like Ironhide.

The thought of seeing Jessy again eased my spirits. I would have to make plans with her once I returned to Florida. Our schools were only a few hours apart.

Warm rollers slowly ran down the length of my back.

I cooed, despite myself. It felt so good.

"I think I can offer a better distraction than your feet," his voice a pitch deeper than normal