Dreaming of Alten

Chapter 21. Real Life

I stare at Blake with my mouth open for at least a minute.

"What are you doing here?" I ask. There are so many other questions I want to ask, but that one seems to be the most important one for now.

He doesn't answer. Instead, he gets to his feet and says, "Get in the car." Then he just walks off without looking back at me.

"Wait, what?" I say to his back, but he just ignores me and keeps on going. "Where's Lily?" I yell, as he disappears behind the back of the car. Again, there's no answer. The only sound I hear is the driver's door opening and slamming shut.

"You can get in or stay here," he shouts, from inside the car. "I don't care which, but I'm leaving." He sounds super angry. I would expect someone who'd just saved my life to be happier about it. I don't get why Blake is acting like I ruined his day.

"Okay!" I shout back. "I'm getting in!" I lean away from the car door and struggle to open it from my sitting position, but even though the door pops open I'm not at the right angle to pull it all the way out.

There's an exasperated sigh from inside the car, and Blake pushes the door open for me.

I have to hold on to the door to get up and into the car. I'm dripping wet, but there's no time to worry about that. Blake is already turning the key in the engine even though I'm barely in the car.

"Wait!" I protest, as he reaches a hand over and pulls the passenger door shut. "What about—" The car starts so violently that I'm thrown back into my seat and the rest of the sentence gets stuck in my throat. A second later, I realize that Lily's lying motionless in the backseat of the car. "Oh, no! What happened to her?"

"She got thrown into a rock," says Blake, his voice biting, like he's blaming me.

"Is she okay?" I can see a bloodstained T-shirt wrapped around Lily's head. A closer look at Blake reveals that he's bare-chested underneath his leather jacket.

"Do I look like a doctor?" His tone dares me to ask more questions.

If I wasn't so worried about Lily I would slap the arrogance right out of him. "Where are we going?"

"Hospital."

I'm starting to shiver from the cold. Blake doesn't look at me, but he hits the button to put the heater on high without saying a word. I wonder what his problem with me is. Right now, however, there are other questions to be asked. "How did you know to come help us?"

"I've been following you." The car picks up speed and we almost run a red light.

"You were the guy at the hotel!"

He says nothing.

"Why have you been following me?"

Blake honks the horn at someone in his way and still says nothing.

"Why have you been following me?" I repeat. "How come you didn't fade out of existence like everything else that Alten brought into this reality?"

Blake doesn't answer.

"Tell me what's going on!"

Blake looks at me for the first time since I got into the car. If glares could kill, I'd already be dead. "What's going on?" he says. "I'll tell you what's going on. You got my best friend killed a couple of days ago, and today you almost killed your best friend. That's what's going on. You happy?"