Wings in Alabama

Chapter 7

I looked to my side. Emily slept peacefully in the other bed, though she snored quite loudly. Also in her direction, a red electronic alarm clock emanated a red glow that spread only a foot around the room read 11:54. I sighed and rubbed my eyes with my fists.

I couldn't go to sleep. Not with the nightmare to worry about. I sat up in bed, careful not to hurt my shoulder blades as I thought about it. If the pain I felt in my dream was real, did it mean that all that stuff could - or might - actually happen?

Then I went over what Ashton had told me. Was it true? Were children seriously being kidnapped every night? I tried to keep the thought out of my head. I succeeded in doing so, thanks to an annoying tapping sound at my window.

I immediately dropped to the bed and squinted my eyes, making a believable sleeping appearance. The tapping continued for about five more minutes before finally stopping. I sighed in relief that then, I might be able to at least rest my mind. I closed my eyes lightly, just a flutter, as not to see the nightmare, to not feel the pain.

I turned to my other side, using my arms to keep my side away from the pain, and saw something, leaning over my sister. I gasped and ripped the clock from it's wires and threw it at the figure. It looked up abruptly and dodged easily. It leaped over a sleeping Emily, allowing the clock to crash against the wall. It turned to me and pointed at me before it disappeared. Just like that.

I stood there gasping, my hair mussed up, my fists clenched and my eyes wide with a misture of fear, protectiveness, and confusion. The impact between the wall and the clock had brought all the adults to the room, yet Emily still slept.

"What happened?" My mother demanded. Uncle Mike was armed with a baseball bat (you know I saw a flash of Ashton) and aunt Kat had a knife. I stood there for a moment, speechless, and my mother asked me again. "I... umm... Emily... figure..."

Mom sighed. "Really, Rylee, you shouldn't be up this late! Even we were asleep, honey! Just go to sleep, you can tell me in the morning."

But something had to be done right then! I opened my mouth to speak, but hands were already on my back - not helping with the pain - and pushing me towards the bed. I obediently went along with it and laid down. I must admit, I was very tired.

My aunt and uncle had left, and Mom was left to check on Emily. She walked back over and kissed me slightly on my forehead. "But-buh-buh mah..."

I didn't finish the rest of what I was going to say. I was wrapped in blankets and I sunk deeply into the dark world of sleep

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

The nightmare was different now. I was still barefoot and in a white jumpsuit, but I wasn't running for dear life and I wasn't outside. I was in a large cage and hunched over in a frog shape. I was in a cage in a grey, metallic room. Kids my age and younger were dressed the same as I was and were all in cages.

I searched the room for whomever was behind this. I saw only five people in white lab coats pushing a needle through the thin metal bars. I gasped silently as a child injected with a needle had fallen over onto her side. As more children were injected, they too fell over. This hurt too much, both physically and emotionally.

The pain I felt in this room was different than when I'd been running. It was worse; it stung like a thousand knives in my back. Had a needle already touched me? No, because a scientist was already walking toward me with a rather pointy syringe.

I growled at him like a dog and backed up against my cage. I suddenly jerked forward and fell on my face. I groaned and shrieked in pain as my fingers clawed desperately at the cage's floor. What was happening to me? I heard a gasp and the syringe clattered. It hadn't even touched me.

Footsteps ran from me and the scientist's gasp was echoed around the room by other scientists and awake children. I slowly pushed myself up, clutching the bars of the cage and looked around the room. Needles and syringes were posed in mid-air, about to plunge into a child's body. My wide eyes searched the room for an explanation, and the little boy with black hair motioned to my back, his pale hand shaking.

I turned my head dramatically to see what was causing all the fuss. I could nearly see something, but I suddenly fell down and I hit something hard. I hit something else and the breath was knocked out of me.

I awoke draped in a white sheet and on the floor. I rubbed my head and saw that I'd been hit by the bedside table in between mine and Emily's bed. My hands found the top of my mattress and I pushed myself up. Emily'd already woken up.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I slowly trudged out of the room and found everybody else in the living room and the dining room. Emily was spooning some sort of cereal into her mouth, uncle Mike sat across from her at the dining room table with some bacon and more cereal, and aunt Kat and Mom lounged in the dark grey couch. They carried on their conversation for a few more moments before noticing me.

"Hey, Ry," aunt Kat called. "Sleep okay?"  

Mom didn't let me answer. "What was that crash I heard?"

"Fine, but I still hurt, and I fell off the bed in my sleep."

"Oh, good," Mom answered. Emily turned her head at the sound of my mother's voice and scampered over to me, my IPad in her hands. "Ry-Ry! Some boy tried to Face Time you. What was his name? "

She said it teasingly, and I lunged for her with a grin on my face. She hugged the IPad to her chest and squealed. "Oh yeah, Ashton," she giggled.

I felt my face become hot and I clumsily took the IPad from her. "What did you tell him?"

"That you went back to Minnesota after seeing his ugly mug," she laughed. I gasped and swatted her shoulder, hard. It didn't matter to her, she kept on laughing, and was soon on the floor and clutching her side. I glared at her and walked back to the bedroom. I pressed the Face Time app and then pressed on "recent calls". An unknown number was on there, but I could tell it was Ashton.

I pressed on his number and waited for him to answer. I smiled greatly when he answered and saw his face on my screen. "Hey, Rylee!"

"Hey, Ashton. So sorry about my little monster - I mean sister."

He laughed, and I saw dimples appear on his left cheek. The dimples made him even cuter. I didn't think that was possible.

"Thank goodness you're still here. Is my face that unattractive?" He struck a model pose, and I think I might have drooled if I was a dork. I laughed instead and shook my head. "Your face is fine. Hey, remeber about that kidnapping thing you told me yesterday?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I think someone tried to take Emily last night. I threw an alarm clock at the person, but he left before I could see his face."

"Seriously? When I told you that, I was positive it was a story for the tabloids."

"Does it look like I'm kidding? I ripped the darn thing's cords out of the wall!" I exclaimed, and I pointed the camera towards the wall.

"Aww, it's only been a day and you're already talking like a true Alabamian," he said mockingly, making a puppy-dog face and putting his fist on the side of his face.

"Ashton, I'm serious," I said to the screen. It was so hard to keep a straight face and look at him at the same time.

"All right, all right, give me twenty minutes. Meet me at the ball park, ya know, the place where I nearly took your head off with a baseball."

I laughed before saying, "I remember where it is. See ya."

He laughed back and I hung up. I sighed and put my IPad by my side. I did realize that this wasn't a date, but what in the world was I gonna wear?