Empty Chair

Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

"Okay, so, tooth brush, towel, extra pillows, new sheets... I feel like I'm missing things..."

"And I'll be sure to tell you if something comes up that I need."

"Well... I mean, you're going to be staying here for a really long time so..." I smiled at Belinda's flustered expression.

"Go get some sleep. It's five in the morning; I feel sorry enough that I came to you like this."

She looked at me with serious yet caring eyes, "Don't be. You were right to come here. We may not be blood, but we're family."

I smiled again, "Exactly. And as a concerned family member, I order you to go get some sleep."

"Fine... but are you sure you don't need-" I stopped her by pointing to the door leading out of the room.

"I believe your bed is that way."

~'~'~'~

All I can do is stare up at the ceiling of my new room. The bed is comfy. The room temperature is perfect. My body is screaming at me to sleep, but my thoughts whisper for me to stay wide awake.

I keep thinking of the burning walls, the sirens, the sound of Jessica, the police officer I met, knocking on Belinda's door.

It's weird how when you're living through things, sometimes it seems like time just runs right past you. And when you're not living those moments, but think back to them; time seems to slow down. And vice versa. When time seems to go by extremely slow, you think back to it, and everything happens fast.

Or worse. When something happens fast, you think back to it and you start to forget things; like how you felt. This always happens to me whenever I either enjoyed myself A LOT, or if I dreaded every second of something.

Like I said; it's weird. 

After about an hour of staring at the ceiling, my eyes fought against my will to keep them open. When I closed my eyelids, it made everything worse. Now it was like my thoughts were locked in, instead of being able to be thought out through the freedom of my eyes.

~'~'~'~

Sleep? Nada.

Nine o' clock in the morning.

My eyes are open.

The room is exactly as I saw it before. Scooting myself out of the bed, I stepped onto the floor with a hiss; the floor is yet again, extremely cold. The clock on the bedside table read 9:07 in big black blocks. The clock is old fashioned; along with everything else in this room and the whole house. If something wasn't beige or white and floral, it was sheer or lace with a tinge of yellow from age. I felt as if I went to sleep and woke up to live in the 80's.

I tiptoed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. It's weird doing this. I'm living in a different house. sleeping in a different bed. Washing up in a different bathroom.

But I have a feeling of being at home.

I feel like a weight was lifted off my chest. Like I can breathe. But at the same time I feel like I just intruded in Belinda and Eric's life.

I went downstairs and found Eric sat at a table with the newspaper drinking coffee. I quickly slid in the chair infront of him.

He looked up and his eyes widened, "Oh! Hey, good morning... um, so do you want to talk about..."

I gave him a tight smile, "It's okay." He raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm fine." I insisted.

"Okay then."