Forty-One After Midnight (Completed)

Chapter Four

It was now midway through January. I was sitting outside talking with Kyle and a few others after dinner was over. It was snowing. The snowflakes were fat and fluffy and seemed to be falling in slow motion to the ground. I caught one on my hand and admired its intricate design until it quickly melted into a little drop of water on my glove. It was hard to believe that no two were the same, just like people.

I stood up and walked over to a nice clear spot and stopped. The snow crunched under my boots. It was just one of those tiny details about winter that I for some reason really liked. I smiled to myself as laid down and started making a snow angel. Kyle and our other friends looked at each other before coming to join me. We spaced just far enough apart that when we stretched our arms out the angels all became connected in one line.

We then stood up very carefully and took a moment to admire our work.

"We should probably get back before 10:00pm," Kyle suggested. "They'll be expecting us to be in our rooms."

We all sighed. Before we started walking back I turned back real quick to look at our snow angels again. The way they were all connected, hand in hand, that made me happy. I was part of that chain, part of a group, something I missed from my days back in elementary school. We never made snow angels like that before though, which made this moment feel more special than any of the moments I shared with my old friends.

It was too much fun hanging with these guys, which was something I was not yet used to thinking. I was actually kind of sad that I had to go back to my room and put up with Laney not really paying much attention to me. I wished I could have been paired with someone like Kelsey or Courtney for a roommate. Courtney was another one of Kyle's friends. She was a lot like Kelsey. We could have stayed up all night and talked all we wanted. It would have been really nice.

We walked back laughing and singing cute little songs until we had to go our separate ways to our dorm rooms. The other students that we walked by in the hallways looked at us like we were all a little weird, but I found that I didn't care so much when I was with this particular group. All I cared about was having a good time.

Inside, Laney was already back. I was actually kind of shocked, because she wasn't normally back this early. I took off my winter clothing and threw everything in a pile on the floor at the end of my bed. Next I got changed into my pajamas, brushed my hair out, and crawled into bed under my covers. I laid down quietly and fell into a deep sleep fairly quickly. When I woke up, I looked over at the clock and groaned. 1:41am.

-

It was completely quiet and I sat up so I could look around. I rubbed at my eyes and sighed. I've never had a problem sleeping through the night before. Maybe it was the new setting and not being at home, but it was starting to get on my nerves a little. I stood up and walked over to the bathroom. When I turned the light on and looked at myself in the mirror my hair was a mess. I brushed it out again, this time it was harder, because it now had little knots and tangles everywhere. When I got to a point where I was satisfied enough, I set my brush back down on the counter.

They had these cute little paper cups that they gave us all the time sitting in a little container next to the sink. I took one out, filled it with water, and took a drink. Their water wasn't as good as the bottled stuff my mom always had at home. I made a weird face and dropped the cup into the little white trash can next to the sink. Now, if that didn't just made me sound like a spoiled rich kid than I don't know what would.

Walking back out into our room I looked over at the window. Again I saw the same thing as before. There seemed to be a dim light coming from the main building and I could see it appear to flicker as people walked by. I couldn't ignore the urge to go look yet again and walked over to take a peek.

I didn't see anything new. Just the windows lit up very dimly and the shadows of people. I stood there a little longer this time watching. I noticed after a while that the hallways became clear and that people had moved into the class rooms. It looked like they were going to school, just like we did during the day. I found that to be somewhat strange at this time of day.

I looked over at the clock, which said it was now 2:36am, and then looked back out the window. Out of nowhere a shadow had appeared in the window like it was staring out at me again. It looked the same as before, like a girl with long hair. She stood for a moment and this time didn't disappear. A little freaked out by the thought of her somehow being able to see me, I left the window and got back into bed. Oddly enough I had another strange dream kind of like the last one.

I was again a girl with curly black hair and paper white skin. This time I wandered over to a mirror that happened to be nearby and looked at myself. There was barely any color to my skin and my eyes were a dull shade of grey. I didn't feel surprised though, but I guess dreams always seemed so realistic that you would believe that it was who you really were.

I walked out of the room I was in and looked around. There were a bunch of people in the hallway. It looked like we were in the main building of Oak Ridge, but at the same time, everything looked... weird. It looked much older and people weren't dressed the same way they would be now. In fact, everyone was dressed in plain grey and white outfits, and they walked around like they would rather be anywhere else in the world.

I saw one girl that looked kind of like me in the real world. I walked over to her and made a writing motion. She took her bag off her shoulder and started to dig around in it. After a few minutes she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and handed it to me. I made some kind of gesture toward her. I think it was to thank her, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure.

She walked away after that and I walked over to a locker, held up the piece of paper against the door, and started to write on it. I didn't understand why I kept writing these notes to myself. What kind of person does that? Couldn't I just say it?

That was when I realized that no one in these dreams ever seemed to be speaking. They all walked the halls silently and usually with their heads hung low. I had another thought as my dream self was writing out the note, rather slowly if you ask me. If you knew you were dreaming weren't you supposed to be able to control and change the dream if you wanted? That's what I always heard on TV and from people that were supposedly able to do it, so why couldn't I change mine so people could talk? It would have been a lot easier and saved me some time.

I watched as I wrote. The note was very similar to the one from last time. Only a few things were different. The message itself though, was generally the same.

I saw you. Don't hide. We need your help. I know you're different.

I stuck this note in my pocket with the other one, which was surprisingly still there, and stood still. Nothing else happened. Another moment later and Laney's stupid bird alarm woke me up again.