Restart ✔️

05 | Spill the Beans

"Waffle, no syrup please." Nick tells our waiter. He insisted on driving me and Sage home, so I called Sandy and told her I had a ride home. Nick has given us no reason to trust him, but we need answers. And the fact that he basically threatened us when he said, "Your lives will be miserable if you don't let me help you," persuaded us to get into his car. I told Sage that we didn't have to talk to him, that we could just tell him we're busy and already have a ride. To my surprise, she seemed more determined than me to talk with him. Nick told us he was taking us home. I guess I wasn't surprised when he pulled into the parking lot of Waffle House. He said this required more "face to face interaction" than him staring at the road and talking. I get it, if we stayed in the car I probably would've let Sage do the listening and just browsed SnapChat.

"So," Nick starts, "tell me about your nightmares."

"You just expect us to spill everything because you bought us dinner?" Sage interrogates.

"Actually, it's more of a breakfast-dinner combo, and yeah, I do. If you're smart, you'll start taking right now." Sage and I look at each other. I take my phone out and text her, so Nick can't see what we're thinking. We've got nothing to lose..., I text. She looks up, worried, and nods.

"Fine," we tell him. I go first. I tell him I started to have my nightmares the night of my 18th birthday. I describe them, the woods, how they feel so real, and most of all, the person chasing me. I even tell him the part where the person points a gun to my head after I trip over a ginormous tree branch. "Then I woke up with this," I say as I gesture to my leg. When I'm finished, he just nods and turns to Sage. "What about you?"

Sage shrugs and says, "I just burn my hand on a toaster every time. They're not even nightmares. They sure aren't dreams, though."

"Ok, so your stories are completely different. However, they are connected."

"Connected how?" Sage interrogates.

"Hold on, just because you told me everything doesn't mean I'm willing to spill everything I know to you."

"Bastard..." I hear Sage mutter under her breath.

"Look, I can't tell you everything, it's too dangerous." He ignores Sage's comment. "But what I can tell you is that you were right, Sage. These are not dreams or nightmares. There're someone else's memories."

"Excuse me? Do you expect us to believe you? That's insane." Sage starts to get up. "Come on, Cass, I have a feeling this moron isn't going to actually help us." I think about how Nick said they're someone else's memories.

"I think he's telling the truth." I grab Sage's arm and look her in the eyes. "Every time I have nightmare, I say something. Only it's not my voice. It's someone else's," Sage's muscles relax. "Can we just hear what he has to say first?" Sage nods and sits back down.

"Who's voice is it?" I ask Nick once Sage is settled again.

"It's your Founder's."

"Her WHAT?!" Sage screams. The waitresses and chefs behind the counter look over at us, disgusted. "Sorry...her what?"

"Her Founder's. The memories that she is experiencing are theirs."

"And I don't suppose you'll tell us why?" Sage says in an annoyed tone.

"That's a conversation for another time." Nick responds.

"Right. For our safety. Whatever." Sage starts to get up and walk away towards the bathroom, but Nick stops her this time.

"There's something else you need to know," he scoots over to give Sage room to quickly sit down.

"No thanks," she says as she moves to sit back down with me. "Now, continue."