February 29

Chapter 21

"Wake the hell up!" I heard someone scream in my ear. Female. Stacey. I rolled to the other side and decided to ignore it. More sleep. Need more sleep.

"I know you can hear me," she said irritated.

More sleep.

She sighed angrily. Quiet for one sweet moment. Then I felt her hair brush my cheek, her breath in my ear. "The Aura," she whispered in my ear.

Immediately, I shot up, my mind in shambles. I shook my head, sprinkling a small shower of water around me. Was I wet?

"What?" I yelled, irritated. She smirked. "Not funny at all. What's going on?"

"Stop talking to yourself in your sleep, and maybe I wouldn't have to worry so much," Stacey shot back. "Having full conversations with yourself. You have problems."

I rubbed my temples and stood from the bed that I was laying on, shrugging the Steeler covers onto the floor. "Is something wrong? Where's Dean?"

"Taking a shower. You needed one too. Not anymore."

I glance at her. "You took one?"

"Yeah. We tried to wash you, but I thought that would be weird and we didn't want you to drown. We just ended up placing you in the water and hoping for the best. Don't know. Maybe would've burned the water anyway."

"What? How do you burn water?"

Sighing, she pushed me back, her eyes narrowed. She leaned close to me, our faces inches apart. "How did you do that? That thing out there?"

"What thing?" I asked, groaning. The headaches were settling back in.

"The bullet thing? How did it break like that? Are you a Super Saiyan?"

"A what?" I asked. "Really? Dragonball Z reference? Look, I don't know."

"You have to know. It couldn't just be coincidence. It had to be you."

"I know it was me," I said, "but I don't know how-- shit!"

I jumped out of the bed, bumping my face into Stacey's in the process.

"Ouch!" she yelled indignantly. "What's with the sudden barrage?"

"I have to go," I said sharply, slipping a sweater over my undershirt. "Now. It's super important."

Little by little the dream slipped into my mind, followed by the determination to find out if Mark was even real. If he said what I thought he said, maybe he could help me get the thing out of my head. I stepped into my shoes.

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked in alarm. "So sudden? What now?"

"I can't explain it right now. I have to go. Tell Dean that I'll be back."

"We're coming with you," she said firmly. "Even if I don't want to go with you guys."

"No," I hissed. "It's better if you guys stay here. It's safer."

"Wherever you go may lead me to my father," she retorted. "I don't care if it's safe or not. I need to find him. And you need help. Dean can come along for the ride."

"What ride?" Dean asked, stepping from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. The faint smell of lavender. His arm hung limp at his side.

"He's leaving again," Stacey said.

"What?" Dean scowled. "No. You can't go out anymore."

"I have to," I pouted. "It might help me find out what's happening to me, to the world. And how I can stop it."