The Awakening

Chapter Nineteen

The sight of Cody thrashing around in the air makes me laugh. I let us fall for a couple seconds before slowing, and bringing us safely to the ground.
    "I-" He takes a deep breath, and lies on his back for a minute. "You are an asshole," he trembles, and I snicker.
    "Come on let's get going," I say, pulling him to his feet. We walk a couple miles until we reach the outskirts of the city. With our camouflage on, we have no problem making it to the safe house that has been programmed into our armbands.
    "Well this is cozy," Cody says sarcastically, looking around at the rundown bungalow. It's small, with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. No basement, just the one floor. Wallpaper is peeling off the walls, and there are cracks in the ceiling, but the lights work after a minute of flickering. We draw all the shutters, so no one can see the lights and go to find our bedrooms. It is weird to be laying alone after sleeping with people for so long. I am tempted to ask Cody if he wants to move his mattress to my room, but I feel like that might be weird, or make Andrew jealous, so I dismiss the thought. I slip on a nightgown and crawl under the sheets, hiding my face away, and thinking back to our dorm rooms, and our beds that didn't creek, and the room that didn't smell like must. Eventually, I manage to find sleep.

    "He can't handle it," I say to the woman with the long brown hair. The sun is beginning to set as we look out over the ocean.
"That is true," she replies in a singsong voice.
"It will destroy him, but he won't let me help," I tell her, pleading for some form of help.
"That is also true," she says in the same soft tone.
"I can't let it happen, it would destroy everything."
"Including him," she agrees.
"If we shared it, if we shared it we could take it, together."
"Perhaps..."
"I have to try," I say, more to myself than her.
"He won't be happy," she reminds me, and I frown.
"He is going to hate me. I know he will try to stop me, but how can I do nothing?" I questions, looking at her, but she doesn't look back. Just continues to stare into the sea.
"What does your heart tell you, my dear?" She questions, the corners of her mouth rising.
"It tells me to save him. To save the things I love."
"And what do you think his heart is telling him?"
"The same thing..."
"To save..?"
"Me."
"That is true," she says smiling still.
"I am not letting him turn into something he is not just to protect my innocents," I tell her, feeling determined.
"Then don't, but be mindful. I think your father senses something dark on the horizon. Be careful how you handle it," she warns me. Then my mind shifts, and I am thrown into nightmares.
"Andrew?" I sob, holding his head in my hands. "Andrew! Please wake up, please don't go!" Another nightmare gets twisted into my thoughts. "Emma, come back! Snap out of it!" I plead, shaking her, but seeing nothing but the stillness in her eyes. Again my mind twists, and I am back in the facility strapped to a table as people in white dig into my arms. No matter how hard I scream, they don't stop. My mind is twisting me into madness, showing nightmare after nightmare, making me thrash, and scream, and cry until I being to shake.

"Hey! Ella wakes up!" Cody screams, shaking my body. I struggle against him, feeling again trapped. "Stop it! What's wrong?" He asks harshly, and I stop. I am still shaking violently, but I am starting to get a sense of my surroundings.
"What time is it?" I choke, my throat feeling hoarse.
"Five in the morning," he tells me. "You have been moving around, and murmuring all night. You started screaming, so I came to wake you." My insides squirm. Did I really keep him up all night?
"It was nothing," I lie, pushing my hair out of my face, and throwing the covers off of me. I am not going back to sleep. Not back to that place of horrors.
He rolls his eyes. "I'm not stupid, what were you dreaming about?"
"The reality of my life," I answer, making my way to the kitchen, where a muffin and cup of coffee lie waiting for me.
"Sorry, I should have asked. I just got two cream, two sugar," he says, pointing to the cup.
"No, no this is perfect," I say, picking up the cup, and taking a large sip. It burns my tongue, but I don't care. I still feel numb from the recent events that took place in my head.