𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 || 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑈𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑

𝐹𝑂𝑈𝑅

»Ugh. I hate these dang long journeys. There's just never anything to do.« Danny complained as we sat in front of the TV.

I still found it funny that we wouldn't cuss around me.

But when I would do it he never corrected me.

»Shall we play some poker?« I asked him.

He looked at me confused.

»You can play poker?« He asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

»My father's brother, Uncle Malachi, taught me when I was four or five years old. My mother wasn't very amused about it.« I giggled as I remembered how angry my mother was after seeing us.

»I'll get the cards.« He just said and got up fast.

After about five minutes, he came in tow with Jordon and Dylan.

»Mind if we join?« Dylan asked, who sat next to me.

»No. Who's the dealer?«

***

After about ten rounds (eight of which I won), poker got too boring for us and we confined ourselves to watching TV again.

Jorel and George joined us a little later.

»We'll stop soon for an hour or so. It's time for you to hunt, kid.« Jorel said to me.

»But I'm not hungry at all.« I replied, surprised.

»That doesn't matter. You have to hunt regularly to find a rhythm. We can't risk you accidentally biting someone because you suddenly get hungry.«

I nodded understandingly and got up.

»Okay. Anything I should do first?«

»My tip is put on something that can get dirty. The first hunt is always a bit.. bumpy.« Jordon snickered, looking at Dylan.

»Shut up, asshole.« He grumbled, sulking.

I looked at them both with my eyebrows up.

»I'll tell you about it later. Now get dressed and then we'll both go hunting.« Jorel said with a slightly amused smile.

***

Late that night, none of us slept.

That was perfectly clear to me.

But that didn't mean I would go and bother anyone just because I thought back to my old life.

It may be that I had resigned myself to not belonging to this world anymore, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt to think back.

I missed my dad.

I missed my brother.

And I missed my friends.

Jorel said it would get easier.

The question I asked myself was, when would it get easier?

Because at that very moment, in that little bunk, I felt lonely like never before.

Suddenly the curtain of my bunk went to the side and Danny stood in front of it.

»With the noise going on in your head, you can hardly concentrate on anything else.« He said with a soft smile.

Did I ever mention that Danny's power was to read minds?

»I'm sorry.« I sniffed and wiped my nose with the sleeve of my sweater.

»No need for apologies, my dear. Can I lay with you? Cause I know you'd like to talk, but you don't want to burden anyone with it. I came to you because I know how important it is to talk about what happened.«