Quiet As A Mouse (Outsiders Fanfic)

Chapter 3- Nightmares

        I saw Him standing next to me in the dark hallway that stretched on forever.  In front of us was an endless black mass that seemed to have no beginning and no end.  I was scared, but of what I didn't know, and I grabbed His hand.

        We both jumped and screams echoed from the dark when we heard two loud explosions.  All the sudden two limp bodies fell forwards from the dark, visible to us only because they landed in the circle of light that congregated around Him and I.

        Their pallid faces were extremely familiar, but I couldn't place who they were exactly. The eyes were deep black holes, staring up blankly at me, striking terror into my heart and I tried backing away only to be drawn by some horrible force wrenching at my soul back towards the motionless bodies.  As the evil invisible force pulled me closer, I could see the dark red liquid splattered on their stark white skin.

        I was being drawn in closer and closer, sucked into the black pit of their eyes.  I was screaming and crying and reaching for Him, but our hands had been yanked apart when I had backed up.  His hand was stretched out towards me too, but I kept getting pulled into the swirling vortex of darkness and He was yelling something but nothing came out of his mouth.

        The last thing I saw was his terror-stricken face as the stiff corpses engulfed me, and then I woke with a start, only to find myself sprawled on the musty smelling carpet with the blankets tangled around my legs.

        Kayla was sitting up in bed, her eyes shining in the dark as she stared at me.  Both of us were panting for breath, I'm guessing I had scared her as much as I had scared myself.  I quickly scrambled to my feet, nearly tripping over the blankets wrapped around my ankles.  Kayla looked worried, and still a little scared, obviously. 

        I stumbled around in the dark until I found a sheet of paper and by the faint light coming in from the window between our beds, I scribbled, 'Sorry I woke you up.  Are you okay?'

        Kayla nodded meekly and then asked in a voice just above a whisper, "Did you have a bad dream?"

        'Something like that,' I wrote on the paper, pausing for a second before writing below that, 'I'll be okay though.  Goodnight.'

        "Night," she whispered before laying back down, and in seconds I could hear her light breathing.

        I climbed back in bed too, but I couldn't fall asleep.  I lay awake for hours trying to stop memories of Him from torturing me.  It had been four years since he left, and still he haunted my thoughts.

        The next morning I was the last one downstairs, Aunt Kat had already left for work after making breakfast for all of us.  Kayla was still eating but there was no trace of Two-Bit, except for the dirty plate he left on the table.

        After I ate, Kayla and I started cleaning up from breakfast.  Aunt Kat worked two jobs and usually never had time to clean the house, and Two-Bit was too lazy to do it, and Kayla was too little to do it all by herself, but I could easily help her and clean up the house some at least.

        I was putting away the last of the dishes that she couldn't reach to put away when Two-Bit came running in the house.

        "Guess what?" he shouted enthusiastically.

        "What?" Kayla asked excitedly.

        I just gave him a quizzical look, not needing to ask by writing it down because Kayla had already said it.

        "If mom agrees, we're gonna have Thanksgiving here and you guys can meet all of my cohorts in crime," Two-Bit joked.

        His little sister squealed excitedly and started bouncing up and down and shouting, "Really, really, really?"

        Two-Bit grinned and nodded, picking up Kayla and spinning her around in the air.  She laughed, and the sight of them made me want to cry.  I and Him used to mess around like that all the time.

        And I wasn't so sure I wanted to meet all of Two-Bit's crazy friends.  They'd probably all think I was a freak because I couldn't talk.