By Day and by Night

Chapter 6- The Gang's All Here

Adelae awoke to an empty bed. One hand reached for her phone on the table beside her and the other to tuck the blanket around herself again. The brightness of the screen caused her to squint. She expected to find several notifications, but instead found only one new text message, and it was Connor reminding her that they needed to have a talk about the pill, and that he had questions. She ignored it and frowned, sure that she'd missed something. Opening the tab for news reports, her eyes scanned for the name "Armageddon," but there was nothing. Maybe the whole world had miraculously slept through her crisis?

As the fog of sleep faded, a sense of something forgotten picked at the edges of Adelae's mind. Memories of the night before, of her final glimpse at Bruce's pale face, of the door being ajar and Galen's shocking presence, made it more than difficult to want to get up.

She didn't believe for a moment that Bruce had betrayed her over money. He'd been working with her for years and she'd always paid him well. What changed?

She rolled over and groaned-- the pill may have fixed the bullet hole, but sore muscles from the surgery and the jostling ride home were very much still present. Light spilled in from the hallway, and as she began to sit up slowly, the smell of coffee drifted in from the kitchen.

Slow footsteps approached, and Varin appeared in the doorway wearing a puffy blue bathrobe and messy hair. He held a steaming mug in one hand and rubbed his eyes as he entered.

"Hi. I thought I heard you stirring." he said. "You want some coffee?"

"Yeah." Her voice was thick from sleep, and the inside of her mouth felt like sandpaper. Slowly, the full series of events of the previous night resurfaced, and the craziness caused her to collapse back onto the pillows she half-heartedly tried to escape. Varrin laughed, walking back out to the kitchen. He returned a moment later with a second mug.

"I had the weirdest dream." He said, sitting on the bed at her feet.

Adelae sat up and took the coffee from him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I dreamed that we were in this city but the post-apocalyptic version of it, like a hundred years from now. In my dream you were running through the streets in slow motion. I saw this building without windows begin to collapse and you didn't see it. I tried to yell out to you but nothing came out. I woke up before you could reach it, at least. It was so strange!"

"That's a weird one," she yawned.

"Yeah. And we both WAY overslept, and I have the weirdest headache. Also the windows were open in the kitchen?"

Adelae gulped her coffee, rubbing her face with her palm. "All the windows?" She asked like she didn't know.

"Yep."

Her brain caught up to her ears then. "Uh, you said we overslept-- what time is it?"

Varrin peered at their alarm clock. "It's 1 PM. Don't worry, I called in and told them you were taking a personal day." He stood up and leaned in, kissing her forehead gently. "They seemed to think that was a good idea, after the attack yesterday."

Adelae's head whipped back to the alarm clock. "What?"

"Yeah, they said you got attacked in the elevator? Two men, by the sounds of it. I'm surprised you didn't tell me." He mused, absently swirling his coffee cup.

"Oh, that's right." She replied slowly. She took another long drink, hoping her pause hadn't been too obvious. "I'm sorry. I didn't see much of you yesterday, and it was too important to send over text."