Red

14

I quickly wake up and gasp after dreaming about my sister's death. I sit up and look around. Everyone was still asleep and it was dark when I looked outside the window.

I lean back on the wall of the plane and hug my knees to my chest. My towel was covering my upper body and I wished for nothing more than my own blanket right now. Even tropical islands got cold at night.

A few tears fall from my eyes and I wipe them away with my hands. I wanted my sister to be here with me. She would hug me and make me feel better. I wouldn't feel so alone and scared. I continue crying more and more and I bite the end of my shirt so I wouldn't wake anybody up.

"Tris?" Van whispers. I can't really see him, but I can hear him sit up. I can only vaguely see the outline of his head. "Is that you?"

I stay quiet. Maybe if I don't say anything he'll think I'm still asleep. "Tris," I hear him sigh. "I can see you sitting." I still say nothing. "I'm coming over there, then."

My body starts shaking a little. Van was nice to me earlier, but I didn't know if he'd still be nice right now. I never knew what to expect with him.

"Ok, I'm coming in," Van warns me. He moves to the back where I was and sits down next to me. We were only a couple inches apart which made me more nervous. "Why are you crying?" Van whispers. He wasn't mad, or, at least, he didn't sound mad.

I can't bring myself to speak up, so I just sit there, crying even harder. I was trying my best to keep my cries as quiet as possible. I really didn't want to wake anyone else.

"Tris," he says my name. "Answer me." His voice was stern, but still not mean. I let out a loud sob and immediately cover my mouth and squeeze my eyes shut.

I hear Van breathe out and he puts his hand on my back. "Stand up, let's go outside. I don't want anyone else to wake up," he says. I nod my head, although I'm not sure if he saw, and stand up, walking behind him.

"Be careful, it's dark. I don't want you to trip," he says when I was walking down the stairs. He grabs my hand once I'm outside and leads me to the fire area. The fire was mostly put out, but there were still a few small flames. Van sits down in the same place he had earlier this night and I sit next to him.

I don't look at Van as I try my best to wipe all my tears away. They kept falling from my eyes, though, so it wasn't much use. Van waits a minute to let me calm down before he speaks, but I didn't really calm down at all. "Come on, now. Talk to me," he says. He rubs my back in small circles.

My breaths are rigid and my words come out choppy, but I manage to speak. "I had... a-a nightmare," I say. My eyes are kept focused on my shaking leg.

"A nightmare? Those are the worst, eh?" Van says. "Can you tell me what it was about?" I can tell his eyes are glued to the side of my face even though I wasn't looking at him.

I shake my head. He didn't need to know. He doesn't even care about me. A cool breeze brushes my skin and I wrap my arms around myself to try to stay as warm as possible.

Van must've noticed. He takes his black sweatshirt off and gives it to me. "You look cold," he says. I look at his sweatshirt but don't take it. I didn't want to seem dependent on him.

"Go ahead. Put it on, Tris," he says, dropping the sweatshirt by my feet.

"W-what about you?" I stutter. I push the sweatshirt back to him, still not making eye contact.

"I'm not that cold, love. I would have taken it off anyway," he tells me. I wasn't sure whether he was telling the truth, or if he just wanted me to take the sweatshirt.

I hesitate before picking it up. I look at Van through my teary eyes to see if this was a joke, but he didn't look like he was joking. He gives me a small nod, and I slid the sweatshirt on over my shirt. I keep the hood on to cover my face, and i hide my head in my arms, which wear being supported by my knees.

I hear Van chuckle. He uses his hands, placing them on either side of my head, and lifts my head up. He kept his hands there, forcing me to look at him. "Tell me about your bad dream," he says in his quiet yet demanding voice.

I don't say anything. I just sit there, frozen, looking into Van's eyes, a few tears falling from my own eyes. They seemed so gentle right now. It's hard to believe how in just a few hours, his whole attitude toward me could change. I didn't want that.

"You gonna make me guess?" He jokes  I shrug my shoulders and he smiles. "Ok..." he thinks. "Let's see, was it about something like a monster?"

I shake my head. "No? Okay," he says. "About a person?" I nod my head and try to look down, but Van kept his hand on my face. "It wasn't about me, was it?" He asks. His eyebrows knit together.

"No," I whisper.

"Was it about... your sister?" He hesitates asking, unsure of how I'll respond.

I nod my head and try to shrink up as much as possible. I felt so small and empty without Annabelle here and Van seemed to be able to get anything out of me. I don't know why I was willing to let him in so easily. I haven't done that with anyone else ever before.