Finish Me

4

"You look terrible", Alexa drawled in her usual, unfeeling manner as she leaned against her locker beside Allie's.

"Yeah, I feel terrible too", Allie said, hair straightened and tied back with a black band. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. "I had a nightmare last night", she whispered.

"Really?" Alexa smiled. "You really did?" Her face lit up like a chriatmas tree and she laughed - no cackled, like an evil witch.

"Lexi, stop", Allie croacked and the smile fell off Alexa's face.

"Al? Are you okay?" She asked, cynicism fading away and worry setting in.

"No, I'm not", her friend said and she moved closer to her. Alexa, as rude and cynical as she was, was a very good friend and she cared very much about her friends, Allie in particular, though she didn't always show it.

"What kind of nightmare was it?" She asked and Allie slumped.

"I saw dad", Allie said and Alexa frowned.

"What's wrong with that?" She asked and Allie looked into her eyes, searchingly, confusion swimming in her eyes.

"He looked strange, Lexi", Allie said and licked her dry lips. She hadn't applied her lipgloss that morning and her lips were starting to crack from its lack of regular moisture. "There was a girl... in a blue overall and hoodie".

Alexa's frown deepened, "What did she look like?" She asked and Allie shrugged.

"I don't know", she said, "I didn't see her face, her back was to me", her voice quivered at the end.

"Oh", Alexa said and for the first time in a long time, she was speechless. She blinked rapidly and pulled her curls thoughtfully. "Can you describe the dream?" She asked and Allie shook her head.

"I can't really, well, it was weird, there was a huge grandfather clock, as huge as the Big Ben and it was clanging loudly throughout the dream. The girl in the blue hoodie was just standing with her back to me and then I saw dad sitting on a sofa and smiling at me. For a moment, it seemed like he recognised me, but then his smile turned weird, like it was a grimace, then back to a smile, it seemed very weird and quite sinister...and then he just stopped smiling and suddenly shut his teeth with a snap, and said, "Run", in a weird voice that didn't sound like him at all", she said and suddenly lowered her voice to a whisper, while looking around, "And just before he said 'run', blood was dripping through his teeth to his lips", she said eyes wide as she stared at her friend.

"Wha- uh, whoa", Alexa stuttered, taking Allie's hands into hers, "well, did you pray?" She asked and Allie nodded as the first bell rang. They didn't have their first class together and for the first time, Alexa didn't want to leave her friend.

"Yes, I did, but this morning, I woke up super early because of the nightmare and everywhere was still kinda dark. Then I prayed and just as I was about to take my bath, I had this uneasy feeling that someone was watching me", she said rubbing her forehead.

"You felt someone in your room with you?", Alexa asked, her face set in a deep frown.

"No, not in my room, but like from outside, I felt as if someone was looking in, but my blinds were closed", Allie said, shifting in her feet and clutching her backpack.

"Oh", Alexa said pulling her fingers.

Allie looked as if she was about to say more when the warning bell rang. "We have to get to class, see you in English", she said and hugged Alexa, who for once didn't pull away first.

"Take care, see you soon", Alexa said and watched as Allie walked down the hall and out of sight before she turned herself and walked to her class.