Vicious Memories

Chapter 27 - Alice

I woke to the sound of my own scream.

"Sheila," someone murmured. "It's okay. You're alright."

I sat up quickly and nearly knocked heads with Cooper, who was leaning over me. He flinched back to avoid the collision.

My breath came in big heaving gasps, and I put a hand to my heart to try to calm myself. I was in my own sleeping quarters. Flowers winked at me in ghostly blues and yellows from the far wall. A whispered drizzle reached out from nearby.

Calm down, Alice. Calm down.

Cooper watched with some concern as I tried to banish the last vestiges of my dream from my mind. I was awake now, and waking from a nightmare meant that I wasn't living in one. Or was I?

"Is everything okay in here?"

A new figure knelt down next to Cooper. Half of his hair stood straight up, and his crooked nose cast a strange moonlight shadow across his face. His deep green eyes held a heavy dose of worry.

I nodded. "Just a nightmare."

"You were yelling in your sleep," Ollie said. "Loud enough to wake me."

"Just a nightmare," I insisted. "How did you hear me from the cabins?"

"I moved in here after the town hall. Mohammed and Gabriel shifted some stuff out of the last unused cave. We're neighbors." He turned to Cooper. "I heard you from down the passage. Who's Sheila?"

Cooper looked at him like he was mad and I stifled a smile, the heavy weight on my shoulders lifting.

"It means girl, mate."

"Why don't you just say girl, then?" Ollie asked.

"Why don't you just say Sheila?"

"Fair point."

"Anyway." Cooper stood up. "It's late. You sure you're okay Alice?"

I sighed, nodding. The stormed had abated rapidly, leaving nothing but muddy puddles and a fine rain behind, the clouds just shaking themselves off before moving on. Tomorrow would be beautiful. I could smell it in the air.

"What was the nightmare about?"

Ollie looked down at me with interest. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. One large hand reached up to his hair, trying to pat it down. The way he looked at me, the intensity in his green eyes, made my skin tingle. There was a deep curiosity in that look.

I tried to grasp at the memories of my dream while shifting under his gaze, unwilling to admit that I liked the way it made me feel. Unwilling to admit that the respect in it made me feel strong, feel confident, which was something I didn't think I had ever felt before.

My dream danced away, just beyond the reach of my fingertips. The feeling that stayed with me was one of entrapment. I think I had been locked away somewhere.

"I don't know," I said finally. "I was trapped somewhere. Imprisoned. I can't remember anything else."

"I suppose this island is a prison in its own way," Cooper said vaguely, looking at nobody in particular.

"Thanks, Freud," Ollie said.

I watched his darkening face with interest, a thoughtful look passing across his brow. He lifted his expectant gaze from mine.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just sorry you had a nightmare."

My eyelids were heavy. The wind blew stray mist into the cave, and I thought about how nice it would be to settle back on my blankets and sleep. But I didn't want to dismiss my visitors just yet. Their presence was comforting after the lurch and pull of the nightmare.

Yet I didn't quite know how to ask them to stay.

A small whine interrupted the silence and a panting ball of fluff came trotting into the cave. It rolled right up to me and stuck out a pink tongue.

"Box," Ollie said, reaching for the dog, "stop it. I told you to stay."

"No," I said quickly. I picked Box up and put him in my lap. "It's okay."

The dog settled down with a happy huff, and I rested a hand on the soft black fur of his head. I closed my eyes happily. Comfort flooded through my chest at the rhythmic breathing of the creature in my lap.

"You never should have picked up that mutt, mate," Cooper said. "He looks like trouble."

"Not trouble," I said, eyes still closed. "He's sweet. It's good that you adopted him."

I knew that doing your best to take care of those who couldn't take care of themselves was one of the most important things in the world - it was a belief etched into my very bones, part of the reason I tried so hard to protect the rest of the village. It was good to realize that someone else on the island shared the sentiment.

I could feel the comforting weight of my friends' stares as I settled back on my blankets, pulling Box close. No more nightmares tonight.

"Well," Ollie said. "I guess he's staying with you. Ungrateful little monster."

I was so close to sleep that I hardly registered referring to Ollie as a friend. When had he managed to become that? How had he so easily transformed himself from someone suspicious into someone I was glad to know?