When The Clock Strikes Twelve

Chapter 7

Zaria felt herself wake up slowly as her body pulled itself out of sleep. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut tightly, she sat up on her bed. Please be morning. she thought desperately. Opening her eyes hopefully, she found herself greeted by a dark room, the night pressing in on her. She peered out of the window, hoping to see the sun peeking over the horizon, but she couldn't make anything out in the inky darkness. Without electricity, she had no way of knowing what time it was or if it was even worth it to try to go back to sleep, an ordeal that could end up taking hours. She decided to not even try, figuring that she would be too busy to be tired today. She exited her room, making her way into the living room, moving carefully to avoid tripping on anything. She was glad that the space was so small and she had managed to memorize the major obstacles cluttering the living room. She peered out to the window, trying to make out the moon or some stars or something. All she could see was a faint line of lights far in the distance. The city. It must have gotten cloudy while she was asleep, because Zaria couldn't make out a single star in the endless sky. She briefly considered meditating again, recalling Jaye's confusion at the practice. Suddenly, she heard a noise in the darkness. She startled, nearly tripping over the air in front of her. It sounded like someone was... whimpering? She heard the noise again and she spun toward it. Keeping her hands out in front of her, groping in the emptiness, she slowly made her way to the sound. Her hand hit something solid, and for a wild moment, she thought she felt something touch her. But it was just the door to Jaye's room and a product of her imagination. She heard the noise again, louder and this time followed by a short gasp and realized that it was coming from inside Jaye's room.

Zaria hesitated, her hand seeking out the doorknob. Should she invade Jaye's privacy? Jaye's wrath was terrifying. What if she was interrupting something?

Another sound came from behind the door. This time it was a scream, terrified and short. Alarmed, Zaria swung open the door. She could make out a single shape tossing and turning in the darkness. The blanket was tossed haphazardly on the floor. Jaye screamed again, sending chills down Zaria's spine.

Closing the door, Zaria stepped closer to Jaye trying to make out her shape in the darkness. She wondered briefly if Jaye was hurt, but ruled it out, deciding that she would be awake if she were hurt.

So then it must be nightmares. Zaria decided. But not any nightmares like she'd ever seen before. The way Jaye was crying and moving around wildly... Zaria's babysitter instincts kicked in and she sat down on the edge of the bed and gently began to sing. It was a nursery rhyme, made to comfort babies into going to sleep.

Slowly, Jaye started to relax, her hands twitching a little before she fell still. Zaria saw that she was still crying, shaking with sobs. Her heart breaking a little, Zaria carefully brushed her hand across Jaye's cheeks, wiping away the tears. Still singing, Zaria, picked the blanket off the floor and laid it over Jaye gently, trying not to touch her. Finally, after what felt like 20 minutes, Jaye relaxed fully, her sobs ceasing. Zaria gracefully backed out of the room, closing the door softly.

~

When Jaye woke up a few hours later, she made no mention of what had happened, eating her breakfast in her usual stony silence. She probably doesn't even remember. Zaria told herself. She was technically asleep. Zaria tried to act natural, like nothing had happened, but she couldn't help her gaze from traveling to Jaye's face repeatedly. She was grateful when Jaye finished her can of peaches and went downstairs, leaving Zaria alone in the apartment.

When Zaria made her way to the lobby, she made her way to where Aram was standing, talking to Dalia. She threw a conflicted glance to where Jaye was standing alone, glaring into the wall.

"Hey, Zaria." Aram greeted, smiling. "Sleep well?" Zaria thought back to the screaming Jaye, tossing and turning in her bed.

"Yeah, I slept okay." she lied "You guys?"