Light Em Up (oc x oc)

XI - Madison

"I told you so."

"Nova!" I say, exasperated. "I know. You have said it at least fifteen times since we got on this train."

"I told you so."

"Nova! It's not funny."

Her lips set in a line. "It is. You should listen to me more often."

"I said I'm sorry! What else do you want?"

"Blood."

"Really?"

"No, you dumbass. I'm just revelling in being paranoid for good reason once in my entire life. I'm sorry you didn't find Bianca, but-"

"I have Nico. I know that. I mean, we're not even closely related at all. I just liked the idea of having someone motherly and older and wiser, not..."

"An eighteen-year-old kid who's a little bit nuts? Sorry about that."

I stay quiet, lost in thought. Nova fiddles with the clay beads on her necklace, clearly resisting the urge to take out her knife and carve up the table. It sounds like something that would alleviate the tension a little bit.

A few hours later, we're pulling into Los Angeles. "Huh," she says. "I could have swore this place was cooler in the movies."

We step out into the city, where the sidewalks are empty and the traffic gridlocked. We get strange looks from the locals, but I'm not worried about getting mugged by people, at least.

"Where to now, fearless leader?" drawls Nova.

I shrug. "I have no idea. I think I need to sleep. It's late, and I might have another dream anyway."

"Say no more."

After successfully finding somewhere that let us pay with casino cards, we crash onto two creaky motel beds high above the streets.

"Night, Nova."

"Night, darlin'."

I fall asleep quickly, exhausted from not sleeping for three weeks.

I reappear back in the strange dreamscape, with a detached voice speaking from somewhere I can't see.

"So you decided to accept the quest."

"Yes," I say, looking around for the voice.

"You won't find me," it grins. "I am invisible to your closed heart. My dear nephew really outdid himself with you."

"Is that supposed to be a threat? Look, I'm almost as far west as I can get, and now I have no idea where to go next. Some assistance would be useful."

"The sun will guide you."

"That's not helpful. She's just as confused as I am."

"The sun will guide you, Madison Harper. Just remember, when you arrive, things might be different to the way they were before. You're already mourning for a future long past, even if you don't realise it. Ask your lover what really happened to Bianca di Angelo. She knew even before."

"What do you mean? Nova doesn't know anything!"

"But she does, sweetheart. You might want to wake up now, before you forget how to. Dreams are funny things, your cousins can tell you that."

I wake with a start, to the early morning light. Nova is up and in the shower, so I decide to leave her a note and go get some food.

Twenty minutes later, I'm back, and Nova is pacing. I tell her about my dream, and her face hardens. "I know where we need to go. I'm sorry for dragging you all this way. We're about two thousand miles too far."

"The voice said something else. It said to ask you something. What really happened to Bianca di Angelo, and did you know before we got there?"

"I did," she says emotionlessly.

"What happened to her?"

"I promised Nico I wouldn't tell the story."

I smile harshly. "Good to know you've been conspiring to lie to me."

"I haven't," she says, her features darkening. "He wants to tell you himself. Get over it. You didn't know her."

"Neither did you, apparently."

"No, I didn't. That's why I'm not talking about her. If you want to keep going with this mess of a quest, feel free. 3222 West Bucket Road, Wilmington, North Carolina. There's a woodland nearby. That's where you need to go."

She keeps pacing, walking faster, and there's a drawn kind of pain across her face as she gives the address.

"How do you know?"

"We're both already mourning," she snaps. "You don't know why yet, but I've been mourning my childhood since I was eleven, and the future I wanted - my high school years - is already over. The last bit of closure will be found at that house. I am not going there. You can go yourself. It's your quest."

"The voice said-"

"I do not care."

Her lack of emotional response hurts. "You seemed to be making such progress..."

"Since I lost a month of my life to a wild goose chase, most my life savings to the aforementioned wild goose chase, I guess I tend to backslide."

"You should go home."

"I have not been home in six years. I am not going back to North Carolina. New York is my home."

"Is it though?"

"Don't push me. We've wasted so much time."

"We have, haven't we?" I reach across and grab her hand. "I think I love you, Nova Harleigh."

"Then you are hands down the stupidest person I have ever met."