The Realmare (completed)

Day ???

As we hopped in the car, Aaron driving, Rainy in the passengers seat, and me in the back seat, Aaron leaned his head on the steering wheel.
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" He asked.
"This is the only lead we have." I said. It was true. I had talked to the people who wrote those articles. Two never picked up. Three were unable to recall where she lived. Only one person knew her address.

"Okay." He mumbled. Rainy rubbed his back, trying to soothe him. He sat up straight and winced. His back still ached from being thrown into the wall.

"I'm sorry!" Rainy said fast, backing away. She shifted herself into the corner of her seat, reaching the farthest point from Aaron.
"It's okay," he said. "Let's just head out.

As we drove out of the little block of shop homes, I noticed Rainy writing on a piece of paper which was attached to a clip board.
"Whatcha writin'?" I asked.
"Questions for Mrs. Beckens." She said shortly. She pulled something out of her pocket. It was small and black with a few buttons on it. There were a pair of earbuds wrapped around it. "I plan on recording her answers."
"Smart." I replied.
We drove for a while until my eyelids got heavy and they eventually closed.

***
I felt someone shaking me. I was cold. My eyes opened slowly. I rubbed them. I looked to my left and saw Aaron. He was standing next to the car. We were in a gas station.
"The car needed some gas," he whispered. I need to pee. I was also gonna grab snacks. You want anything?"
"Skittles," I said.
"Taste the rainbow mother fucker!" Aaron said, flipping me off. We both started laughing.

When he started walking away,I suddenly realized something. I began unbuckling my seat belt.
"Hey!" I said. "I need to take a piss too!"
"Watch after Rainy," he called back from the door. "when I come back you can go." I nodded in response.
"Watch after Rainy?" I asked myself. I got back in the car and closed the door. I looked over to the passengers seat. There was Rainy, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, and breathing steady and calm. "Oh!" I thought. "She's asleep."

Aaron came back a few minutes later. He handed me a big bag of skittles and set a grocery bag on the floor. I remembered, all of a sudden, when I woke up at the hotel and seeing a bag full of candy and some condoms. I quickly jumped out of the car, sprinting to the bathroom. I always hated gas station bathrooms. They're so filthy. When I got back, I decided to ask Aaron a very important question.
"Did you bring those condoms you bought?" I asked. He didn't answer. Instead, he started the car and drove out of the parking lot. Silence ensued. After what felt like an eternal silence, he finally spoke up.

"I didn't buy the condoms." He said.
"What?" I responded. "I know for damn sure Rainy didn't buy them."
"She did!" He said in a yell whisper. Rainy was still sleeping. "I drove the two of us to the gas store for snacks so we could use up the money on those cards and all of a sudden, she comes back out with condoms!"
"What the fuck!" I said between laughs.
"I'm not lying."
"You gotta be shitting me." I said, realizing how serious he was. Aaron's voice was naturally deep, on top of that, he was 18. He was a grown ass man. However, when he lied, his voice cracked. It sounded like he was going through puberty all over again.

"How is Rainy able to sleep through all of this?" I asked, changing the subject, slightly laughing.
"She got maybe five minutes of sleep last night." Aaron replied.
"Wait... how?"
"I don't know Casey." He replied, he sounded annoyed. "First I'm half asleep and the next thing I know she by my side, shaking me awake and crying. She wanted me to stay with her for the night but I fell asleep a little while later. When I woke up, she was in the shop. She said she hadn't slept all day." There was a pause before his next words came out. They sounded strained, as though his throat were tightening up. He was allergic to bees. I remember when we were little, he was stung by one in his backyard. He started hyperventilating and he said it felt like his throat had swelled up. I screamed, not knowing what to do. His mom came outside and she called 911. He spent the night at the hospital. When he was older, he had said that his throat felt like he swallowed sandpaper. It felt raw. Those are what his next words sounded like. "Her nightmares are getting worse."