“Then there’s no reason for me to go back to sleep. I don’t want to sleep, anyway. It’s the same thing every time I close my eyes.” I waited a moment, and when Jared failed to argue, I pushed myself off the bed and walked into the bathroom.
The pipes whined when I turned the shower knobs, and I stood in front of the sink waiting for the water to warm. The visions from my dream burst in short, loud scenes. The screeching, the sound of my father’s shoes running up the stairs; it wouldn’t stop. Closing my eyes, trying to focus, I rubbed my hands with my face and then looked in the mirror. My features had changed from when Jared and I first met. Spending much of the summer indoors while my leg healed had left my skin pale and lifeless, and I was sporting a matching pair of purple circles under my eyes.
Our near-death experience in the restaurant seemed like a lifetime away. Aside from the occasional news story about the police department’s finest meeting untimely ends in bizarre and unrelated accidents, our days went by as if Grahm, and Shax, and the book had never existed.
I let my nightgown drop to the floor, and then stepped into the shower, sighing as the stream of water poured over my face.
Jared walked in, and leaned against the sink, crossing his arms across his chest.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
Jared shifted uncomfortably. “It’s you I’m worried about.”
“The fall semester is getting ready to start. I have extra classes, and with my internship, it’s probably just stress.”
“I don’t understand it,” Jared said. “It’s been months since any of…them have come around. This is the least I’ve seen of them in my entire life, and yet you’re…,” Jared rubbed his neck. “It doesn’t make sense for you to be having these dreams now.”
“Jared, people have nightmares all the time without demons present. It doesn’t mean anything,” I said, scrubbing shampoo into my hair.
“That’s what you think.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, c’mon. You’re blowing this out of proportion. If I promise to quit having the dreams, will you promise to quit freaking out about them?”
“You’ll promise to quit having the dreams,” Jared repeated, his voice thick with sarcasm.
I poked my soapy head from the shower curtain, lather dripping down my face. “Okay, I can’t promise, but you’re giving me a complex. Unless you know something I don’t, they’re just dreams.”
Jared smiled, and wiped the line of soap from my forehead, promptly kissing my lips. “Okay. They’re just dreams.”
I nodded in approval, and then closed the curtain. “I have to stop by the office today, do you mind?” I asked, knowing he would.
“You mean more than any other day?”
Escorting me to Titan Mercantile was just another day at work for Jared, but as often as I asked him to come in, it had become an inside joke between us. Every day I asked, and every day he politely declined. For years the halls of Titan Mercantile were walked by Jared’s father Gabe. Jared didn’t talk about it, but I assumed his refusal to go in had to do with unresolved feelings concerning his father.
The hours before dawn crept by slowly, and after my shower, Jared and I spent the remaining moments of twilight at the breakfast table. When the morning sun finally poked through the blinds, I smiled at the glowing light painting rectangles against the walls. I had spent hours staring at those walls, waiting for my leg to heal. Beth visited infrequently, busy decorating her new apartment, Kim had taken her summer vacation on the road, and Claire was relentlessly eliminating any threat to us. Jared spent much of his time warding off loneliness, and keeping me entertained. We had grown closer, and life had been more normal than ever. The only reminder of the night I almost died was the scar on my thigh.
Jared working busily in the kitchen caught my eye, and I listened to the pan pop and sizzle with our breakfast. He placed omelets on the table along with a small stack of mail.
“Anything interesting?” I asked as he thumbed through the envelopes.
Jared paused, eyes narrowing as he read over the handwritten address.
“What?”
“It’s for you,” he said, sliding it toward me.
The top left corner explained Jared’s expression. It was from Ryan.
By Jared’s expression, I knew it wasn’t good news. “You already know, don’t you?” I said, pulling out a single sheet of notebook paper.
“I have an idea.”
“Something you should have told me by now,” I accused, scanning the letter quickly.
Dear Nigh,
I wanted you to hear it from me, but don’t know how to say it, so I’m just going to write it. I’m not coming back to Brown. I talked it over with an Army recruiter and I feel that it’s the best place for me at this point. I know you better than you think I do, and right now you’re feeling guilty. Well, don’t. You’re happy and that’s all that matters to me, and that’s the truth. I’m sorry you have to find out in this stupid letter, but everything happened kinda fast and I didn’t have time to call. Take care of yourself, Nigh. I’ll think about you every day.