Chapter One: Nightmares

The heat was intense. It felt as if the skin was slowly melting off his body. Smoke filled his lungs causing him to cough. He was disoriented. He wanted to scream, but he was too weak to move. His body ached. He looked around and could vaguely make out a pair of boots approaching him.

"Troy?" He looked up, but he couldn't see anyone.

"Troy?" The voice called again. Troy recognized the voice, but he couldn't figure out where it was coming from. The voice was getting louder. He felt a pair of hands shake him and suddenly he was in another place.

He rubbed him eyes, letting them adjust to his new surroundings. He was at Ernie's. He glanced up. Emma was looking down at him.

"Hey, you fell asleep again." She asked concerned. "That's the fourth time today."

"I'm just really tired." He replied looking away. He hadn't told her or anyone for that matter that he was having nightmares. At first, they hadn't bothered him. After all, didn't everyone have them occasionally. But recently they had begun to get worst, they had gotten so bad that he was barely able to sleep for more than an hour at night. "Haven't been getting much sleep."

"It's not school work is it?" She asked. He shook his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Before he had a chance to answer, Noah walked in. "Come on guys. Jake's match starts soon."

"We're coming." Troy called out. He looked to Emma as he began to leave. He didn't want her to ask again but somehow, he knew she would.

"We'll talk later." She said getting up with him.

The game had gone well. So well that it's all Jake talked about the whole walk home.

"Oh, and did you see that last goal? It was awesome. The other team didn't stand a chance." He said smiling from ear to ear, soccer ball in hand.

"I think they could have scored another two goals if you weren't on the team." Gia teased him. She turned so no one would see she was secretly smiling.

"Yeah right?" Jake muttered, but when he turned to look at her he saw that she was completely serious. "You don't really mean that." He said, his face falling.

"No, she doesn't." Emma reassured him.

Gia shrugged, walking away. He turned to look to the others before running after her. "Gia?"

Noah laughed. "He really likes her, doesn't he?"

Before anyone could say anything, he felt someone's arm wrap around his. He glanced down, pushing his glasses back. "Hey Sandy." He greeted her.

She smiled up at him and he felt his heart skip a beat. "Hey, sorry I couldn't make the game."

Troy turned toward her, crossing his arms. "Where were you? And don't say you were at home. I called mom and she said you weren't there."

"I was busy." Troy raised his eyebrows. Sandy rolled her eyes. "I'm not a little kid anymore. You don't have to worry all the time."

"Speaking of worrying." Emma whispered so only he would hear it. Troy pretended not to hear her. "Next time at least let me know you can't make it."

Sandy smiled. "Yes sir." She began to drag Noah with her in the direction in which Jake and Gia had gone.

"Wait, where are we going?" He asked, almost tripping over his own feet.

"Home." She said, looking to him curiously. "Where else?"

Noah blushed. "Yeah. I knew that."

Troy started to follow them, but Emma blocked his path.

"I think we should talk now."

Troy sighed. All he wanted to do was go home and try to get some rest. He didn't want to talk about it. Now that they were no longer rangers, he thought life would be much easier. He thought sleeping would be much easier. It wasn't.

"Emma just drop it." He said a little harshly. She stared at him, hurt.

"Fine, we don't have to talk about it. But you should talk to someone. Anyone." With that she walked away from him. He watched her walk away. He knew she was right, he needed help.

Now it was Emma's turn to lie awake. She had tried to sleep hours ago, but it refused to come. Instead she lay on her bed, staring at her phone. Emma wanted to call Troy, she knew he must have been awake, but she didn't want to push him. Eventually he would talk. Having had enough, Emma threw the covers off and went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, hoping it might calm her down.

Through the kitchen window, Emma noticed that the light was on in the house next door. The curtains were closed, but she could make out the shadow of someone moving things around. As she filled the glass up she heard a door opening. She turned to find her father walking out of his home office.

"Hey kiddo, what are you doing up?" He asked.

"Just grabbing a glass of water." She raised her glass slightly. She pointed out the window. "So, the new neighbors finally moved in?"

"Yeah, while you were at school actually. Your mom and I went to welcome them. They seem like nice people." Her dad told her.

"They must also be very busy people if they don't have time to unpack during the day." Emma stated.

"They are. They work for law enforcement."

"Really?" Emma asked. "Both of them?"

He nodded. "And they have a child. A little boy. I recommended your elementary school. They mentioned they were looking for a babysitter. I mentioned you might be able to help."

"Dad!" Her father laughed. "You said you wanted a job. Or did I not hear you correctly?"

"I do. But not as a babysitter." She sighed. She didn't mind children, at least not if they were younger than three. The problem was that she had been a babysitter before and she had thought the job would be easy. After all, how hard could it be to handle children. Then she had gotten a chance to take care of one and to say the least it was a disaster. The child would not listen to anything she said and eventually she quit.

"Maybe you can bring Gia along." She looked to her father seriously.

"At least stop by tomorrow. Introduce yourself. He seems like a calm kid." Her dad started to walk up the stairs.

"Don't they all?" She heard her dad laugh.

"Goodnight sweetie."

"Goodnight."