I can''t help but gag, I feel sick at the thought of it. Eve waves the boys off and takes me to the bathroom where I empty my stomach. Maybe they're right, maybe I'm just drunk. I could have believed that, except for the fact that throwing up doesn't make the ache inside of me any better and that I just got freaking visited by the ghost of my boyfriend's dead sister.
"It's okay, Claire," Eve mutters, holding my hair back.
"She's supposed to be dead!" I cry, my words slurring from the alcohol.
"Shhh," Eve soothes, "I know, I know," She's not listening to me, and I don't blame her. I sound so drunk right now that it's no surprise that she doesn't believe a word I say. If I told anyone I'd probably get myself driven off to the nearest mental institution in about 5 seconds flat.
I need to calm down, I tell myself, you don't even know if it is Alyssa Collins, there's probably lots of Alyssa's in Morganville. Even as I say it, however, I know that it's very unlikely. Firstly, Alyssa isn't that popular for a name. Secondly, she looked like she recognized Shane and said his name. Thirdly, why would a random ghost visit me, of all people? And why could I see her but nobody else could? None of it makes sense.
I'm not quite sure how I got there but I find myself in bed. Eve probably took me in there and I never even noticed. I hear some quiet talking coming through down the hall, but it's all blurred out by now. I hear them all saying goodnight and heading into their different rooms. I wait for 5 or so minutes before starting to sob. I cry because I saw Alyssa, I cry because I feel sick, I cry becase I was too drunk to get myself to bed. Eventually, I cry just for the sake of crying. I gradually drift off to sleep with my pillow still soaked from tears.
I look around at the street I'm in, it looks familiar. I think I've been here before, but I can't remember exactly where I am. It's midnight and except for the orange-tinted glow being emited from a far away street lamp, it's pitch black. The wind is whipping and howling so I conclude that it's winter. My idea is proved accurate when a billow of warm air comes from my mouth.
That's when I realise that I'm in danger. I must be in Morganville somewhere and I don't think I have a weapon or anything to protect myself. I will myself to run, to go home, even if I have no idea where that is in my current state of mind. I shiver and start to look down at myself. I'm wearing a black coat with black pants and gloves.
None of my skin is showing except for a flutter of metal on my wrist. It's a protection bracelet, and for a few seconds I'm confused. It should be gold with a sun charm on it, not silver with a moon engraved into it. That's when it's comes to me that it's not Amelie's, it's Brandon's.
When did I start taking protection from Brandon?
That's when I realise that I'm not in my body. I'm in someone elses, a boy's based on the clothes and large hands. I watch as I, whoever I am, start to slowly look down at the ground. I see a black bag on the floor and hear myself gasp before I conciously figure out what it actually, but when I do, I regret it. Its a body bag.
I want to run. Stratch that, I want to go home. I want to be back in my own body, at home with Shane and Eve and Michael. I definitly don't want to be standing in the street in the middle of the night holding a body bag.
I can't control my limbs and I lift the body bag back up again and start pulling it down the street. It's only light so I conclude that whatever is inside is either a child or a very thin woman. Neither are particually nice options. Soon enough, I get to a small woods and I walk into with silent tears rushing down my face. It's nice to know that whoever I am feels remorse for what he has done.
I dump the bag between a bush and a tree where it's not visible unless you were extremly observant. I run to the end of the woods, where the blankets of trees meet the rough city landscape before turning back to the woods and the secret it holds before whispering a single word:
"Sorry."
I wake up gasping for breath in my own bed again. What the hell was that? It was like a dream but it felt like I was really there. I can't believe I just watched some hiding a body. I especially can't believe that I watched it in a dream, either. It was just so realistic. It must be real. It has to mean something, at least.
I roll over, tugging the blankets and I flinch when I feel something sharp underneath me. I slide away the covers slowly, dreading what the thing is that's in my bed. I see a flash of silver and realise with a horrible sinking feeling that it's a knife. For a few seconds, I think that there is blood on it but it fades away. I think I hear footsteps on the floor outside my door and panic that someone is coming in. I instinctively grab the knife and stick it under the mattress before breathing a sigh of relief, nobody will find it there.
I lie in bed staring at the ceiling with a dry throat and banging headache, wondering what the dream meant and how the knife got there. It's only after a few minutes that I start to smell bacon and realise that it must be sometime in the morning now, and lying in bed thinking about a dream isn't going to help me much at all. So I peel away the blankets and open the window in my bedroom.
The sun is seeping in, a dramatic difference to the relentless rain that came with the draug. It's hot, even for June and as cliche as it sounds, the birds are singing sweetly outside the window. If I can forget about the dream for just a few hours, today probably would be a great day. I head downstairs and burst into kitchen to see my roomates passing around coffee and taking it in turns to make breakfast.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Eve says chipperly, "What do you want for breakfast? Coffee? Aspirin?"
"Both," I reply groggily and everyone has a little giggle at my misfortune. I laugh along with them, pushing the events of last night out of my mind. It's probably no big deal anyway. After breakfast, I race Eve to the bathroom and win, for the first time in ages. After a long shower, I put on a pair of grey skinny jeans and a white flowly top. I let my hair fall loose and put on a bit of concealer to cover up the bags under my eyes. I don't look great, but at least I look somewhat alive.
I mess around with my shoes in front of the door, trying to find a pair of silver sandals that I haven't worn for months. As I'm doing that, strong hands come up behind me and wrap around my waist. For a second, I internally freak out, thinking that it could be Alyssa, before remembering that Shane's there. I momentarily sink into his warm arms and consider not going to class today, but my attendence is awful as it is, I can't afford any more 'sick days'.
"Do you really have to go?" Shane moans quietly into my shoulder.
"Unfortunatly, I do," I reply back to him, finally finding my shoes and slipping them on. I give him a quick kiss and say, "I love you, I'll be back before you know it,"
I shut the front door behind me and walk off towards the university for a fun day of physics, quantam mechanics and literature.
