She knew he was there somewhere in the darkened corner, cloaked behind the smoke that filled the bar. She had felt his presence ten minutes into her journey three days ago. Him being there angered her and endeared her and it made her feel annoyed and safe all at the same time.
"Hey honey…" A gruff and slurred voice called out to her, but she didn't look up at the man seated on the barstool beside her.
"I'm so not in the mood buddy, keep on walking." She said before finishing off her first bottle of beer.
"Why you uppity bit…" The sentence ended with a loud crash. She still didn't look up but she greet her new guest, now seated on the stool next to her.
"Hello Nick." She spoke and then drank from the fresh bottle of beer the bartender had given her.
"Hey A…Rose," Nick corrected as he too gulped from his bottle. They then sat in comfortable silence.
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"Wow, you waited a whole ten minutes before coming after me," Rose said as they trekked from the bar to the motel just across the street, a place she had called home for the past two nights.
"Actually it was thirty minutes, since I knew where you were headed I had time to stop off and gas up the stang and grab something to eat."
"Please don't tell me you have a GPS somewhere on my car." She said as she stopped to glare at him.
"Well I didn't put it there, its standard issue on all legacy members cars. You'll have to take that up with Derek when we get back." Nick stated throwing his hands up in a surrendering manner.
"If I go back," She mumbled under her breath but Nick heard it yet said nothing, he knew now wasn't the time. "So where are you staying?" Rose asked as she unlocked the door to her motel room. Her eyes followed to where Nick pointed. "You've been sleeping in your car?"
"You got the last room," He stated.
"In New Orleans?" She shot back.
"No, but I wanted to…"
"Keep an eye on me." She finished his statement as she moved to her bed and plopped down upon it. "Fine, you can stay here but I'm keeping the bed." She said as she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.
"I'll just grab my bag." Nick said as he headed back out.
Nick's words barely registered and when she slowly opened her eyes to acknowledge him she found herself looking up at a star filled night sky, through the branches of a large tree. She tried to move, to sit up but felt as if she were being restrained, and when she looked down at her arms she discovered her body was mummified in a white sheet.
"Only you can make it right," Jazelle's voice rang out and when she looked up again she saw Jazelle standing over her, and it was then that she realized she was in a large hole, a grave. She struggled to free herself but her movements only seemed to tighten her bindings. When she looked up again to where Jazelle had been standing, she saw herself but as a child. She saw 'Alexandra' giggling down at her, the child then began to push dirt into the grave atop her. And the only thing she could do was scream…
"Ahhhhhhhh…" Rose screamed out as she bolted upright in the bed. Her screams caused Nick to jump up from his spot on the floor. She looked frantically about the dark room until her eyes locked on to Nick's
"Hey…hey its ok it was just a dream." Nick consoled as he now sat on the bed beside her, cradling her in his arms. Rose clung to him crying but very happy that he was there; that this was one of the many nightmares she had been having, that she didn't have to endure alone.
"She's burying me Nick, she's is burying me alive." Rose moaned out in despair.
"No Alex," Nick spoke softly, forgetting to use her 'new' name. "It was just a bad dream. You're safe, I've got you." He spoke into her ear and she seemed to calm a bit.
"God, Nick I think she wants me to take her place, but I can't, how would that even be possible?"
"I don't know, in the morning I think we should head over to the New Orleans house and do some research." Nick suggested.
"No, we have to go see Jazelle."
"Jazelle, why?"
"She was there too, in my dream. She was still telling me that I'm the only one who can set things right. So maybe she can tell me how I'm suppose to do it."
"Ok, we'll go first thing the morning, you think you'll be able to sleep?"
"Maybe…if you sleep up here with me." Rose replied coyly.
"So long as you promise not to snore." Nick joked with a smile; one Rose matched.
"I do not snore, Mr. Boyle." She said to his back as he moved to retrieve his pillow from the floor.
"Fine," Nick conceded as he settled into the bed next to her. "Then there's a really big rat in here making a lot of noise."
"Why you…" Rose giggled as swatted her pillow across Nick's head
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