*-Carter-*
Alex was being so mean! It wasn't my fault I couldn't sit still, okay, maybe I was acting like a kindergartener, but it would clear up, right? Right? It didn't matter. I got to leave the hospital really soon! Alex and Clear had brought me some stuff from the hotel and I was able to be relatively normal as I left. Okay, okay, I was bouncing off the walls and it was making Alex even madder. But the doctors said I should be back to my usual self in a day or two. That concept didn't seem to cheer him up any more.
"Carter, stay still! I'm trying to drive," Alex ordered. I was in the backseat, which was probably a good idea because if I acted up, at least I'd be out of the range of Alex's fist.
Clear was awfully quiet. She did nothing but stare straight ahead the whole way back to the hotel. I wondered if she was okay. She was next, and the look in her eyes sobered me up quite a bit. I sat back and tried really hard to be quiet for the rest of the trip.
"Alex, STOP!" Clear screeched. Alex slammed on the brakes.
"Clear, what the-"
It was a yellow light. Alex was going to just go right through it, but Clear was so paranoid. Our stop had caused several cars behind us to blow their horns loudly, and some drivers were yelling at us in French, so I stuck my head out the window and gave them all the finger. One of them threw something at me and I ducked back inside.
"You could have gotten us all killed!" Clear yelled. She was really in hysterics now, tears running down her face. I kept to myself and curled up in the corner. Alex was trying to calm her down.
"Clear, it's okay, you're not going to go yet," he told her. She wouldn't have it. The light changed and Alex drove us to some place out of the way.
"I can't believe you! You and this stupid plan, and you're all 'We have to protect each other,' and then you nearly run a red light! In a foreign country!" Clear went on and on and on, I was getting a headache but I ignored it. She'd been keeping it all bottled up inside for so long, and deserved to let Alex have it. At least he couldn't yell at me now.
"Clear, calm down, please!" Alex tried in vain to get her to settle down. Geez, she was worse than I was! "I'm sorry! I'm sorry Clear. I shouldn't have done that."
Clear sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Of course you shouldn't have." Alex hugged her and then we were back on the road.
*^Clear^*
I hated Alex for a little while there. I hated him because after all he'd said, he went and nearly killed us all. Then death would have its way.
We got back to the hotel and the first thing I did was go take a nap. I was incredibly tired, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I had a horrible dream that afternoon. I was back at home, sitting in front of the school eating lunch with Alex. All of a sudden, Alex got all weird and freaked out. It was like he was asleep, and having a nightmare. Then he 'woke up' and told me we had to leave, there was something wrong. We ran to my house, and Alex turned on the TV. Sure enough, breaking news was that there had been a gas leak at the school and the whole west side was blown apart. We had evaded death again -- and now we were on the run from it, again.
Then, it was probably about a week after the school exploded, Alex and I were running. From what I'll never know, but we were running and runnning. It was probably from death. We tried to escape by going to different cities, we even left the country a few times, but we were still running. Then we got on a plane, Alex had a premonition and we tried to get off, but they wouldn't let us. After the plane took off, some guy in a ski mask jumped up and grabbed me, taking me hostage. He was going to kill us all... that was Alex's premonition. He held a knife to my throat and started drawing it across my neck...
*~Alex~*
"NOOOOO!"
I jumped about three feet in the air. Clear was screaming again, this time it wasn't at me, thank God. She was sitting bolt upright in bed, her face dripping with sweat, breathing like she'd just run a marathon. I ran to her side and she leaned on me, sobbing again.
"Alex, it was horrible," she cried. Clear told me about her dream, which I had to admit was pretty bad. I held her for a while until she settled down.
Carter came back in with a bang of the door. "Hey, our neighbor has a pretty big selection of guns over there," he announced.
"Were you snooping in his room or something?" I asked.
"No, I was just over there talking to him. He said he was a serial killer, but he's finished with that. What are you guys staring at me like that for?" Carter asked, eyes wild.
"Carter, lock the door," I ordered. "All the locks."
"Um, okay," Carter said, locking the deadbolt, the chain, and the knob.
"The balcony door too," I added.
Carter locked that door and closed the curtains. "What's up?"
"Are you a complete idiot now Carter?" Clear asked. "As if being on the run for the rest of our lives wasn't bad enough, we have to spend a week next to a serial killer?"
"Former serial killer," Carter corrected.
"I can hardly believe he's changed if he has an assortment of weapons with him," Clear muttered.
Carter came over and bounced on the bed. "Whatever. Hey, you have a bad dream or something? I heard you yelling."
Clear retold the dream to Carter, who responded with, "Why wasn't I there?"
"I don't know," Clear muttered. "But I want to go home."
"We all do," I murmured. "But I don't know. The mere prescence of that guy next door is bugging me. I don't like it. I don't like it at all."
Carter made a funny face, and Clear laughed at him. "We'll go home soon Clear. Don't worry."
"I'll try," she said, a weak smile crossing her face. The three of us hugged, like we all needed the reassuring, not just Clear. We were right. Although we wouldn't admit it because we didn't want to worry Clear any more than we had to, Carter and I were as scared as she was. We were scared for her, scared for ourselves. All of us were just plain scared.
*-Carter-*
I felt really bad for Clear. We were in the worst possible situation... lucky for them, I was feeling more and more like my old self every minute.
That night I didn't sleep a wink. I wanted to stay up, just in case something happened. The three of us decided we'd all share one room from now on, considering our position. I curled up on the couch and just stared around the room. I watched Alex and Clear sleep for a while -- did they look adorable or what. It made me miss Terry again... several of the local girls had tried flirting with me but I wasn't ready to date. Not so soon after I lost Terry. I felt sort of responsible for her death -- I mean, she was yelling at me when she walked out onto the road. I saved a lock of her hair. It's in a little box, and I carry it around with me. I have it with me right now. I loved her so much...
This was ridiculous. We'd gone six months without worrying about it and now it was coming back. Was it going to be like this forever? Alex had said we'd have to stick together, but for how long? What if we ended up going to different colleges, or moved far away from each other? We'd have to keep in constant communication. Like, if I went away somewhere, Alex and Clear would have to keep calling me, to tell me if it was my turn or not, and I'd have to call them to tell them who was next. It would be so hard to do... I wondered if death would ever just give up and realize that it wasn't going to get us, that it should just leave us all alone so we can get on with our lives... that sounded really weird.
Alex stirred and half sat up. "Hey, Carter, what are you still doing up?" he asked.
"I can't sleep," I said. "Is she sleeping okay?"
"Yeah," Alex murmured, his hand on Clear's shoulder. "A good night's sleep is something none of us have had in a long time. You should sleep."
"I can't," I repeated. "It's like I feel I should stay up and watch out for danger or something."
"Maybe that's a good idea," Alex said. "To wake us up if anything happens."
"Yeah..." I toyed with the little box in my hands and said nothing more.
Alex got up and sat on the other side of the bed, closer to me. "You still miss her, don't you?" I nodded. "I'm sure she misses you too."
"What if she doesn't?" I whispered. "What if she forgets me, and when I finally get to see her again she doesn't know who I am? Or what if I forget her? That's my biggest fear. That we'll forget each other."
"You won't forget her Carter," Alex said. "You and Terry were so close. It'd be impossible for either of you to forget each other."
"You wouldn't know," I mumbled.
"You're right," Alex said. "I wouldn't. Hopefully I won't have to know."
"Hey Alex," I said.
"What?"
"Go to sleep. I'll probably end up awake all night," I said.
Alex smiled sleepily and went back to bed. I leaned my head back against the couch. This would be a long night...
*^Clear^*
I was half asleep when the sun came up. I'd thought Carter had closed the curtains... I rolled over and faced Alex instead of the window in an attempt to sleep a little while longer. I'd made it through the night without any chance of death, as far as I knew. If anything had happened and someone else was dead, I'd feel like shit.
Luckily, Carter and Alex were still alive when I woke up. Carter was singing off-key in the shower, and Alex was holding me close. I could hear Alex's heartbeat, which was comforting. He was still asleep.
I slipped out of Alex's arms and stared out the window. I wished so hard I could go home... I closed my eyes and let a few thoughts run through my head.
"Clear! Get over here!" Alex yelled at me.
Not bothering to answer, I ran over to the bed and Alex grabbed me. He pulled me down to the floor opposite the window and shielded me from whatever it was.
'It' was a beam from the construction site nearby. It had smashed through our window, and had I stayed there... I would have been dead. Alex intervened...
"Alex..." I whispered.
"I know," he answered. "I know. Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I said, taking Alex's hand.
Carter ran out of the bathroom, still soaked, a towel around his waist. "What the hell happened?" he shouted, as sirens were heard outside.
"We have no clue," Alex admitted, pulling me off the floor. "But it's my turn now."
Carter went white. "You mean Clear almost-"
"Yeah," I interrupted.
We were cleared out of the room as police asessed the damage and paramedics checked us for injuries. Later our belongings were brought to us, and the hotel manager offered us the rest of the week free, but we declined. It was a unanimous decision: we were going home. Now.
Alex was being so mean! It wasn't my fault I couldn't sit still, okay, maybe I was acting like a kindergartener, but it would clear up, right? Right? It didn't matter. I got to leave the hospital really soon! Alex and Clear had brought me some stuff from the hotel and I was able to be relatively normal as I left. Okay, okay, I was bouncing off the walls and it was making Alex even madder. But the doctors said I should be back to my usual self in a day or two. That concept didn't seem to cheer him up any more.
"Carter, stay still! I'm trying to drive," Alex ordered. I was in the backseat, which was probably a good idea because if I acted up, at least I'd be out of the range of Alex's fist.
Clear was awfully quiet. She did nothing but stare straight ahead the whole way back to the hotel. I wondered if she was okay. She was next, and the look in her eyes sobered me up quite a bit. I sat back and tried really hard to be quiet for the rest of the trip.
"Alex, STOP!" Clear screeched. Alex slammed on the brakes.
"Clear, what the-"
It was a yellow light. Alex was going to just go right through it, but Clear was so paranoid. Our stop had caused several cars behind us to blow their horns loudly, and some drivers were yelling at us in French, so I stuck my head out the window and gave them all the finger. One of them threw something at me and I ducked back inside.
"You could have gotten us all killed!" Clear yelled. She was really in hysterics now, tears running down her face. I kept to myself and curled up in the corner. Alex was trying to calm her down.
"Clear, it's okay, you're not going to go yet," he told her. She wouldn't have it. The light changed and Alex drove us to some place out of the way.
"I can't believe you! You and this stupid plan, and you're all 'We have to protect each other,' and then you nearly run a red light! In a foreign country!" Clear went on and on and on, I was getting a headache but I ignored it. She'd been keeping it all bottled up inside for so long, and deserved to let Alex have it. At least he couldn't yell at me now.
"Clear, calm down, please!" Alex tried in vain to get her to settle down. Geez, she was worse than I was! "I'm sorry! I'm sorry Clear. I shouldn't have done that."
Clear sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Of course you shouldn't have." Alex hugged her and then we were back on the road.
*^Clear^*
I hated Alex for a little while there. I hated him because after all he'd said, he went and nearly killed us all. Then death would have its way.
We got back to the hotel and the first thing I did was go take a nap. I was incredibly tired, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I had a horrible dream that afternoon. I was back at home, sitting in front of the school eating lunch with Alex. All of a sudden, Alex got all weird and freaked out. It was like he was asleep, and having a nightmare. Then he 'woke up' and told me we had to leave, there was something wrong. We ran to my house, and Alex turned on the TV. Sure enough, breaking news was that there had been a gas leak at the school and the whole west side was blown apart. We had evaded death again -- and now we were on the run from it, again.
Then, it was probably about a week after the school exploded, Alex and I were running. From what I'll never know, but we were running and runnning. It was probably from death. We tried to escape by going to different cities, we even left the country a few times, but we were still running. Then we got on a plane, Alex had a premonition and we tried to get off, but they wouldn't let us. After the plane took off, some guy in a ski mask jumped up and grabbed me, taking me hostage. He was going to kill us all... that was Alex's premonition. He held a knife to my throat and started drawing it across my neck...
*~Alex~*
"NOOOOO!"
I jumped about three feet in the air. Clear was screaming again, this time it wasn't at me, thank God. She was sitting bolt upright in bed, her face dripping with sweat, breathing like she'd just run a marathon. I ran to her side and she leaned on me, sobbing again.
"Alex, it was horrible," she cried. Clear told me about her dream, which I had to admit was pretty bad. I held her for a while until she settled down.
Carter came back in with a bang of the door. "Hey, our neighbor has a pretty big selection of guns over there," he announced.
"Were you snooping in his room or something?" I asked.
"No, I was just over there talking to him. He said he was a serial killer, but he's finished with that. What are you guys staring at me like that for?" Carter asked, eyes wild.
"Carter, lock the door," I ordered. "All the locks."
"Um, okay," Carter said, locking the deadbolt, the chain, and the knob.
"The balcony door too," I added.
Carter locked that door and closed the curtains. "What's up?"
"Are you a complete idiot now Carter?" Clear asked. "As if being on the run for the rest of our lives wasn't bad enough, we have to spend a week next to a serial killer?"
"Former serial killer," Carter corrected.
"I can hardly believe he's changed if he has an assortment of weapons with him," Clear muttered.
Carter came over and bounced on the bed. "Whatever. Hey, you have a bad dream or something? I heard you yelling."
Clear retold the dream to Carter, who responded with, "Why wasn't I there?"
"I don't know," Clear muttered. "But I want to go home."
"We all do," I murmured. "But I don't know. The mere prescence of that guy next door is bugging me. I don't like it. I don't like it at all."
Carter made a funny face, and Clear laughed at him. "We'll go home soon Clear. Don't worry."
"I'll try," she said, a weak smile crossing her face. The three of us hugged, like we all needed the reassuring, not just Clear. We were right. Although we wouldn't admit it because we didn't want to worry Clear any more than we had to, Carter and I were as scared as she was. We were scared for her, scared for ourselves. All of us were just plain scared.
*-Carter-*
I felt really bad for Clear. We were in the worst possible situation... lucky for them, I was feeling more and more like my old self every minute.
That night I didn't sleep a wink. I wanted to stay up, just in case something happened. The three of us decided we'd all share one room from now on, considering our position. I curled up on the couch and just stared around the room. I watched Alex and Clear sleep for a while -- did they look adorable or what. It made me miss Terry again... several of the local girls had tried flirting with me but I wasn't ready to date. Not so soon after I lost Terry. I felt sort of responsible for her death -- I mean, she was yelling at me when she walked out onto the road. I saved a lock of her hair. It's in a little box, and I carry it around with me. I have it with me right now. I loved her so much...
This was ridiculous. We'd gone six months without worrying about it and now it was coming back. Was it going to be like this forever? Alex had said we'd have to stick together, but for how long? What if we ended up going to different colleges, or moved far away from each other? We'd have to keep in constant communication. Like, if I went away somewhere, Alex and Clear would have to keep calling me, to tell me if it was my turn or not, and I'd have to call them to tell them who was next. It would be so hard to do... I wondered if death would ever just give up and realize that it wasn't going to get us, that it should just leave us all alone so we can get on with our lives... that sounded really weird.
Alex stirred and half sat up. "Hey, Carter, what are you still doing up?" he asked.
"I can't sleep," I said. "Is she sleeping okay?"
"Yeah," Alex murmured, his hand on Clear's shoulder. "A good night's sleep is something none of us have had in a long time. You should sleep."
"I can't," I repeated. "It's like I feel I should stay up and watch out for danger or something."
"Maybe that's a good idea," Alex said. "To wake us up if anything happens."
"Yeah..." I toyed with the little box in my hands and said nothing more.
Alex got up and sat on the other side of the bed, closer to me. "You still miss her, don't you?" I nodded. "I'm sure she misses you too."
"What if she doesn't?" I whispered. "What if she forgets me, and when I finally get to see her again she doesn't know who I am? Or what if I forget her? That's my biggest fear. That we'll forget each other."
"You won't forget her Carter," Alex said. "You and Terry were so close. It'd be impossible for either of you to forget each other."
"You wouldn't know," I mumbled.
"You're right," Alex said. "I wouldn't. Hopefully I won't have to know."
"Hey Alex," I said.
"What?"
"Go to sleep. I'll probably end up awake all night," I said.
Alex smiled sleepily and went back to bed. I leaned my head back against the couch. This would be a long night...
*^Clear^*
I was half asleep when the sun came up. I'd thought Carter had closed the curtains... I rolled over and faced Alex instead of the window in an attempt to sleep a little while longer. I'd made it through the night without any chance of death, as far as I knew. If anything had happened and someone else was dead, I'd feel like shit.
Luckily, Carter and Alex were still alive when I woke up. Carter was singing off-key in the shower, and Alex was holding me close. I could hear Alex's heartbeat, which was comforting. He was still asleep.
I slipped out of Alex's arms and stared out the window. I wished so hard I could go home... I closed my eyes and let a few thoughts run through my head.
"Clear! Get over here!" Alex yelled at me.
Not bothering to answer, I ran over to the bed and Alex grabbed me. He pulled me down to the floor opposite the window and shielded me from whatever it was.
'It' was a beam from the construction site nearby. It had smashed through our window, and had I stayed there... I would have been dead. Alex intervened...
"Alex..." I whispered.
"I know," he answered. "I know. Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I said, taking Alex's hand.
Carter ran out of the bathroom, still soaked, a towel around his waist. "What the hell happened?" he shouted, as sirens were heard outside.
"We have no clue," Alex admitted, pulling me off the floor. "But it's my turn now."
Carter went white. "You mean Clear almost-"
"Yeah," I interrupted.
We were cleared out of the room as police asessed the damage and paramedics checked us for injuries. Later our belongings were brought to us, and the hotel manager offered us the rest of the week free, but we declined. It was a unanimous decision: we were going home. Now.