"Ugh!" My sister throws the book she was reading into the pile and hits her head on the table. "There. Is. NOTHING!"
"Relax, Tris." I say. "We haven't even read half of the books yet."
"And we've been here for hours!" She whines. "This is so boring, and we aren't even getting anything out of it!"
"Not yet." Nydia speaks up. "But we will." She reassures Tris.
"You really think so?" My sister asks. For some reason, she really looks up to Nydia.
"Of course." Nydia responds. "We will figure out what your tattoos mean, and you will be okay."
Tris looks reassured and goes back to reading. I'm amazed at how Nydia handled that. If I had tried to say those exact same things to Tris to calm her down, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere. I'm a little bit jealous that Nydia seems to be more like a big sister to Tris than I am, even though they've only known each other for like a day.
I huff and go back to reading.
Despite Nydia's reassurance, two hours later we still haven't found anything, and I'm starting to think we actually won't. There are only a few books left in our pile, and the only djinn information in the books we've read has been pretty basic.
I'm just about to give up for good when Nydia says, "Hey! This might be something." Tris, Aatami, Sam, Dean, and I all rush over to her. She's on her laptop, looking at supernatural conspiracy sites. She starts reading a page from the website she's on now, The Mysteries of Djinn.
"'A few years ago, a camper reported running into a man with glowing tattoos in the woods. The camper said that the man came up to her, but didn't attack her. Instead, he whispered words in some foreign language, and the same tattoos that the man had started appearing on her.' This sounds exactly like what happened to Tris!" She says excitedly.
"Does it say who the camper is?" Aatami asks. Nydia clicks around on the computer for a few seconds and nods.
"Ellen Whaite. Lives in Hurley, Missouri."
I straighten up and look at my team. "Let's go."
"Hold up." Sam says. "It's five PM. It'll be nine by the time we get there, and we won't be able to do anything then. We have some guest rooms here, y'all can get some sleep and we'll leave first thing in the morning."
I sigh. "Sadly, you have a point."
You will never be free.
I stifle a scream as I wake up from yet another nightmare. I've been having the same one for weeks, my sister transforming into a djinn before my eyes. Now that I know she's alive, and she has those tattoos, the dream has taken on a whole new meaning.
I shudder and pull my jacket over my head. I know I'm probably not going to fall back asleep tonight.
The door creaks as I step out of my room and walk down the hallway towards the kitchen.
To my surprise, Nydia is sitting at the table when I get there, eating a bowl of cereal.
"Hey." She says nonchalantly as I open the fridge. "Nightmares?"
"Yeah. Beer?" I ask her as I get one for myself. She grimaces and shakes her head.
"You drink that stuff?"
I shrug. "Not usually, but it helps me forget the nightmares. Why're you up?" I sit down across from her and take a sip of the beer. It tastes horrible, but it's better than overanalyzing every aspect of my dream all night.
"I never fell asleep. Thinking about Tris. Why would that only happen to her, and not you, or your parents?"
I nod. "I was wondering that too. I hope we'll get some answers with Ellen tomorrow. Er, I guess, today."
She laughs. "Yeah." Suddenly, she sits up straighter in her chair, like she just had an idea. "Hey, follow me."
"Why?" I ask, but she doesn't answer. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I grab my beer and follow her.
Eventually she stops in front of Aatami's door. She lifts her hand to knock, but instead throws the door open when she hears a muffled scream come from inside.
We both run into his room, and are greeted with the sight of Aatami tangled up in his covers, wildly thrashing, his cheeks streaked with tears. It's obvious he's having a nightmare. Nydia rushes over to him and tries to shake him awake. Like on the hunt, that doesn't wake him up, so I go to the bathroom and get a cup full of water, then splash him on the face.
He sits up with a gasp and a strangled, "No! Stop!" After a couple seconds, though, he seems to realise where he is, and he relaxes. "Oh. Thanks, guys. Was cold water really necessary, though?"
"Sorry. It was the only thing I could think of." I apologise. "You ok?"
"Eh. Could be better. But I'm sure you guys get nightmares too. I'm fine."
We definitely do, but with Aatami's past, I don't doubt that his nightmares are so much worse. I don't bring that up, though. I don't know how much he's told Nydia about his parents.
"I think we should have a game night!" Nydia says suddenly, and Aatami and I both look at her in surprise.
"What?" We both ask at the same time.
"Well, a game morning, I guess. I don't think any of us are going to bed anytime soon, so we might as well have some fun."
"Um… that sounds like it might actually be fun. Let's do it." I say, smiling. I love how Nydia can find the perfect thing to distract me from my problems. I realise that I love a lot of things about her. I love how she doesn't shave because it's a messed up patriarchal standard. I love how she drinks freaking tea in the morning instead of coffee. I love how she sings lullabies in foreign languages when I have a nightmare. I love her.
Shit. I love her. Shiiit.
A/N: Hehe. I hope I'm not moving that sideplot along too quickly. I don't have a lot of experience writing romance, so if I'm doing something wrong, please tell me in a review! Also, I'm totally paying homage to my hometown with where Ellen Whaite lives. I don't live there anymore, but I used to. It's tinyyyyy. Also also, I am trying to get a more consistent update schedule, so I'm going to try to update this story on Mondays and sometimes on Wednesdays. Okay, that's all. Ciao!