"I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it."

- Charles R. Swindoll

Kaz slowly relaxed her fists from where they clutched at the bedsheets, reaching up to drag a hand over her face. She had never been so relieved to be awake in her entire life. Her head pounded and her body ached, but she was awake.

Kaz stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom for several minutes, mind reeling. Images from her dream flashed into her mind. She vividly recalled her near-asphyxiation in the burning building and the cold, calculating stare of those horrible monsters. She recalled the pounding of heavy feet behind her as she tore across the rooftops and the unmistakable fear she felt as creatures peered over the roof and raked their gaze over her concealed form.

With effort, Kaz pushed these memories from her mind. She was going to drive herself crazy dwelling on a circumstance fabricated by her own subconscious. Kaz groped in the dark for her cell phone to check the time. 9:20pm. Kaz groaned. She had to be at work in 40 minutes.

Normally, Kaz would have rolled over and opted for a bit more sleep. However, she was in no particular mood to chance returning to that horrid dreamscape. She instead swung her feet out of bed, immediately yelping as bare feet met floor and pain flared up her leg. She drew her feet into her thighs, sitting up cross-legged and fumbling for her lamp switch. As pale light illuminated her bedroom Kaz caught sight of the bottoms of her feet and uttered a low hiss.

They were caked with dried blood. The blood proceeded to mask the deep, unsightly lacerations crisscrossing the bottoms of her feet. It was as if she had gotten up in the middle of her nap and did the Macarena on a pile of broken glass. Kaz reached forward and drew aside her bedsheets, stifling a gasp when she saw the sticky puddle of crimson on the mattress where her feet had been.

Kaz stared at the blood for several beats, thoroughly dumfounded. She hadn't torn her feet up bouncing off of things at Millennium Park, had she? No, Kaz had been wearing her sneakers. She would've noticed these wounds immediately.

With a start, Kaz remembered the pain she had experienced as sharp angles bit into her unshod feet when she fled across village roofs in her dream. She had been sure she had left deep gashes in them, remembering how painful it had been to hobble determinedly into the forest.

But that was just a dream. It had to of been. And yet…

Kaz shook her head slightly, chiding herself for even considering the notion. Of course it had been a dream. She must've gotten up in her sleep and sleepwalked somewhere… somehow removing her socks and cutting up her feet in the process. The dream must have felt so real because the pain in the "real" world was real. She must've walked across something sharp in the real world. Sleepwalking… huh. What a trip. Yet it seemed like the only reasonable alternative.

Kaz shrugged her shoulders, grimacing at the soreness in her waist and back. Her head continued to throb with an unrelenting headache. She must've fallen from somewhere while sleepwalking. She probably walked right into a couple walls, too. Likely headfirst.

The rationalization comforted her, though the idea of potentially sleepwalking to some unknown location and harming herself had her heart beating faster. Why wouldn't I of woken up? Kaz vowed to do some research on the Internet after work tonight. Perhaps she'll even barricade her bedroom door.

As she gingerly staggered to her feet, Kaz was disheartened with the realization that her wounds would prevent her from practicing parkour tomorrow. She was running out of time to submit her video—the local parkour club was rolling out with the featured female athletes segment on Christmas Eve. Kaz hoped her body healed quickly.

Wincing, Kaz tottered off her bed on her tip-toes-determined to avoid soiling the floor-and awkwardly in the direction of her bathroom to tend to her wounds and get ready for work. The thought of work made her groan. It was going to be a long fucking night.

Kaz plunked herself down into a shiny red booth, pillowing her head in her crossed arms. Though she had cleaned and bandaged her feet as best she could they continued to throb insistently. Fortunately, there had been no manager tonight to scowl at her as she spent more than half her shift on her ass.

Kaz was a waitress at McCaffery's, a 24-hour breakfast restaurant that offered free Wi-Fi. They were conveniently located near a community college and library so most of their customers consisted of bleary-eyed college students toting backpacks and laptops. Not that she minded; they were usually easy to please with smiles and a pot of coffee. She just wished they tipped more.

She heard her coworker, Shay, slide into the booth across from her and could feel her concerned gaze. It was just the two of them working tonight; Shay doubled as a cook.

"How are you feeling?" Shay asked. Kaz raised her head, resting her chin on her crossed arms.

"Like hell," she muttered miserably. Having really nothing else to do on this slow night, Kaz had explained to Shay at length about her dream and how she suspected she had been sleepwalking.

Shay was about her size and shape with a pinched-in waist that Kaz secretly envied. Her long, straight chestnut hair cascaded down her back and fell to her waist. Shay was a couple years her senior but they became fast friends regardless; Kaz was instantly drawn to her down-to-earth, no-nonsense attitude. Kaz quickly found that she had no reservations confiding in the latter, their conversations often stretching into the night amidst the slow trickle of customers. Meeting Shay had been sort of a relief to Kaz, as she had since given up hope in ever making another female friend. They had just recently begun to go dancing together on the weekends closer to the heart of Chicago. Erik and Shay's little sister, Haleigh, sometimes tagged along if the club was 18+.

Shay crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders, leaning on the table as she peered outside. The booth was situated in the front of the restaurant and faced the mostly-deserted parking lot. The few customers they had had insisted it was going to be a snowpocalypse tonight, and Kaz and Shay found themselves periodically stealing looks outside. Neither of them wanted it to snow—Kaz had ridden her bike to work and Shay's 13-year-old sedan wasn't prepared to tackle a snow storm.

"Was your dad there, in the apartment I mean?" Shay asked, her gaze flitting back to Kaz.

"Nuh uh."

"That's crazy about the sleepwalking, though. I heard that you're not supposed to wake people up when they're sleepwalking. Maybe that's why nobody woke you up wherever you went."

"Well that's fucking stupid," Kaz replied. "If I find out someone let me wander around like a zombie, beating the crap out of myself, I'm going to be pissed."

Shay shrugged, leaning back in the booth and stuffing her hands in her apron.

"That's pretty neat about your dream though, aside from the hurting like hell part. I don't think I've ever had a dream as real as you said yours was. When I realize I'm dreaming during a dream it's usually because I'm having sex with someone or something, cos God knows that doesn't happen in real life."

Kaz barked out a laugh. "Y'know, a sex dream would have been so much better."

"Not if you're sleepwalking too, I'd be a little worried about it the next morning," Shay replied, arching an eyebrow.

Kaz agreed, peering over Shay's shoulders to check on her three lone customers at the other end of the restaurant. The lanky college student in a slouchy knit beanie and wide-rimmed glasses was still nursing his fifth cup of coffee. A middle-aged couple chewed their pancakes in comfortable silence.

"I don't know why he's here, school's on break," Shay stated, catching Kaz's glance.

"What, the young guy? Is it?"

"Yeah, well, at least the high school is. I think the middle schools are on the same schedule. My little sister got out this afternoon." Shay pulled out her phone to check the time. "Never mind, yesterday afternoon."

"Oh," Kaz blinked as the realization dawned on her, "That means the boys got off yesterday too."

She had been so wrapped up with her submission for the parkour video she had completely forgotten. Kaz instantly felt guilty.

"Oh shoot," she continued, fumbling for her phone. "What day is this, then?"

"Friday the 17th," Shay murmured. She was still focused on her phone.

"That means Jay's birthday is coming up in a few days," Kaz said, more to herself than anyone. Where had the time gone?

Shay looked up. "He's the middle child, right?"

Kaz nodded. Shay had never met the DeFour boys in person, aside from Erik, but Kaz certainly talks about them enough.

"How old is he going to be now?"

Kaz considered it for a moment. "He's sixteen now, he'll be seventeen on Sunday."

"I thought Erik was eighteen?" Shay asked with a frown. Haleigh and Erik were both seniors and the same age, yet went to different schools.

"Yeah, but he'll be nineteen next month."

"Okay. Is Erik going to college? Haleigh is seriously stressin' her college applications. I think they're due this fall and she hasn't heard back from anyone."

Oh, right. College. The question caused Kaz to come up short. She hadn't been able to go to college herself after high school, so she hadn't thought to ask Erik about it. He had never even mentioned it.

"I don't think so, I mean, I don't really know," she replied, scratching at the table with her fingernail. Someone had carved something unintelligible into the glossy finish a while back. "He hasn't said anything, anyway."

Shay shrugged. "Well, college is expensive. The teachers give you all sorts of shit for not going but I'd have to save until I'm thirty to even afford one semester for a college around here. I know Haleigh is going to have to take out some mad loans herself to afford it."

"Yeah," Kaz agreed, nodding her head awkwardly from its position on her arm, "There's no way I could afford it right now, even if I had good enough grades in high school to get a scholarship."

Kaz wondered if she should ask Erik about it. She didn't want to put unintentional pressure on him; Kaz didn't know how many people were pestering him for the very same thing.

Kaz caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and shifted her gaze to meet the sheepish expression of her college student. He smiled and lifted his empty mug hopefully. She returned the smile and made to get up when Shay's hand on her arm stilled her.

"I'll get it, you stay here," she instructed, sliding out of the booth. Kaz shot her a grateful look before turning her head towards the window, silently willing the snow to stay in the clouds until her shift ended.

The sky had begun belching little white puffs of snow at about 6 in the morning. At this point, the few customers they had had cleared out. Kaz and Shay watched the snow fall from the booth in silence. The parking lot was illuminated by the glow of the restaurant, and the girls groaned in unison when the snow began to stick to the concrete.

At 7:45am Kaz and Shay had gathered their stuff and donned their jackets.

At 8:00am two pairs of eyes were glued intently at the parking lot, and Shay had begun to tap her foot with impatience.

At 8:15am the tapping of Shay's foot literally caused the entire booth to shake.

"You're going to break this thing," Kaz teased.

"Sorry. I want to go home before it gets any worse," Shay replied with a grumble. "What's taking them so long?" Since McCaffery's was open 24 hours the pair had to wait until the first shift rolled in before they could go.

"It's probably just the snow," Kaz replied. She wasn't as anxious as her coworker to venture out in the snow—that meant getting up and her feet still ached.

Shay responded with a tetchy "hmph," leaning back into the booth and crossing her arms. The table did, however, stop shaking.

At 8:30am the first shift finally arrived.

Levi lumbered into the restaurant, a gust of frigid air from the open door causing snow to swirl into the building. Levi was an older, reserved gentleman that had been working for McCaffery's for an upwards of five years now. Aside from Kaz-who had been working for the restaurant since she was sixteen-he was the senior-most employee.

"Sorry ladies," Levi blustered, a toothy grin appearing behind his silver-specked mustache. "Traffic is crawling out there."

Shay's irritation evaporated at the sight of the disheveled man with crimson cheeks and runny nose.

"S'ok," she responded, gathering up her purse and heading towards the door. Kaz tailed behind her with only a minor grimace. "Where's your cook?"

"Boss called 'im and said not to come in," Levi answered, stomping the snow off his boots, "Says we won't be very busy today."

"Makes sense," Shay agreed, turning towards Kaz. "Ready to roll?"

"Absolutely."

"Klara," Levi frowned. "I saw your bike out there. You're not planning on riding in this weather, are you?"

Kaz hesitated. "…Um."

"Of course not," Shay said, looking at her. "I'll drive you."

"My bike won't fit in your car, remember?" They had tried making it fit multiple times in the past.

"I can drop it by with my truck after my shift," Levi shrugged, holding out a gloved hand. "Give me your bike key and I'll grab it when I get off."

"Levi you don't have to do that," Kaz flustered. Levi waved his other hand dismissively.

"It's not a problem, popsicle. Your place is on the way home."

Kaz looked confused at the endearment, and Levi simply nodded at her pink head in explanation. Oh.

She relented to his offer after a moment's consideration, freeing the key from her keychain and dropping it into his palm. Pushing her bike three miles home was an unappealing alternative.

Kaz, thanking Levi profusely, hurried out the door after Shay.

When Shay pulled into her street Kaz thanked her and clamored out of the car, shuffling up the stairs to her apartment complex. She danced in place as she scoured her pockets for her key card, uttering curses under her breath. Why is it she could never find that damn piece of plastic?

She jumped as a metallic click surprised her from her thoughts. Kaz looked up to see Erik grinning widely at her, holding the door open a few inches. He looked rather pleased with himself for rescuing her again. Kaz just grabbed the door and bustled in, shoving past him in her haste to get indoors.

"You need to glue that thing to you," Erik laughed, pulling the door closed. A flurry of white had chased her inside and settled on the floor.

"Thanks, it's flippin' cold," she responded, ignoring his quip and stamping her snowy feet gingerly on the carpet. She had worn her sneakers to work without considering the possible weather change. Moisture had seeped into her shoes as she tramped through the snow and froze her feet.

Kaz turned and noticed Erik's attire-a sleeveless muscle shirt and gym shorts that hung around his knees.

"Going to the gym?" The lower floor of their building had a couple of free weights and a treadmill.

"Yep," he responded, his grin never faltering. "You should go too; some muscle on those bones will help keep you warm."

"Oh, shut up," she responded, not rising to the bait as she trooped up the stairs towards the apartments. Kaz didn't bother to remind him she had plenty of muscle left over from parkour and gymnastics. As they grew older their conversations consisted mostly of them giving each other shit in a playful banter. However, her cold toes had made her grumpy.

Erik followed her up the stairs.

"You're limping," he said suddenly, a frown in his voice, "Did you hit yourself on something yesterday?"

Kaz sighed, reaching the top of the stairs. "No, I did an Irish jig on a pile of glass in my sleep."

"What?"

She gave Erik a canned version of her dream and resulting injuries. She was already growing weary of retelling the story, and she wanted to save her energy to recount the tale in detail to Jay. She knew he would appreciate it more than anyone.

"That's nutty," Erik said, mulling over her words. "So you just woke up like that? That's messed up."

"Yeah."

"So what are you going to do now?" Erik knew that Kaz usually collapsed into bed after work.

She shrugged. "I don't know; I'll probably just scoot my dresser in front of my door or something."

A slow grin spread across Erik's face and he suddenly leered teasingly at her. "I can keep you company."

"Yeah, right," Kaz laughed, punching him lightly in the arm. "You guys don't have school today, right? I'll be up sometime this afternoon; did you want me to come by if my dad isn't home yet?"

"That sounds good. Oh, Kaz, hold up."

She had already been moving to walk down the hallway to her apartment, but she turned back to Erik questioningly. He had stepped in closer, lowering his voice a notch.

"I wanted to tell you this for months now, but I wanted to be absolutely sure," Erik said. The uncharacteristic, suddenly-serious tone of her friend's voice wigged her out. Her mind raced. He isn't going to…

"I'm going to University of Illinois Springfield," he deadpanned. Erik's signature grin reappeared on his face.

Oh thank god. Kaz immediately felt guilty that she thought he was about to tell her that he liked her, or something. She felt even guiltier when she realized how relieved she was when he hadn't. With a start, Kaz realized he was looking at her, expecting a reaction.

"Oh, um… where?" she fumbled.

"Springfield, I just said that," he responded, his smile beginning to ebb.

It dawned on her then. University of… Erik's going to college. It felt a bit surreal having this conversation now, having spoken to Shay about the very same thing only a few hours prior. An unknown emotion seized in her throat then and she squashed it down furiously. Kaz forced a broad grin on her face, reaching out to clap Erik on the shoulder.

"Dude, that's awesome! Congratulations! I didn't even know you were applying for colleges!"

"Thanks. Yeah, well, I didn't want to tell anyone until I was sure. I got the acceptance letter in the mail when I got home yesterday. I start next fall."

"Wait… Springfield," Kaz thought aloud, peering up at him. "That's in the smack dab middle of the state right? It's like, four hours away."

"Three," Erik corrected softly. He was searching her face. Kaz kept her expression glued into her grin, but the smile no longer reached her eyes. Erik noticed.

"I'll be home on breaks, and we have all of next semester and summer to dick around," he reassured her.

"Yeah… yeah of course," she responded, the stupid grin still stuck there as Kaz avoided his eyes. "I'm really happy for you man, seriously. I'm serious, that's awesome. You deserve it; you've worked your ass off this semester and it definitely shows. You'll be great."

Erik seemed placated by her response and tension eased out of his frame. The broad, toothy smile reappeared on his face.

"Thanks shortstack, means a lot. You look like you're about to fall over though. I'm sorry about your feet; get some sleep. Try not to go walking outside in your dreams, okay? It's cold."

Kaz nodded, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. The thought hadn't occurred to her.

"Alright, take it easy. See ya," she replied, turning and escaping down the hallway. After a moment, Kaz heard Erik gallop noisily back down the stairs behind her.

Her thoughts spun, conflicted. Erik was going to college. He was leaving their cozy little corner of the urban jungle.

She let herself into the apartment, kicking off her snowy sneakers and soaked socks. She then made a beeline for her bedroom and flopped abruptly onto her bed. Kaz numbly noticed that her dad's phone and keys were again missing from the kitchen counter, indicating he was still out. She let out the breath she realized she was holding.

Kaz knew it was stupid to be surprised, really. Erik was a smart guy that certainly put much more effort than she ever had into his education. In fact, Erik nearly had all the credits necessary for him to graduate high school and he still had another semester to go. College just made sense as the next step.

"-Yeah, well, I didn't want to tell anyone until I was sure-"

Kaz realized with a start that she was the one he was reluctant to tell. Erik wasn't the sort of person that would've been able to keep a secret of that caliber under wraps. His mom definitely knew. Jay probably did, too. He had purposely kept it from her. Erik knew she'd be upset at the idea of him leaving.

A hot, fat tear escaped the corner of one eye and she swiped at it furiously.

"You're being stupid," she told herself sternly, voice catching despite her resolve. What was she going to do, force him to stay? Jay wasn't far behind him in age, and no doubt had college on the horizon as well. What would she do then, chain them up? Make them stay?

Kaz wasn't one to wallow in self-pity but lately her self-inflicted rut had become an immense strain on her psyche. It had been four years since she had graduated high school and all she had to show for it was a less-than-exciting career as a waitress and a rather fruitless hobby of bouncing off buildings.

Kaz didn't have many friends in high school, and the friends she did have had since moved on. Kaz, in contrast, hadn't. She couldn't afford college and her grades weren't good enough in high school to obtain a scholarship. Her and her dad's credit was too poor to take out a loan. Kaz couldn't bring herself to move out because she was afraid her dad would lose the apartment. Or worse, forget to take care of himself.

The aspects in her life that had kept her from slowly going insane consisted of the DeFour boys and parkour. The news that Erik was soon heading off to college was akin to a swift kick in the gut; a hard dose of reality that closed around her heart.

Not for the first time Kaz experienced a powerful sensation of being trapped in an endless loop of her own life.

The sound of a key clicking into a lock roused her from her torpor and Kaz raised her head. She caught a shadow of movement underneath her door.

"Klara?"

"Yeah," she called back, rolling out of bed and padding into the living room.

Upon catching sight of her dad Kaz stifled the urge to burst out laughing, her mood lightening. His large, puffy jacket threatened to swallow up his lanky frame. A thick wool scarf was wrapped tightly around his neck and a matching knit hat adorned his head. Aside from a thick beard the only part of his face visible was a small slice between the top of his nose and forehead. His eyes twinkled as they caught her gaze.

"Hi sweetie," he puffed, slightly out of breath as though he had rushed home. He lumbered through the apartment to the storage closet and fumbled with the doorknob with a mitten'd hand. Kaz grimaced as he left large, wet boot prints in his wake. "How are you? Just get home from work?"

Kaz pointedly looked down at her blouse and waitress apron before arching an eyebrow and looking back up at her father. He wasn't looking at her though, having shoved his face into the closet. Muffled thumps could be heard as he rummaged through the junk piled in there.

"Yeah," she replied. "What are you looking for?"

It was that moment he emerged victorious, drawing their old shovel out with him. Kaz fixed him with a puzzled expression.

"Gas truck," he explained in a rush, already heading back out the door. "Got stuck in the snow in our parking lot. Can't reach the pumps. Gotta help dig 'er out."

Kaz visibly deflated at the news. "So you're going back to work."

Her father turned, stopping for a moment to smile at her guiltily. He likely heard the disappointment creeping into her voice.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I'm off after this, promise. We just need to get through this storm. I'll be home in a few hours. You don't work the next couple of days, right? Howsabout we hang out tonight, hmm? I'll pick up some stuff at the store and we can make hot chocolate."

His smile was infectious; Kaz felt the corners of her lips turn up despite herself.

"It's a date."

"It's a date," her dad parroted in agreement.

And then he was gone, heavy boots clattering back down the hallway.

Kaz went over to re-lock the door her dad had forgotten in his haste. She then ambled back into her bedroom, pausing at the threshold in consideration.

At this point she would fall into bed; being third shift her sleep schedule was opposite of most. Yet her escapade before work yesterday made her nervous. Kaz was still certain the root of her injuries was related to sleepwalking. Where had she even gone in the first place? What if she walked out into the snow while sleeping? She wasn't too keen on becoming a Kazsicle. She really ought to block the doorway before she went to bed.

Kaz was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. She ventured into the kitchen, snagging a long-forgotten canister of flour from the cupboard and carrying it into her bedroom. She then shut her door, locked it, and dragged her dresser in front of the door for good measure. She hoped the barrier was enough to dissuade zombie-Kaz if she dared make an appearance.

Kaz then drew the crumpled wad of soiled bedsheets out from where she had stuffed them under her bed this morning. She squashed the urge to shudder again at the sight of all that crimson, instead spreading out the sheets so that they surrounded her bed.

Kaz changed out of her waitress uniform quickly, removing her blouse, bra, apron, and pants to don a tanktop, beanie, hoodie, and pair of raggedy sweats. She then walked over the sheets to jump into bed and proceeded to dump a healthy amount of flour onto the floor atop the sheets.

She had to wash the bedsheets anyway, and this way if she walked in her sleep again she'd have evidence in the form of white footprints on the hardwood floor. She had seen the ruse in an old horror film once where the actors were attempting to secure proof that ghosts were afoot. There wasn't any reason Kaz couldn't use the same strategy to catch… well… herself.

Satisfied with her handiwork, Kaz drew her comforter up over herself. She then closed her eyes and tried her hardest not to think of monsters.