Chapter Three: Restless Days and Sleepless Nights
"I hate how when you wake up and you would love to know that you slept longer, but then when you wake up in the middle of the night, you just want to go back to sleep even if that means getting up earlier." –Anonymous
Nina told Patricia and KT about her suspicions of someone watching her and they listened avidly. Nina finished her story by saying, "You know guys, I think that we should wait to tell Fabian, Eddie and Alfie in the morning. I'm just really tired. Good night, guys." KT and Patricia shared a worried look, but decided to not push Nina. The girls turned out the light and went to bed. Soon, KT's light snoring filled the room, but neither Nina nor Patricia were able to fall asleep quickly.
Nina rolled over and was asleep about an hour later, but no matter which way she lay, Patricia could not fall asleep. She flopped this way and then that way. She rolled around the whole bed. She fluffed her pillow and threw the covers on and off, but she could not fall asleep. Finally she let out a big sigh and sat up. She saw that both girls were asleep and threw herself back on the bed and bounced up and down a couple of times. She looked at the clock: two and a half hours had passed since they had gone to bed. She let out a large sigh, rolled on her stomach and covered her head with the pillow. She held her eyes shut as tight as she could, but she still couldn't fall asleep.
Nina hadn't fallen asleep as quickly as she normally did, but she soon fell into a deep slumber. Her sleep was not peaceful though. She was being plagued with tragic stories and tales of guilt. Her emotions filled her sleep: anger and sadness, worry and guilt. Her dreams were haunting. Her friends faces floated around her: blaming her for all of the awful things that had happened to them. They said they hated her. Her Gran came next, saying how disappointed she was in Nina for letting her friends suffer for her. The nightmares plagued on and on, never leaving her at peace.
Eddie had fallen asleep pretty quickly and he had been having weird dreams all night. There was one where Alfie lived in a banana with an ape named Sheila and that wasn't even the weirdest. However, Eddie's weird dreams changed and they became different. He dreamt about his dad and the day that he left. He dreamt about Patricia and the day she broke up with him. He dreamt about the day that he realized Patricia was a sinner. His dreams were filled with sadness and a sense of hopelessness. With every dream, Eddie felt more drained and worn out.
Patricia had seen the clock strike three in the morning and still had not fallen asleep. But then the strangest thing happened. She looked over at the clock and it said that it was 3:14 and all of the sudden it was like a sleep bomb hit her because she was almost instantly asleep. At least, she thought that she was asleep and dreaming. She was in this really dark room, but she could tell that it was huge. She looked up and couldn't tell where the ceiling ended. She looked around, but couldn't see any walls, instead she saw row after row of shelves. She was in the midst of marveling at her surroundings when she heard a strange noise behind her.
She looked around and heard a voice say, "Ouch! Eddie you stepped on my foot."
And then the response of, "Well, if you hadn't been in my way Nina…" Patricia breathed a sigh of relief; it was only Eddie and Nina. She walked over to join them.
"Where are we?" she asked.
The two looked around and finally Eddie said, "I know where we are."
"Me too," Nina said.
They were silent for a second and together they said, "The Library of Alexandria."