Nightmare
chapter three
grace arrived home to find kains car stationed outside the house. she sighed as she got out of the car, her hopes of going straight up to bed dashed for the moment. inside she found him sitting at her kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee across from a very flustered looking Sofia. Matt was nowhere to be found. "hi" she greeted them. "oh grace you have a visitor" sofia said. "yes sof, i see him." grace didnt mean to sound annoyed but she was just so exhausted. he turned to her, seemingly unfazed by her mood. "i bought you some soup" he said with a war smile which she couldnt helpp but return. grace took the tupperware box he offered her and put it in the miocrowave. "you didnt have too" she said, sitting beside sofia and nudging her leg under the table. the other girl took the hint immediately and rose from the table. before leaving the kitchen she turned and pointed at the back of kains head before pretending to fan herself and making kissy faces. grace tried not to let her amusement show, instead concentrating at looking him in the eye.
"i ran into your friend earlier" she said by way of making conversation. he looked instantly alert before his face closed over again. she let it go, too tired to persue the topic. grace took the soup from the microwave and poured it into a bowl before grabbing a slice of bread from the counter and sitting back down. it was nice. "did you make this?" she asked him, dipping the bread in and chewing a piece slowly. he nodded, smiling. "i had some free time today." she hadnt pegged him as the type to make soup in his free time at all. they chatted pleasantly while she ate, all the while she was daydreaming of her comfy warm bed upstairs. her head was still pounding and couldnt help but wince internally over every syllable uttered by both of them.
"so, tell me about yourself" Kain said. she replied with the usual answer; she was twenty four, wanted to go into oncology once she finished her internship, liked to read fiction and loved nothing more than to sit watching a movie during the evenings. he asked what type of movies she preferred and she answered that she didnt really mind as long as it was good. he nodded in reply. she asked him the same questions. he was 27, his family origionated in sweden but moved to ireland shortly after he was born. he liked horror movies. he then asked her about her family. the dreaded question.
"there isnt much to say." she replied. "nothing very interesting anyway." he pushed for more information. she started to feel uncomfortable. "im really tired" grace said with a sigh. "im working tomorrow so id better get to bed early and hope i feel better in the morning." he took the hint and she led him out. he kissed her cheek at the door and she was surprised by the warmth of his skin. when he pulled away she found herself moving closer. before she knew it she was kissing him full on the mouth, the door was closed and he was wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer. her headache had vanished and she was suddenly incredibly alert. she blinked and they were on the stairs. another blink and she was closing the door behind them as they entered her room.
afterwards, as they lay beneath her covers she told him about her family. "i was adopted when i was four. my biological parents died in a car crash." he squeezed her tight to him then "do you have any memories of your parents?" she shook her head. "only nightmares. of the crash i mean. i was in the car." he stroked her bare arm with his index finger. "what are your adoptive parents like?" he asked. she closed her eyes "they were great. they had another child naturally a few years later."
"did that change the way they treated you?" he asked. she sighed. "not until she died." she remembered how happy they had been, how sweet and cute siobhann was. when she died everything changed. "my dad died in a fire not long after and then my mother..." it was still hard to say the words. to admit that her mother had chosen to leave her behind. she could still see the red bath water. that had been what she focused on when she walked into the bathroom that night. the red bath water and the tear stained note beside the sink. "she died too"