The Facility | ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Eva Longoria is now playing Principal Wednesday and Ash Stymest is playing James Winchester.

"I'll miss you, too, Shawny," I said through the phone, "Enjoy your holidays."

"I will. You too, Tals," he replied.

"Tell Christian I said 'hi'," I finished, before hanging up. 

For the trip to the Gold Coast, instead of packing away everything like a person would do most holidays, Emily and I left most of our stuff here in the dorm. I just packed my suitcase with bare essentials, a few swimsuits and clothing. I hardly had any luggage except for the suitcase and a small backpack with my new wallet in it when Em and I headed down the stairs on the afternoon of the last day of school. 

Principal Wednesday - or, rather, Marie, now that school was out - smiled as we met her in the entrance hall. When it was holidays, she always lightened up, smiled more and added a small bounce to her step. 

"Ready to go, girls?" she beamed.

Emily gave me a high-five, "Let's go rock this beach!"

***

It took half an hour to drive in the limo to the airport, where we waited for forty minutes at the terminal. We boarded the plane immediately and found our seats near the front. I scored the window seat with Emily next to me and Marie next to her.

We got to watch the sun set over the horizon far, far below as we began landing in the Brisbane airport. Emily cooed, "It's so gorgeous... all those colours in the sky..."

Her mum chuckled slightly, "It's called a spectrum, Emily."

Once a teacher, always a teacher, I thought to myself as I watched the sky. 

It wasn't until after the ninety-minute limo drive into the Gold Coast that Emily and I could talk about the holidays. We were staying in their private beach house like always. It was along the beach with many others that looked identical bar the golden numbers over the doorknockers. 

Emily and I walked into our room that faced the ocean with large floor-to-ceiling windows and dumped our stuff, promptly closed the door and began to have our inevitable talk. Sitting on the carpet, cross-legged and facing each other was when we got into serious mode.

"No more trouble this holiday," Emily began.

"I watch out for you and you watch out for me," I continued.

"If that bastard comes near you I will blow his head off."

"And I will be thankful."

Emily smiled shyly, "You okay?"

"No," I said truthfully, "But I will be."

"What happened the other night?"

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

Emily went on, "Opal said you must have had a bad nightmare or something but I know that with what those doctors did to you that it's impossible."

I shrugged minimally, "It just wasn't... a normal dream."

"Did you find Christian... dead again?" she stumbled for words.

I shuddered involuntarily but shook my head, "Christian wasn't in it."

"What?!" she shouted, "But he's always in it. For the last three years."

My eyes flitted around the room before landing back on Em, "I think it's part of the withdrawal period. I'm not seeing him in real life so I'm not seeing him in my dreamscape."