The Yarian Chronicles: Second Life

Chapter 11

I woke up with a start, gasping for air, my entire body shaking. I looked around and I was still in Xan's room, and V was beside me. She had finally fallen asleep. I quietly slipped out of bed and crept into the kitchen. I opened cupboard after cupboard with my trembling hands looking for the kettle that I saw Xan take out only a few months ago, back when things were normal.

"It's right here." He said, reaching to the cupboard above my head and pulling the kettle out.

"Thanks." I replied, and took it from him. I took it to the sink and began filling it with water. Xan followed right behind me.

"Is everything ok?" He wrapped his arms around me.

"Yeah, I just had a nightmare... or at least, I think that's what that was." He kissed my cheek, took the kettle from my shaking hand, and put it on the stove to boil.

"About the pool?"

"No... this was a different one. It wasn't the same as the one's I've been getting. It was like a memory, or even a dream, it was weird flashing images." I went on to explain the dream in more detail.

"Hmmm, I don't know what that could be. Sounds weird though." The kettle began to boil, so Xan got up and poured both of us a cup and dropped in a tea bag. He placed the cup in front of me, sitting back down. "Here, this should calm you down."

I sighed and took a sip. "Thanks. This is exactly what I need right now." My shoulders relaxed a little more with each sip until my breathing was back to normal and my body finally stopped shaking.

"So I saw you had some trouble falling asleep."

"You noticed?"

"Just a little. To be honest I was having some trouble too. I just tried to think of my happiest memory to calm me down."

"I saw."

"Oh, you little peeping tom you. What's all that you said to me about having privacy in your thoughts? Huh? Huh?" he shoved me playfully and started to tickle me.

"Stop! Stop!" I was so ticklish it was like torture, yet I couldn't stop laughing and neither could he. I finally wriggled out of his grasp and attempted to fix my hair and look dignified again.

Xan just kept laughing like I was the funniest joke in the world.

"You crack me up!" he screamed, howling with laughter between each syllable. I slapped him gently, still giggling myself.

"Shhh. V is sleeping. We don't want to wake her up."

"Sorry, sorry." He whispered loudly. He took his tea and went to sit on the couch, so I followed suit and sat beside him. He threw his arm around me as we sat peacefully and drank our tea. "So what's on your mind?" he asked.

I gave him a quizzical look.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you just read my mind and tell me, as if you'd even need to do that. What do you think is on my mind?" I whispered in agitation.

"I guess." He said, looking down.

"Sorry. It's just there's a lot going on. I just found my family. Do you know what a big deal that is to me? All my life I was this adopted kid, and I love my parents, but there was always that question. Who were my biological parents? What were they like? Do I have siblings? All those questions have been answered, I finally find out the truth, and now I'm seconds away from losing it. I mean look at V, it's like I've lost her already. She's just sitting there in this catatonic state, she doesn't see or hear any of us, and who could blame her?"