Distractions

Seven: Overprotective Dye Blonde Brother

Shattered windows and bullet wounds. Deep red blood and pale pasty skin. Those were the things that haunted Everest Fairchild's nightmares. She would dream of the hell she put her characters through—what her friends had gone through—and it would haunt her. She would dream of the things she had seen while she was walking the streets at night, of the things she had had to do to make it home even remotely safe. She didn't dream of those things every night—sometimes it was Raphael being taken—but she was never able to calm her panicking mind down and go back to sleep when she did.

Everest had dreamt of the horrors that night. So, she did what she did every time she had a nightmare; she packed her bag and left.

Everest walked out of the near-silent Institute in dark purple leggings, her hoodie from Dot, and a pair of Converse she had taken from Clary. It was odd to see the place so empty, though Everest assumed that even Shadowhunters needed their sleep. She made her way down the street, her bag on her shoulder and gun on her hip. She had only ever had to use it on someone else three times, but that was three times too many in her opinion.

As Everest walked into the coffee shop at 5 in the morning, Sara hardly raised her gaze. She and the other baristas were far too used to Everest wandering in at odd hours of the day.

"Usual or extra usual?" the brunette asked. She was already pulling out the largest sized cup they had.

Everest shook her head and handed her the large mauve colored travel mug from her messenger bag. Sara's eyes widened and she put the other cup back with a frown.

"Do you think I would die if I had a Red Eye with two shots of espresso instead of one?"

Mark popped his head out from the backroom. "If you die can I have your coffee mug collection?"

"No."

Sara pushed Mark's head back into the backroom and gave Everest a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

Everest let out a puff of air as she sat at the counter. "Well, I just found out my brother figure is alive, my mom's gone, and I hate nightmares. And this all happened on my birthday week."

Sara winced at her blunt words and ignored how Jocelyn was missing. She could tell Everest wasn't up to explaining. "Phae's alive?" Everest nodded. "You bring him around here and I'll smack some sense into him for you."

Everest gave the girl a small smile. "That's alright Sara. I quite like my brother alive." Internally, Everest smiled about how untrue her statement was. Raphael Santiago was a vampire and very much dead.

"I don't know how you drink that. That shit'll kill a horse," Mark commented as he handed Sara a paper.

Everest took a sip of her coffee. "With my face—no. No. That's not right." Everest scowled as she scanned her brain for the right word. She snapped her fingers in realization. "Mouth. That's it. I drink it with my mouth."

The two didn't smile at her blunder like they usually did. They just gave her concerned looks.

"How much did you sleep last night?" Sara asked.

Everest didn't reply. She looked away from her friends and towards the counter. She had only slept 2 hours, too busy writing the next chapter of Shadowed Spotlights to sleep and then she had her nightmare.

"Everest..." Sara sighed.

Everest looked up when she heard the back door open and shut within seconds. Mark handed her two breakfast sandwiches and a granola bar with a small smile.

"Take this and eat it all," he told her sternly. "You're gonna crash if you only drink your death inducing Red Eye. You'll still crash later, but not as hard if you actually eat something."