Paradox Bridge

Chapter Five - Cara - October 30th, Afternoon

The night was filled with terrors. Dreaming of a childhood that didn't belong to me, of seeing the girl with blonde hair slowly lose the light in her ocean blue eyes. Dreaming of seeing the women hurriedly gathering things in a small basket before escaping his grasp, one of them running to hide from the swarm of armed men and women that filled the room that was glowing a deep purple. The second woman was carrying a toddler in her arms as she ran, one that looked too familiar, but one that seemed foregin. I watch him in an odd repeat, stutter-stepping towards the glowing purple. Until he appears again in an open field, standing over two shivering bodies, one so small that he feared it would break. The purple glow had vanished from the air and he was left standing in the cold winds. When he had gained his bearings, he pulled something out of his back pocket, a gun that glowed with a red hue, aiming it towards the woman that lay weak on the ground. She began to beg, the words barely scratching the surface of his frazzled brain. She held something up to him, a baby wrapped in withered blankets, the newborn crying profusely. There was a small but deep cut along the baby's right brow. The man stared at her for a long time, breathing heavily. The woman continued to beg. A cloud had moved in the sky, allowing more light to reach her face and I felt I recognized the woman.

Shooting up in bed, I screamed out, reaching for something to hold onto but finding nothing but air. I panted, my mouth feeling like cotton and the urge to vomit into the nearest trash bin. But I contained myself, taking in large gulps of chilly autumn air, forcing my heart rate to decline.

June raced into the room, her large bush of curly black hair frazzled and falling into her face. She brushed the strands to see better, tentatively asking, "Are you ok?"

I shook my head, unable to get any words out, afraid that if I opened my mouth to speak that I would start sobbing. June, immediately understanding, raced over and threw herself onto my lap. I ran my fingers through her curls, something she allowed me to do to feel safer, to feel more connected to my surroundings. Once calmed, June sat up and held her hand out to me, to which I graciously took underneath the blanket.

"Thank you," I smiled softly, "Another nightmare." I coughed, suddenly feeling weak.

June looked at me for a long time, her brows furrowed in concern. "You saw something, huh?" Still holding my hand, she sat down on the bed next to me and rested her head on my shoulder, her voluminous hair invading my nostrils. Not that I cared. "Who was it? Have we met them before?"

I shook my head. "No, I-I don't know how to describe it. He wasn't from...here."

"Like, New York?" she asked, puzzled.

"No-No, I mean like, not from this existence. There was something weird about his memories. Jumbled but cohesive. Then there was this... weird purple light that seemed to distort them. Not like he couldn't remember anything, but more like he'd been there before so it wasn't important to him."

June sat there a moment, taking in the information. "And? What have you decided?"

I threw my hands up in defeat. "I don't know!" I coughed again, suddenly wishing I could sink into the bed and disappear from my unwanted responsibilities. "I-I feel fine. Honestly." It was a lie. Was I lying to her? Or was I lying to myself? Either way, the pit in my stomach dropped slowly farther and farther. The feeling of anxiety and the need to vomit growing stronger and stronger. "What time is it?"

"Three, you slept most of the day away. How late were you up?" June stood, walking towards one of the bags I haphazardly threw into the middle of the floor.

"I saw the sun come up... or at least starting to come up." I began to pick at the skin around my nails.

"Cara, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You need to get back on medication to help yourself sleep. And now that you've interacted with someone like that... you're gonna need it even more."