Chasing Memories

[34] Spiralling

    Strolling away from the arena, Elise paused at a quiet section of fencing between thrumming crowds. Small, tender waves lapped at the dormant docklands, their soft splashes making the wave that had engulfed Cadence seem more like the stuff of an exhausted nightmare. Yet, like Elise's last dream involving Cadence, this nightmare lingered in her bones long after waking up. It was wild, it was powerful, and it was real.

    "What's going on with you, Ellie?" Robin asked as he landed on the fence, his concern glaring through his weak masking smile. "I was hoping we could switch off and relax tonight, but if anything, you seem more freaked-out than when we left."

    "I know, and I really appreciate you trying to help. It was so sweet of you to drive us all the way out here for this," Elise said with a shake of her head. Robin's worried expression combined with her view of the venue's streaming lights, beckoning the first tears to the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry for being such a shitty friend and fucking it up. I just...I don't know anymore. You can go back inside if you want, instead of watching me have my seventh breakdown this month."

    Fixing his windswept fringe, Robin released a deep sigh and inched closer to Elise. "Thanks for the offer, but there's no chance I'm ditching my best friend to go stand in the dark with a bunch of strangers," he said, laying a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm alright just here. And no pressure or anything, but I'm listening if you feel like talking."

    Elise closed her hand around her roommate's hold and sank against the fencing. In the distance, the moonlit sea blended with the clear night sky into a single seamless weave, every star a story waiting to be studied. For all the concert's visual glamour, the sparkling twilight was the most enchanting spectacle of her night.

    "Do you think dreams can sometimes be...something more? Like a vision, or a warning, maybe?" The thought popped into Elise's head on a sharp gust of sea air, and the words leapt from her tongue just as suddenly. One glance at the confusion that creased Robin's brow shunted her brain into gear. "Shit, I sound crazy right now, don't I?"

    "Not crazy, but..." Robin began as he searched his roommate's face for a clue to guide his response. When none came, he scratched his head and braced himself with a deep breath. "It does sound like this is more than just a shower thought. Did something happen? Is this why you've been so off lately?"

    With a nervous smile, Elise shrugged and fiddled with the zip of her hoodie. "It shouldn't bug me so much, but...I had a nightmare that I found Cade unconscious, totally messed-up like she'd been drugged," she said, swallowing the sobs that burned at the back of her throat. "When we went looking for her ex-friend Melody at a party in Falkerrick, the second I turned my back on her, she ended up on the floor, spiked and scared out of her mind."

    Robin's eyes bulged with the reckless rush of new information. "Wait, that party you went to recently was all in the way in Falkerrick? And there was spiking going on?" he said through spluttered surprise. After a spell of stunned contemplation, his voice returned with heightened fury. "What if that had been you messed-up on the ground, Ellie? I hope Cadence had a plan, because I know I had no idea where you were!"

    "It's not like it was Cade's fault some creep tried to dose Melody," Elise countered, pushing off the fence into a defiant stance. "And that's not the point anyway. What matters is that it happened just like it did in my dream. Every single detail was the same, Robin! Right down to the way she was...convulsing on the floor..."

    "I bet it was awful to see," Robin said in as level a tone as his thumping heart allowed. "But you shouldn't be beating yourself up over that. Whoever spiked that drink should be the one suffering, not you."