woke. | II

danny

It didn't take us long to backtrack to where we were, Hady's brother came through the mist just like she did - according to Alex.

"That's exactly how you are, when you come through." Alex told Hady, "Disoriented and just unaware, like you don't belong here."

I couldn't disagree. She did take a moment before snapping to.

"This. Is. Creepy." Cam said after the fog seemingly lifted from him, "Tell me this is creepy."

"It's creepy." I said with a small smile, acknowledging how different the two Stephens siblings are.

"But you get used to it." Alex supplied while Hady stayed silent.

We hurried him back to the clearing, explaining on the way what we've been doing and what we know for sure. We were answering his questions when I saw both girls fall.

"Are the both of you alright?"

"Hey what happened?"

Cameron and I asked at the same time.

"Alex tripped and grabbed me," Hady said.

We all turned to Alex for a response but she stayed frozen.

"Hey. Hey!" Hady grabbed her by the shoulder and we all saw how pale she was.

"I-I... I remember." She breathed and we waited. "I remember that day at school, I fell asleep because I was so goddamn tired and I woke up right here." She dropped her eyes to the ground, "I was not alone." Her next words came in a torrent.

"I was running, and there were people running with me or after me..." She stalled, as though trying to recall. "No, they were running from something and-" A gasp.

"Oh, Hady, do you remember that night? Our lost night? We said we'll finish our conversation in our dreams and we did. We did!"

Hady slid her hand down Alex's forearm and knelt beside her, "Calm down," She said soothingly. "Tell me."

Those dark eyes of Alex's trained themselves on Hady's light ones, as though they were a beacon of light, powering her concentration.

"The night when we couldn't remember our texts? I remember everything now. I heard you call my name, I woke up and texted you. Then we spoke on the phone and said we'd continued in our sleep, and we did. I woke up here, by the mist. You were there like a zombie, calling my name."

"Now there are zombies?" Cameron voiced aloud.

"What about the day you fell asleep in class?" Hady asked, urging her to continue.

Eyes still locked, she told us everything.

"I can't remember that as completely, but we were all running. I don't know who the others are, just shadows in the forest. I wasn't scared, though. Not the way you are when you've gotten sucked into a nightmare." She said meaningfully at Hady. She's got the worst night terrors out of all of us. Aside from Cameron, I can't speak for him.

"I was running because everyone else was. Kinda like doing track. But then I fell. Splat." Alex shoved her hands into the dirt. "And so a sleepsake was born." She finished with a flourish.

Now the both stood up, one smug and the other worried.

"Why are you remembering this just now? What's happened?" Hady asked, turning left and right, as though the answers would be there in neon signs - or at least, that there'd be a hint.

"This is all great and all," Cam started, "But can someone tell me why we're barefoot and dressed in our jammies?"

He was right, we did look extremely out of place.