Back from the Dead

Chapter 12- Real Dreams, Fake Images

Chapter 12

The next couple days went by slowly. Being confined to a single train almost drove me insane. They were compact, with no easy escape routes. Not to mention extremely easy to attack.

We hit New Mexico, Utah and Nevada- all in three days. This train is super fast. But we were now settled in a routine. Stop in the State, see the largest tourist attraction, then get back on the train. Of course I had fought as soon as we got to our first destination: New Mexico. It wasn't much of a fight but it was the best I could find in the little time I was provided. After everyday, everyone in the group returned to the train only to collapse from exhaustion from the endless hours of walking. As for me, I tried to sleep as little as possible to avoid nightmares. It was a tiring three days before arriving at our destination.

California.

My birthplace.

The moment we walked off the train, my face was hit with the tangy sensation of salt water in the air- a feeling I had almost forgotten over the months.

We were currently sitting on a beach watching the water lick the white sand. I guess we had all decided that spending the day at the beach was the best way to spend our time in California.

It was beautiful. The soft, white sand folding in on itself as it was toppled with the clear blue waves. I closed my eyes and wondered what my life would be like had my parents not died. I probably would have played on this very beach with Carina. Played in the sand as a toddler. Surfed in the water as a teenager. Perhaps my first kiss would have taken place right where I was currently sitting.

Was it possible to miss a life you never had?

"Hey. You come around here often?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask.

I turned towards the voice and saw it was surfer. Standing at about six feet tall I new he towered over me but only by a couple inches. Wide, athletic stance, muscled torso, and a surfboard casually hanging from his left arm.

I frowned at him.

He just laughed. "I had to say something, didn't I?"

No. No he didn't.

"Would you like something?" I asked him in a bored voice.

He smirked. "Your number."

Didn't they guy have something better to do? I felt Blake tense up next to me.

Odd.

"Not going to happen. Anything else?" I said in the same bored tone.

He fake pouted. "Oh come on. Here I'll even introduce myself. I'm Chase."

I'll even introduce myself.

What a gentleman.

I frowned. That was the first thought I had about Mark. And Blake, now that I think about it. It seems like a lifetime ago that I met Blake. But I met him when I was 17 years old. That was only two years ago. Mentally, I feel much older than 19 years old.

"See. I knew we could get along." Chase grinned.

I glanced over his appearance in a different way. He had a full head of blonde hair, really blue eyes, and a slightly crooked nose that screamed it had once been broken.

I looked around at my friends. Charlie looked extremely unamused as an eager Mark was staring at 'Chase' as if he were spewing gold. Carina was looking between me and Blake. I knew Carina was dead set on making sure Blake and I got back together but to be perfectly honest, it was never going to happen in this lifetime.