—
The feeling of the right side of my body being
pushed causes my eyes to shoot open. What I see first is the ceiling of Ricky's van but what I hear is Angel.
Her voice is filled with some worry, yet my mind
tunes her out for a few seconds as I try to make sense of a dream that was far from lucid. "Abhaya!"
The roughness of her pushes begins to agitate me.
My slanted eyes slowly roll over to the right side,
and I notice that we're parked at a local Texaco.
"Abhaya! Are you alright!?" Angel asked in terror, which confused me greatly.
"Why are you yelling?" I mumbled. Angel places the back of her hand against the side of my face and then my forehead. "I'm yelling because you are freakin me the hell out! You were yelling in your sleep, and it worried me." Her hand goes back to my cheek before the pad of her thumb starts to caress it gently.
"I was yelling?" She nods at my question, which suddenly alerts me. "What was I saying?"
"You weren't saying anything. All you did was yell.
The yells were terrifying..." Angel questions me with her eyes. Before she could even form her lips to ask me about the dream, or better yet, nightmare, I spoke up first. "Where are we?" I questioned while looking around the area through the window pane.
"We're in Pennsylvania. You've been asleep throughout the entire drive."
Pennsylvania.
I say nothing as my eyes continue to focus on the
local Texaco of Pennsylvania. My thoughts go back to that nightmare. "I'm about to go inside the gas station and get you something to drink, okay?" My head turns back to the left, and I slightly smile at Angel, who looks down at me with worried eyes.
Angel returns the smile, which isn't enough to hide
her worry before leaving out the van. All alone now, I prop my head against the window and try not to focus so much on my disturbing dream. What does consume my mind is my encounter with Aadarshini from last night. The nightmare must've had something to do with the bad tarot cards.
Not that it relates but I'm assuming it must've triggered negative thoughts that lead to a bad dream.
A sigh is released from my lips as my eyes close again.
I remember how I felt after leaving Aadarshini's
hotel room. The fear in my heart wouldn't let me sleep throughout the night, which is probably why I've slept the whole ride to Pennsylvania. I don't know why tarot cards make me feel like a child being told a story about the boogie man.
Tarot cards are just what they are, cards.
The reassurance from my thoughts puts my mind at ease for only a few minutes until the door on the right side of me opens. My eyes are still close, so I assume that it's Angel. "That was quick," I say. The voice that suddenly speaks makes my heart drop.
Michael.
I hadn't spoken to him since the altercation last night.
During the morning, I avoided him like he was a cop and made sure not to make eye contact.
He sat in the front with Ricky because I thought he knew what was best for him. Yet, he's speaking to me.
"Abhaya? Angel told me you were awake..." I look over at him with unenthused eyes to see that he's getting in the back with me.
18. The Truth Hurts
Start from the beginning
