I wake up thrashing around and nearly throwing myself out of bed accidentally. Tears are streaming down my face and I feel constricted by the blankets that are tangled around my legs.
"Cara?! Hey, what's wrong? I heard you screaming." Ben rushes over to me from where he's just thrown my bedroom door open, and when he pulls me into his arms, I cling to him.
"I-I was t-there. I w-was in the c-car." I sob loudly into his shirt. He pulls me tightly against himself, hurting me a little but it's nothing compared to what I just experienced.
"It's okay, Cara. It was a nightmare. It wasn't real. You're safe here." Ben assures me, stroking my hair. I feel like some kind of animal, and for a moment I'm distracted from the dream. No, the memories.
Now you know.
"I-I don't wanna go b-back to s-sleep." I sob, terrified. I don't want to relive that again. I don't want to relive anything from Cara's life. I want to go home. I want to be with my real parents while they're still around.
"You don't have to now. It's almost five in the morning anyway." Ben tells me. I pull away slightly from him when I realise that he's about to leave for work.
"Do you h-have to go?" I ask quietly. I know I don't get along with my Ben, but even if this was him right now instead of Cara's Ben, I'd hug him to pieces. He's all the family I have at the moment.
"Yeah, I do. MJ's gonna be here in an hour, but I can ask her over earlier if it'll help you feel better." Ben says. I nod vigorously and wipe my eyes, a series of white scars on my left arm catching my attention as I move my arm. I quickly hide them from my view.
"Ben, I've been t-thinking, and I w-want to get a d-dog. I know y-you're at work a l-lot, and I just want to h-have something constantly w-with me." I sniffle quite a few times, and I know my cheeks won't dry for a while yet. Ben helps me into my wheelchair and gives me a sad, pitying smile.
"Sure. We aren't allowed pets, but I can talk to the owners of the building about it if I leave now. Are you gonna be okay to wait for MJ by yourself?" He asks. I nod hesitantly, knowing that I don't really have any other options if I want to get Wolfgang.
"I-I'll be fine." I can tell Ben knows I'm lying, but that's okay because I sort of want him to understand that this is still affecting me.
"Okay. I'll be back at six tonight with dinner." He tells me, then kisses my head gently and leaves.
When I'm alone again, more tears slide down my cheeks as flashes of the memory pass through my mind oh so vividly. My smiling parents, then my unconscious, probably already dead parents. Lots of broken glass. Lots of bright red blood.
Now you know.
"Yeah, y-you've said that."
You are upset. We did not expect this.
"The least you c-could do next t-time is tell m-me it's a d-dream." I take a few deep breaths and anger replaces my sadness, no matter how I try to hold both back. "I thought that was real. I felt all of that pain. I watched my parents die, so you should be able to forgive me for feeling a little sad."
Those were not your parents.
"I'm Cara and Cara's me, remember? Besides, I didn't know it wasn't actually happening. I thought I'd dreamt you and this crazy Flashverse adventure up. I thought those were my parents, and I only realised what was happening when I woke up. You have no idea what seeing something like that does to a person, especially when it's so realistic."
We are sorry for the inconvenience, but it had to be done. You had to know.
"Inconvenience?" I ask incredulously. "You think that was inconvenient? Oh boy, you really are stupid, aren't you?"
We have been around for a very long time. We know a lot. We cannot be stupid.
"All the time in the world means nothing if you don't do anything with it. You can't learn from things you haven't done."
You are smart, like us.
"How about you just shut up? I've had a very traumatic morning so far and you're only making this whole thing worse."
I wheel out of my room and out to the front of the apartment, positioning myself in front of the TV as well as I can with the couch in the way.
The front door opens and MJ appears with two takeaway coffees and a large paper bag that smells heavenly.
"Hey. I know Big Belly doesn't have the healthiest menu out there, and it's not exactly a good idea to eat this sort of thing for breakfast, but I woke up half an hour ago and I'm too tired to cook. Besides, the cook at Big Belly's owes me a whole bunch of favours." MJ says, and I try to hide my excitement; I haven't had Big Belly's yet, but I've wanted to since the moment I realised which world I'm in.
"Thanks, MJ." I offer her a small smile and she gladly returns it, putting the food on the coffee table and grabbing the TV remote off the cabinet underneath the big, blank screen.
"Netflix?" MJ has this knowing look on her face that I guess means I like Netflix. So maybe Cara and I aren't so different after all.
~§~
MJ and I have been watching movies all morning, only stopping for toilet breaks and snack refills. I'm still in my pyjamas, and MJ's in a pair of sweats and a tank top. Both of us are comfortable and for a while, I manage to feel like I'm back in my world, in my house, with my life.
A loud knock on my front door startles both MJ and me, and I quickly pause our movie before wheeling over to the door cautiously. Intense movies have me on edge.
"Open it." MJ whispers loudly, hiding behind a pillow. I roll my eyes; sure, send the cripple to let the possible serial killer in.
Hesitantly, I open the door. A man is standing there, arms folded across his chest comfortably.
"Hey, Cara. Good to see you. I'll probably swing by for a proper catch-up another time, but I just wanted to let you know that it's fine if you want to get a dog. I understand that everything's been hard lately, and I'm okay with you having a pet as long as it's toilet trained and it doesn't disturb any neighbours." Obviously, this is the guy that owns the building.
"Uh, thanks." I say quietly.
"No problem. I'll call your brother about that catch-up later. Good to see ya." He says, then turns and leaves. I stare after him in silence, sort of confused and sort of not really sure what to think of that one-sided conversation.
"Hey Cara, I think we need to get more snacks anyway. Wanna go now while the movie's paused?" MJ asks as I start to turn back around. I shrug.
"Sure, why not?" I say, grabbing my purse off the shelf by the door and making sure I still have Cara's mobile in the side pocket of my wheelchair.
"I'll lock up for you." MJ takes my keys off the hook by the door and I move into the hallway, waiting for her to lock the door for me. I'm actually glad she's doing it; I can't reach the highest of the three locks.
MJ and I leave our apartment building in silence, and I continue to ignore Robin as it follows closely. We arrive at a little convenience store a few blocks from home and MJ goes in. I tell her I'm going to the pet shop next door.
Wolfgang is coming.
I pick up Cara's phone and press it to my ear as I've grown accustomed to doing when talking to Robin in public.
"Coming? I've given Ben an excuse, and I'm allowed to have him, so why isn't he here?"
He is coming.
"Fine, I'll humour you. Where is he coming from?"
Someplace else.
"You are just the nicest, most cooperative person, huh?"
We are not a person.
"I was being sarcastic."
You are still angry.
"Really? What could've ever given you that idea?"
We do not like sarcasm.
"Whatever. I'm going back to MJ."
I put the phone away and wheel back to the front of the convenience store. MJ comes out with two plastic bags of food just as I arrive.
Convenient timing.
Oh god, it's trying to be funny.
"Let's get back to that movie!"