Nightmares?
I look to Esther for answers, but she looks as clueless as I am.
Annie quickly curtsies before leaving the bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind her.
I've only gone to sleep once in this place and I didn't exactly have any dreams, so what if I have a nightmare tonight? That first night I was probably still messed up from whatever happened, so my subconscious probably couldn't form a dream. Do dreams even work that way?
As a kid I had terrifying nightmares that would scare my little brother because I screamed so loudly. I could never remember what happened in the dreams, no matter what they tried. What if it happens again?
"I should go," Esther says unsurely, "I'm gonna go find Nicole, she shares with Annie. Maybe she can tell us something helpful."
She leaves the room and I instantly feel lonely since there's nobody else here.
I turn the TV on and back onto the news channel, but only to check the time.
10:28pm
I turn it back off and decide to go to sleep. Since I don't have any pyjamas in the room, I just decide to sleep shirtless, but keeping my trousers on.
I slide under the duvet and try my best to go to sleep quickly.
—
When I wake up, the tv has been switched on and has been turned to the Nickelodeon channel. It's currently showing Henry Danger, a show I never found entertaining.
I sit up in bed and look around to see if anyone is in the room, since whoever turned on the tv must've come in while I was sleeping and is most likely still here.
I roll over and look on the floor, where Annie is sat cross-legged, her eyes glued to the tv screen.
"Annie?" I frown, "why are you in my room?"
Annie doesn't respond, she just keeps watching tv.
"Hello, earth to Annie!" I wave my hand in her face in an attempt to try and get her attention.
She turns her head slowly and I notice her cheeks are stained with dry tears, her eyes red from crying and a strange group of purple marks on her face as if someone had grabbed her.
She smiles weakly before turning back to her tv show.
"Annie, has somebody hurt you?" I ask softly.
She doesn't take her eyes off the tv screen, but she shakes her head.
"I was having a nightmare and Nicole had to shut me up," she replies quietly, "I was screaming for almost half an hour."
Silence falls over us as the current episode of Henry Danger finishes and commercials begin playing.
"Do you want a hug?" I ask her, hoping she doesn't think the question is creepy, "they always helped my little brother when he was feeling sad."
Annie gets to her feet and sits on the edge of the bed. I wrap my arms around her small, fragile body and pull her into me.
She really does remind me of Ike, I wonder if they went to school together.
"Do you know anyone called Ike Broflovski?" I ask.
"I don't think so," she replies after a moment of thinking, "tell me about him."
I try to think of anything about Ike, but nothing comes to mind. I can't even visualise him.
Even though it's not my fault, I feel like an awful brother, so much so it almost brings tears to my eyes.
"I-I can't." I admit, my voice cracking at the threat of tears.
"That's okay," Annie tells me, pulling out of my hug and offering me a smile, "I can't remember much about my family either. It's to be expected, the sedative drugs really mess up your memory."
"Drugs?" I repeat in confusion.
"When we first arrive here we're so knocked up on drugs we could get thrown down a flight of stairs and not feel it," Annie explains. She reaches up and strokes a recovering bruise near my eye with one of her small fingers, "you look like you've been thrown down some stairs."
"Thanks." I laugh.