This had to be a dream. If it wasn’t, it would be too horrible to consider.
The crying got worse. Why wouldn’t someone shut him up? Why was he crying when I was the one hurting?
The glass cracked, and a dog started barking far away.
I screamed, and someone else screamed, and the dog barked, and the kid cried, and the door broke and–
I jerked awake, another scream dying in my throat. My heart was racing, my breathing ragged, and I leaned over to turn on the bedside light. Soft white light flooded the room, and I looked away to give my eyes a moment to adjust.
“Just a dream.” I said the words out loud, as if that would make it all just magically disappear.
I shivered, the sweat on my body rapidly drying now that I was awake. My breathing and pulse were beginning to return to normal too. If this had been just a normal nightmare, I’d get up, maybe get some water, then climb back in bed.
I’d had these sorts of nightmares before.
Falling off a bridge. Spiders. Monkeys. Spider monkeys. Not actual spider monkeys but a creature that looked like a cross between a spider and a monkey.
Typical monsters that nightmares are made of.
This hadn’t been one of those nightmares, the ones that were easy to shake off because they were ridiculous in the light of day, which meant that I wasn’t going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon, if at all. I knew myself well enough to know that it’d be pointless to try.
I leaned back against my pillows and stared up at the ceiling. I needed to figure out what to do now. I had hours before I had to be anywhere, and I wouldn’t be able to concentrate enough to read. I could’ve watched some TV, but the walls here were pretty thin, and I didn’t want to bother anyone else. Besides, if I couldn’t sleep, I could at least find something worthwhile to do.
I got out of bed and turned on my overhead light before turning off the lamp. I wasn’t quite ready to be in the dark again. By the time I stepped outside, however, I was comfortable enough to appreciate the stars speckled across the rich, deep blue sky. I was too close to the city for it to be completely pitch black, so that helped too.
I’d already stretched, so once I hit the cool early morning air, I didn’t have to stand around before jogging a few feet. I was just glad that it was May and not January.
I started off down the path, gradually moving from jogging to running. I wasn’t doing a flat-out sprint, but I was moving at a pretty good clip when I turned onto the sidewalk and made my way deeper into the city.
Virginia and Indiana weren’t really that similar in weather or terrain, but I had the strangest feeling of déjà vu as I ran. My nightmares – the really bad ones – did that to me sometimes. Made me feel like I was a kid again. It made sense that I’d feel that now. I’d loved to run as a kid too, and I’d been good at it. I’d actually done track in high school and made it to state a couple times.
One of the main reasons I’d always loved running was that it emptied my mind. I didn’t have to think about anything but putting one foot in front of the other. Some people liked music when they ran, but I didn’t. I preferred to hear what was going on around me. Birds. Traffic. People. Some of it was because I liked those sounds, but I knew that most of it was because I always wanted to be aware of my surroundings, even while my head was empty.
I’d made it a couple miles when I realized where I was. The hotel was nice enough, not too high end, but not too tacky either. It was perfect for businesses, especially ones who had guests staying for more than a few nights, and that was exactly why I’d ended up here, even if it hadn’t been a conscious decision.
I headed inside without second-guessing myself. If I wasn’t wanted, I’d go back, maybe go to the weight room until breakfast. But if I was wanted…well, that would be vastly more fun.
I waved at the man at the front desk, and he wiggled his fingers at me. I’d seen Hal a couple times over the last few weeks, and as long as he didn’t get any complaints about me, he had no problem letting me walk right past. Unless someone high up found out about my clandestine visits, no one was going to say anything, and I didn’t intend for anyone to find out. If it looked like that would happen, I had no problem walking away.
Right now, however, I intended to wipe my mind of everything that had been in it tonight. Give myself something better to think about. More enjoyable anyway.
I knocked on the door twice and then waited.