[World Refugees]
“-just left it there, but he says that wouldn’t be good business. I don’t suppose it's good business either if I get eaten by a Buel while I continue to stand there and knock-“
Jalen’s retelling of his adventure at work the previous day broke off as he noticed that Amy was staring off into the distance, not even pretending to listen. He frowned, waving a hand in her face from across the table. She blinked, dragging her attention back to him.
“Huh?”
“You weren’t even listening. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” She turned back to gazing out the window at the trees. Jalen scowled, settling back in his chair.
“For nothing, it’s certainly holding your attention well. Did you have another nightmare?”
Amy flinched, then after a pause, nodded. He reached across the table again and took her hand. Her fingers closed around his, and she sighed, turning her head to look at him.
“It wasn’t just my usual nightmare though. You know, the ones that I can’t remember but they scare the hell out of me anyway. The ones that mean jack squat. This was…I mean, I mostly don’t remember, but something’s wrong about it besides the obvious. I can’t remember enough about it now to explain, though.”
“Try.” His voice was gentle.
Amy lowered her head to study their clasped hands, and then closed her eyes.
“There was a boy. And when he talked to us, he was one way, and later he was different…swallowed by darkness. When I say swallowed by darkness, I mean it literally. It swept up and covered him so we couldn’t see his face anymore. There was blood too, but we couldn’t outrun it. None of us could. There was stone…the building was stone. Kinda in ruins. It was so old…”
Shaking her head, she glanced up at him.
“It was just a stupid nightmare. Probably has something to do with whatever happened to Josiah. Or anxiety.”
“I bet you’re right about the latter half of that, and I don’t mean the anxiety. You kept saying ‘us’. Who else was with you?”
She shrugged, not knowing or caring. “Dunno. Another guy. Not you.” She grinned then, holding his hand tightly. “It’s never a nightmare when you’re around.”
Jalen smirked, squeezing back. Then the smirk faded, replaced by seriousness.
“You’re going to tell the others, aren’t you?”
“What for? They’ll think I’m nuts, or overanxious. I mean, you’ve seen some of the stuff that’s been popping up. We’re all anxious now.”
“No one will think you’re nuts. Besides, you promised Song, didn’t you?”
Pulling her hand free, Amy slouched in her chair. “But-“
“But nothing. This concerns everyone, and if it turns out to be something dangerous…” He trailed off, watching her carefully. He knew she’d do the right thing in the end, but she needed a little prompting at times.
“If you’d rather not, I can always do it.”
She pushed her glasses back up her nose, and glared at him for a full five seconds before standing in a huff and storming off to their room. Jalen laughed softly before rising to follow her.