Part 20

When I woke up, I saw sunlight streaming through the hole in the tree trunk. I turned and saw the sheets beside me slightly ruffled. I sat up and swung my feet over the side of the bed. I was about to get down, but the force of habit told me to look down, and when I did, there was Alex, in a makeshift bed of some sorts. I thought he was asleep, so I shifted to the other side of the bed, and got down on that side. I padded over to the crib, which was still made, and reflected over what happened in the last... wait, how long have I been asleep?

"About twenty or so hours." I spun around to see Alex leaning against the foot of the bed. "I see that you're awake. That's good. According to the teacher, we've got a hell of a day today. How'd you sleep last night? Good? Okayish?" While he was asking this, he pushed himself off of the bed and made his way over to me. When he was about a foot away, my subconscious mind decided that this was close enough, and I automatically took a step back. But he had come at me at an angle, and I bumped into the crib. I felt it tip back, and I turned around, grabbed it, and steadied it. But as I grabbed it, I struggled to pull up, and I could feel Alex's hands on either side of me, helping me pull it up. Once we steadied it, I gave my thanks and expected him to back up. But he kept his hands there, and I was not going to face him. I had no energy to. So instead I pretended to admire the crib and tried not to focus on how close he was to me. I was almost completely calm when he leaned forward and whispered, "You didn't answer my question," right in my ear. I gave a small shudder and slowly turned to face him. But when I turned around, there was a dark, floating, humanoid shape, with the sharpest teeth I had ever seen. It lunged forward, and as I threw my arms up in a defensive position, and screamed. At that exact moment, my eyes flew open. I sat up panting, dripping in sweat. I wiped my forehead and tried to control my breathing.

"You ok over there? You've been tossing and turning for the last little bit. Everything good?" I looked over to where Alex was, sitting on the couch I had seen when we first came down here. He was eating out of a bowl, but I couldn't tell what it was. I rubbed my eyes to try and get the sleep out of them and partially succeeded.

"How long have I been asleep? And I swear if you say-"

"Twenty or so hours. Why do you ask?"

At that point, I was a mixture of fear and anger. I threw the blankets aside and marched over to where he was. I saw him place his bowl down, and stand up. I thought that he started to say something, but I blocked it out because there was one thing I had to do. When I reached him, I threw my arm back and smacked him clean across the cheek. His head whipped back with the force of my smack, and he slowly brought it back, rubbing the spot where I smacked him.

"Now what was that for?" he asked in a calm, but angry tone.

"That was to make sure that my hand wouldn't pass through, as if you were a shadow." We had a long staring contest, and the entire time he gave me a stare that told me that he was confused, while also portraying the fact that he would not back down until he got an explanation. Finally, I gave the universal sigh of resignation, and as I turned away, I said, "I had a terrifying dream."

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"If I was alright, I wouldn't have slapped you. We may not be friends, but I have no reason to slap you without a good excuse."

"Good to know. I thought that I did something wrong and just wasn't aware of it."

"As far as I'm concerned, the only thing that you did wrong was not waking me up when lunch was ready yesterday. I don't remember the last thing I ate. I am starving."

Alex gave me a small smile and pointed behind me. "Come on. I'll show you where breakfast is."