Outlast - More Than Just Survival

More!?!? Ugh! Brian POV

I ran as fast as I could, dripping sweat, almost stumbling down the escalator. I scooped the boy in my arms to cradle him. I want to comfort him but also work to make sure he stays alive. I look up to make sure Lyra is still where I asked her to stay, but I don't see her. Everything is blurry. I look back down, and there is a pink blanket in my hands. The blood around me is hot and slick. I shake, uncovering the boy's face so that I can work, but there is no boy. A little blond, curly haired girl lay in my arms. She has my ears, my blue eyes, and my nose. "Why Daddy?". My breath hitches, and tears flood down my face. I shake and pull her tight with a sob coming out. "I'm sorry baby, I tried to save you."

"Brian!" she mouths, but it's not her voice.

"BRIAN!" comes again, this time it's not from her it's a distant voice.

Things are starting to become blurry. Blackness floods my vision, and then a dim light cracks through my vision. Confusion and lingering thoughts of my daughter have my eyes still blinking out the tears. A woman stands, her eyebrows pinched together with a worrying look. I sit up on my elbows. I blink again, and confusion lifts off me like a heavy blanket. Everything clicks back into place. Lyra stands where the unknown woman was. The light through the window, gleaming on her dark hair like she was an angel of mercy coming to rescue me from my nightmares. My clothes were sticking to me, and the sweat was rolling down my face and back. "Are you ok?" Her hand runs from my shoulder down to my back.

"I'm ok!" I sit up all the way, throwing my legs off the couch. I rub my face and then run my fingers through my hair.

Lyra sits down next to me, with concern lacing her voice. "Nightmares?"

"Yeah, I am ok, though." I say, rubbing my eyes again, trying to pry the images from my mind.

"You're still a bad liar." She stops for a second. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Looking back at her, "No! Thank you, though." I think to myself, maybe one day but not today. The sudden sharp memory of the dream flares, and my heart jolts. The heart ache reaches the back of my throat, and I swallow down the tears that are trying to form.

"Just having some issues shaking what happened yesterday, it was like a nightmare. Like a horror movie or something." I shake my head, trying to shake the memory loose. The memory clings to the forefront like it's a parasite that won't let go.

"Yeah, I don't understand what happened with that kid yesterday; it was really strange." Perhaps it's because I used to be an EMT, but she seems to look to me for answers in this situation.

"It was definitely unusual! His body was probably just trying to stay alive, I guess. Sometimes, the mind and body may occasionally resort to strange and even unexplainable behaviors." I've never heard of anything like this situation, though. She appears to have felt a bit more at ease after the explanation, but then she reaches for the remote.

"Do you think there will be any coverage of the mall incident on TV?".

I shrug. "Maybe!" As I cast a quick glance in her direction, my gaze lands on the delicate white underwear that shows through her slinky pink sleep shorts. "Jesus!" I think in my head. I let my thoughts wander and rip my eyes away from her. I am her closest friend. I am friend zoned and I am ok with it. I grab my phone to shift my attention. I swipe to open my phone. There are no new texts from Jacob. I flip open my news app and don't see anything pertaining to the mall. Weird, I think to myself. I would think something would be on there. Maybe they just don't have all the details, or maybe the police are keeping this under wraps. Maybe within the next couple of days, we will have something in the news about it. Maybe they will say if the boy lived or not. The questions come like rapid fire. I lean back watching for anything on the television pertaining to fights or malls that I didn't see on my news app. We sat in silence watching the news, and nothing seemed to come up pertaining to the mall. An hour passed.