Unexpected

TWENTY-ONE

Chapter Twenty-One

Worry

My eyes scan over the metal troughs, meeting with the two pairs of closed eyes. They're motionless. They're still asleep. Still lying dead beneath the waters surface. It's wrong- something has to be wrong. Why is it taking so long?

Dread has begun to creep at the edge of my mind, standing off to the side; slowly making its presence known. I tried to see their future, see anything related to them, but i couldn't. Each time I tried, I was only met with the backs of my eyelids.

Deaton said it's because I'm exhausted and I should rest, so after the eighth hour of us waiting, I had Lydia drive me home. She was tired too, I could see the sleepy look in her eyes.

I glanced over at her as we pull up to my house. "You should come in and rest too. You need it just as much as I do." I forced out a light laugh, it was breathy and my smile didn't quite meet my eyes.

Lydia rolled her eyes slightly and sighed. "I'm not the one who's pregnant. I'm sure you need rest more than I do. And you're injured." Lydia went to open the car door, probably to grab my crutches- which sucked by the way, my arms were already sore from using them.

"I'll only sleep if you do." I crossed my arms, wincing at my sore breasts and quickly uncrossing them. Lydia stopped and turned to me, her head tilted to the side.

"Fine. We'll sleep for three hours and then we're going back to the clinic though." I nodded in agreement. Feeling actually excited for the relief sleep would give me.

"Where am I?"

My voice echoed around the dark room. The walls were wet and had a weird liquid dripping from them. I frowned but moved forward down the hallway, toward a faint glow of light.

The strange thing was, that the closer I got, the farther away the light went.

I brought myself into a full on sprint. "Wait!" I yelled, reaching forward toward the light. I couldn't reach it, the more I tried, the slower I ran. It was like running through quicksand.

"Victoria. . ." I froze in place as a woman's voice filled my head, it was so loud. I covered my ears with two hands but it sounded again. "Victoria. . ."

I closed my eyes and covered my ears as tightly as possible, I could feel myself falling through the floor.

"Victoria!"

My knees cut open against the gravel. I dropped down onto my side, curling up into a ball. "Please stop!"

I sat up, the feeling of sweat dripping down my neck made me feel uneasy and like I needed to throw up. I gasped for air, my breath coming in a couple heavy pants.

I could feel Lydia's eyes on me, concerned. "Victoria, are you okay?" She asked, unsure.

My eyes fell closed and I took a couple breaths. Was I okay? Yeah, I mean it was just another nightmare. . . I hadn't had a nightmare in so long, i forgot how real they felt.

"Y- yeah. I'll be okay." I nodded, forcing a smile toward her, to ensure that I was convincing. "Just a nightmare."

Lydia eyed me. "What'd you see?" She asked, I gave her a look. "I don't wanna talk about it right now." Lydia nodded in understanding.

I sat up on the bed and brought my legs over the edge, wincing in pain as I moved my leg in the wrong way. I reached for the crutches and looked over at Lydia who was standing by the door.