Chapter 7
Everyone sat quietly, staring at Kate as she frantically looked around, "What? Yes, there was! I know it, I was wide awake when it happened."
Adanna places a comforting hand on Kate's shoulder, "Maybe you just sleepwalked over there? Do you usually get night terrors?"
"No! And I've never slept walked in my life, ever!"
A soft knock came from the door as the group heard a fragile old voice from the other side, "Hey, is everyone ok in there? We got some complaints of screaming."
Dave opened the door to their room, an apology on the tip of his tongue, when he stopped suddenly, staring at the woman in front of him. It was the girl from his dream. Obviously aged, but the cold, intense eyes, the dark short hair, now speckled in grey.
Adanna elbowed Dave out of the way and gave him a look of, 'what the hell, man?'. She proceeded to smile and apologize.
"She doesn't usually get night terrors, but for some reason, she just got a really bad one." she extended her hand, introducing herself and then everyone else.
"My name is Dottie, I'm the night clerk." She said pleasantly.
Adanna lit up, "Oh! Are you the other sister we've heard about?"
Dottie shook her head, "Oh no, we've just been friends for years! I'm a retired college professor so this work just keeps me busy."
"Oh okay! Thanks for checking up on us, Dottie!" Adanna waved as Dottie wished them a good night and continued down the hall.
As Adanna closed the door behind her, she laughed at Dave. "Pick your jaw up off the ground or I might get jealous!" She teased.
He peeked at her from under his hair, "I swear to God I just dreamt of a younger version of her in my nightmare."
"Whoa, nightmare? Seems like Kate isn't the only one disturbed in this hotel." Adanna put her hand on top of his, "You okay?"
Dave stared at her small hand on top of his larger hand. He loved little moments like this, where she showed her affectionate side and let him in. He patted her hand softly.
"I'm okay, but thanks."
But even he couldn't believe he was ok, because the image of his friends, lifeless and mangled beneath him flashed in front of his eyes.
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It took a while, but eventually, everyone fell asleep sprawled out around the room. Kasem was asleep with Nessa's feet in his face, and Kate was curled in a ball surrounded by all of the pillows in the room. Adanna had waved the white flag and allowed Dave to fall asleep on the couch, his head on her knee. She reached over to grab the remote off the end table, accidentally waking up Dave.
"Oh hey, I'm sorry. You can go back to sleep."
He looked up at her, "No, I would like to talk about my dream. It feels heavy on my mind."
Adanna nodded her head and they took blankets through the back sliding door to the pool. Wrapping herself up like a burrito, she sat on the edge of the pool with her feet in the water.
"What's on your mind?" She prodded at Dave after he remained silent for a second. He turned to look at her, the lights of the pool casting a shadow on half his face, making his expression unreadable.
He sighed, leaning back, "It was horrible. I don't usually have nightmares, at least not like the one I had earlier tonight." He grew more distressed as he described to Adanna exactly what he had seen, including the girl he saw.
As he described the girl, Adanna had a flash of familiarity. Her description sounded familiar, almost exactly like the girl Nessa saw in the woods.
"Dave, what exactly did this girl look like?"
Startled, Dave explained to her in detail, "She was about 16, wearing an older outfit like, saddle shoes? Oh and she was soaking wet, with short dark hair sticking to her face, water was dripping down her chin."
Adanna stared at him, "Dave, that's the same girl Nessa saw in the woods while waiting for a tow."
Dave sat quietly for a bit, sloshing the water between his feet. He suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable with everything that seemed to be going on.
"Should we go somewhere else?" Adanna wrapped herself tighter in her blanket. Dave scooted over and put an arm around her shoulder.
"No, no! The park we're staying at is completely separate from this God-forsaken place." He patted her shoulder.
"Are you sure, what if it is dangerous?"
Dave rested his chin on top of her head, "Then I'll protect you."
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Kate awoke the next morning to a full room of friends, and a full bed of pillows. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she looked around the room. Kasem and Nessa were up, staring at their phones, but Adanna and Dave were MIA.
"Where���s Adanna?"
Nessa looked over at Kate and a smile brightened up her gorgeous face, "I don't know dear, how are you feeling?"
Kate accepted the loving hug from Nessa and snuggled into her side.
"Much better."
Nessa looked out the sliding glass door, "Good. Oh, I found Adanna and Dave, they fell asleep next to the pool."
Dave was just blinking sleep out of his eyes when his gaze fell on Adanna. The sun was making her dark skin glow in the morning golden hour, and her hair looked like a gentle halo around her little head. My God, she is so gorgeous. He thought to himself, smiling.
He looked over to the sliding door where the others were staring at him, eyebrows raised. Leaving Adanna to sleep in the sun, he went into the room to talk to the others, especially Nessa. They needed to know exactly what he dreamt about.
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