Chapter Twelve

Nina smiled at me as she finished her embrace. She stood up and headed towards her room. It was difficult to tell what time it was but remembering how dark the clouds had outside told me that it must have been nighttime.

“I’m feeling pretty tired,” she said. “I guess sharing our thoughts and emotions really drains it out of you.”

“Not sleepy,” I said, realizing how much energy I still had. “Can I sleep?”

“Of course you can sleep,” Nina said, before stopping to think. “Or maybe, you can’t because you’re a zombie. That makes sense even if it seems a little unfair.”

“Will try,” I responded. “Dreams are nice.”

“Dreams?” Nina asked. “What are those?”

“Hard to explain,” I said. “Moments, while you sleep.”

“That’s what dreams are?” she asked. “I’ve only ever experienced a few, and those few times have always been not so good. I remember a lot of scary images.”

“Nightmares,” I said looking at her. “Bad dreams.”

“So that means there are good dreams,” she responded with a smile. “In any case, you’ll have to tell me about them another time.” As she reached her door, she turned back to me, trying to make eye contact. “I hope you sleep well.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking back at her. “Sweet dreams.” Nina turned away and walked through her room, but I was able to catch the familiar redness on her face. I laid down on the couch, wondering if I could even fall asleep when it felt like I no longer needed it. There were so many things that happened since I woke up here. I still heard those two voices in my head. The heaviness that Nina had driven away from me returned to cloud my mind again. I started to feel cold again. I closed my eyes and practiced the little techniques that helped me fall asleep before, and soon enough I found myself wandering the world within my mind.