Participants:
| Scene Title | Just a Dream |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Nick wakes up to tell Russo that Delia's gone again. |
| Date | December 31, 2010 |
New Jersey
The dawn of the last day of 2010 makes itself known with a cold gray light creeping into the room, and a cold, sick feeling in Nick's stomach. He blinks away the grogginess of sleep slowly, then sits upright with a rustle of nylon sleeping bag, to check that Delia's body is still there — that the window is closed.
That was just a dream.
Just a dream — what happens in dreams can't hurt you. That was what Nick's mother used to tell him the few times she soothed away a bad dream when he was very small, before things got bad. That was what he'd tell Lee, when she had a nightmare, before they realized their waking hours were worse than their dreams.
That was before he knew there were people who could walk through dreams, perch in minds, have an existence separate from their body's.
That was before Delia had camped in his mind.
He stumbles to his feet, tripping on the sleeping bag and banging a shin on the coffee table. A fricative hiss escapes his lips as he moves to the doorway to the hall, to the room Russo sleeps in.
"I lost her — she's not here anymore," Nick gasps, one hand gripping the door frame for support, his eyes closing as he leans his forehead against it. "'m sorry."
Nothing like the voice of a fellow you barely know waking you up… NOT that Russo has really ever had this experience— or had this experience at all, it's unsettling regardless. There's a faint groan as the television host slips out of bed and peeks at the entranceway. Sleepy or not, eyes adjusted or not, he's on the move already. Like Nick, he hits his leg against the nighstand, banging his knee.
"Uggh," he groans uncomfortably as he presses a hand to his already swelling knee. "Uh… " he can't formulate thoughts right away, instead he finds himself glancing at the time and then switching on the light. This was the room he'd always slept in growing up when they'd visited his grandparents.
"What do you mean you lost her?! It's not like she had somewhere to go, right?" his eyes blink hard as he tries to bring Nick into focus. "She's probably still there— you can't like feel her when you're awake anyways, right?"
Nick gives an angry shake of his head. "They came for her in my head, unless it was just a normal dream. How the fuck can I know? But dreams with her — dreams with her always feel more real, you know? I thought it was real — I thought I was awake, and there was a bird tapping on the window."
An exasperated growl slips from his lips as he brings a hand up to his forehead. Stupid. "I thought it was someone I know, dumb as that sounds, but … I know someone who can talk through birds. I thought she was trying to communicate with me."
Nick shakes his head angrily. "That opened the door I guess, for whoever it was looking for her. It turned into some guy, and she went with him — and I think she's gone."
He turns back to the hallway, moving back toward the room he was sleeping in, throwing his belongings into the duffel bag there and pulling jeans on over his PJ bottoms.
Russo's eyes narrow as he tries to focus on the questions at hand. "Ehn," he manages with a swift shake of his head. "They can't do that can they? Like… someone can't just steal someone else like that? I mean, why wouldn't she just go into her own body or something."
His cheeks flush slightly as he paces forward, stretching out the sleep from his muscles in doing so. "You don't know, right? Like you have no idea… she could be in there still! Look, please, you need to stay so we can get her back. She probably is still there and just… I dunno put something in hiding or something— the Robin can't have like hurt her right? Did she seem okay? Did she want to go?"
Nick turns, mid packing, and shrugs. "If she can stay in my head, I donno why some bloke can't come in to my head and take her. I donno, I can't tell if she's there or not, but she felt…"
Gone.
"He told her he knew where her body was, even though I told her that it was here with me. I …" his hand curls into a fist angrily. "I wouldn't want to stay with me either, so it's no wonder she left."
He glowers at the bag on the chair half full of his stuff, brows furrowing.
Russo shakes his head fiercely as his hand rakes through his hair. "I'm sure that's not it! She's in this like state of complete and utter confusion, right? Like that's just it, right?"
"She can't be gone. We have her here. What did this guy look like? Seriously— was he menacing?" Like magically a person can decide by someone else's intention by their appearance. He frowns. "Obviously she just wants to be home and will take any means she can— she can't be gone, right?"
His jaw tensing, muscles twitching, Nick shrugs his left shoulder. "Her body's there, it's her mind that's not with me anymore," Nick says angrily. "I told her not to choose me, that I wasn't safe to stay with. She stayed anyway, but maybe… maybe that's why she finally decided to go, to not believe me. There's… if she's in my head, she mighta gotten scared of what's there."
That might open up questions he'd rather not answer right now.
That it's his fault, he has no doubt. And Russo is Delia's brother. It's time to get out for a bit, let him cool down. "I'm sorry, all right? I thought she'd see her body, feel it — and she'd wake up in her own and I'd be out of your hair. This guy — no, he didn't look menacing. Probably approaching 40, tall, dark hair. He said he knew where her body was, and she went to him. That's all I know." His jacket is grabbed, wallet and gun grabbed to shove into pockets. "I'll come back to sleep, all right? I can't… I can't be here right now."
”What exactly would’ve scared her off? I don’t think Delia isn’t as naive as any of us would want her to be— “ very quickly Russo cuts off his thought while his head shakes. “No, she’s got to still be here, she wouldn’t have left— her body is right there.” He presses his palm tightly against his forehead.
”And what the hell, man? She could still be in there!” More determinedly his pale blue eyes narrow, “She has to still be in there, you can’t— “ but then he promises to come back. With a sharp breath, he sighs. “Fine. Fine, just please, please come back. I need— she needs — “ his lips twitch slightly. “Please come back.”
Blue eyes drop and Nick buttons up his coat before finally nodding. "I'm not gonna sleep now anyway — I got enough, and apparently doing anything like sleeping pills or alcohol wasn't helping, yeah? Maybe that's why she couldn't feel her body, I don't know." His voice is angry, but it's clear he's angry at himself.
"'m sorry, mate," is added under his breath as he turns toward the door. "I'll come back. Won't sleep anywhere but here. The rent's the right price."