Dangerous Slumber

Megan took her time with her homework, since she really didn’t have much to do and Rick did. Once she had finished what she had to do, she decided to tidy up a little and changed her bed covers before heading back downstairs.

“Excellent timing, what would you prefer Chinese or Indian?” Rick asked, holding up a menu in each hand and watching her expectantly.

“We haven’t had Chinese in a while,” Megan replied as she poured them both a cup of coffee.

“We’ve had take-out a lot since you moved in with me, huh?”

“I don’t mind,” Megan told him with a shrug, handing him his coffee and continuing, “It reminds me of when mom would try and cook a big fancy meal, we’d always end up ordering take-out because she’d burn it and it’d be inedible. Why don’t I cook dinner for us tomorrow?”

“It should be me doing the cooking, but that does sound great... changing the subject, how did your chat with Dan go?”

“He told me loads of interesting stuff and some of it I didn’t know, but I’m having a hard time believing it. There was just something off about his tone and... I don’t think he can be trusted, what do you think?”

“Well, the way I see it you have two options,” Rick told her, “One, you can choose to dismiss everything he told you, or you can write it all down and go through it piece by piece to find out what parts are true.”

“At the moment, I’d be stupid to dismiss it without proof that it’s a lie and any information is helpful right now. My best option is to write it down and see if I can figure it out, but what do I do if Dan starts asking more questions?”

“You answer what you can with information that he already has... don’t give him anything new.”

“I’m hoping he doesn’t though,” Megan admitted, “I’m not good at lying at the best of times.”

“What made you freak out at the cemetery?”

“I could have sworn that someone was watching me, but I couldn’t see anyone,” Megan explained, “Then there was this breeze that came out of nowhere and a crow cawed. I’ve watched way too many horror movies to stick around...”

“I tell you what, why don’t we wait for our food, put on a comedy, and spend some time together?”

“Sounds great.”

The night consisted of laughter, a great movie, and the eating of the mass amounts of junk food Rick had bought. By the time the film came to an end, Megan was almost asleep and headed to bed with a mumbled goodnight. She didn’t have any nightmares that night, or none that she could remember and she found that, for the first time since everything started, she felt good.

It was a Tuesday, which meant that Megan could look forward to four long, agonizing hours of physical education and that alone made it her least favorite day of the week. She left before Rick had even finished his breakfast, the boiling heat hitting her as she stepped outside and she couldn’t help wishing that it was the weekend. Who wanted to be stuck doing physical education, when they could be sunbathing and having water fights with their friends.

Mason and Logan were already waiting as she entered the coffee shop a while later and despite the heat, she couldn’t resist the smell of fresh coffee.

“So, what’s going on with you, Megs?”

“What do you mean?” Megan replied with a frown.

Of course, she knew exactly what he was talking about and she wanted to tell them, but how could she explain something that she didn’t even understand herself.

“It’s just that you didn’t call or text this weekend,” Logan said, “We hung out once and that was it.”

“I decided that it was time that I bonded with Rick, we haven’t taken the opportunity to just sit down and spend time together since my parents died.”

“How do you bond with someone who isn’t even related to you?” Mason inquired, causing both Megan and Logan to glare at him.

“You don’t have to be related to someone to bond with them, he’s my godfather and he became family when he agreed to look after me when my parents couldn’t,” Megan snapped.

“I’m sorry, I was just asking... so, how did it go?”

“It was really good actually; we talked and watched a movie... normal family stuff.”

“Sounds like a good weekend overall to me,” Logan added as they reached the boy's locker room, “We’ll catch up with you later, have fun and try not to hurt yourself.”

Megan walked into the girl’s changing room and put on her kit, before heading out onto the field where her teacher was already blowing her whistle to stop people messing around. If it was possible, the sun seemed even hotter and Megan knew that it was going to feel like the longest four hours of her life.

After an hour of baseball with no breaks, Megan was exhausted and had a pounding headache. Teachers that weren’t teaching classes had come out to watch, including Rick, who was stood with the other faculty members in the shade of a large tree.

Up next to bat, she pushed herself to her feet and made her way over to the batting plate. The pitcher was quick to throw the ball and Megan swung, but the sudden movement caused her head to spin and darkness took hold.