I am Number Ten

CHAPTER 6

        I roll uncomfortably in my car. I'm smeared in my own cold sweat again. The figure was there. I dreamt that he held Blake out in front of me and was teasing me about it. No matter what I did, I couldn't save Blake. I had to watch the figure murder my boyfriend in front of me. He then threw the corpse at my feet. I put my hands down on him and prayed for a miracle. The miracle, of course, did not come and I was left crying, holding his lifeless body. The murderous figure laughed gleefully at my misery.

"I am coming..." he smiled at me."The worst is yet to come..."

        scream myself out of the nightmare and I'm too dizzy. My stomach is churning too...Suddenly the fried chicken and milkshake I had aren't sitting well with me. I fumble for the door handle and just barely make it. I am violently sick, it's to the point that I feel there is nothing else I could expel except my gut itself.  Once I'm done, I lay with the door open. The frigid January weather cools me a bit, just enough that my dizziness can settle down a bit. My head is pulsing and my entire throat burns. I try to take deep gulps of air in order to settle myself and my stomach.

        The phase takes longer to pass over than before. I try to ponder why I felt sick. I slam the door and turn on my side. I fiddle with my pendant, which glows slightly with the moon. I desperately wish that Annie was here, just someone to talk to about those dreams. Except they don't feel like dreams... They feel more real than anything else. I know for sure that this figure invading my dreams is real. His presence is too intense to be a figment of my own imagination. At least now I know it's a he. He's taken a more human form than before but he still scares me. He used to be giant and almost shapeless but now I can see his human form. What bothers me is that I haven't seen his face fully. I've only seen bits and pieces but I am more than familiar with his ugly purple scar and the three pendants on his neck. I know that they are of the Garde's that have died and those pendants seem right at home on his bulging chest. They glow too, almost like a pulsing or a heartbeat. I can only assume that they are somehow alive. I then think that those three Gardes are still alive in some way.

        I roll onto my other side and stare out the back tinted window. I notice my own reflection and something becomes clear to me. The underlying meaning of the dream.  

        I need to break up with Blake. Having this connection with him is too dangerous. If I don't part with him...the vision might come true. That's the last thing I want. His mother did everything she could to make sure he didn't go before her...giving him a roof over his head and food on the table. But he does not have the ideal life, it's better than mine. Then I start thinking again about how lonely I've been and Annie never said anything about having human allies. My mind bounces back and forth about whether a human-like Blake could be trusted or not and mere humans against Mogadorians is quite hard to imagine.

My phone buzzes and it blinks out that it's Blake.

Can't sleep :(  U up?

        I'm hesitant to answer and a few tears slide down my face. My stomach churns, it's not like before, this time it's more painful and it kills me even more. The guilt is unbearable. I roll over and let the tears run. I stare at my phone for the longest time and just wish I had a way to answer.

It buzzes again:

Are u up? I need someone to talk too...

        It just doesn't seem fair that I have to be isolated. I can't have a relationship because a stupid alien race is out to kill my people. And so far they aren't succeeding. John Smith is out there and it seems he has another Garde with him and a few of his own human allies.  I'm sure the others are out there and they have people working for them. Who said I couldn't have one too? But then I wonder if Blake would accept me for who I am or would he run. He's fallen in love with Christina, the loner human that moved to town, not Number Five, the alien with freaky powers and on the run from another alien race. I stare out my window at the moon and I just wish there was an easy way for me to decide.

My phone vibrates again and I really don't want to respond but I stare at the screen. I stop short.

Mom's condition worsened, the doctor thinks it might be a stroke! Can you meet me at the hospital?

        I fling back my blanket and climb into the driver seats, as if oblivious to what I was thinking. I shake back a foreboding feeling of carrying on this relationship. The Garde don't need me right now but Blake does. I rev the car up and finally text him back and head towards town, the moon and horizon behind me.